Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I rarely make birthday cakes anymore, but when duty calls I am happy to break out my offset spatulas and get the job done. I might even enjoy it a little bit :) So, a few weeks ago, when a friend asked me to make a cake for his special lady's birthday we did a little secret scheming to make this carrot cake happen. Like a lot of "old-fashioned" foods (I'm looking at you prunes), carrot cake gets a very unfair bad rap - because it is totally delicious. If we are being honest though, what isn't totally delicious slathered in cream cheese frosting? A perfect carrot cake has lightly spiced, fluffy layers that are super moist and not too sweet, and a generous amount of tangy cream cheese frosting over the top. This cake even feels a little virtuous, considering it has an entire pound of carrots folded into the batter. I like the crunch of a handful of walnuts too, but I avoid raisins as they are a pretty polarizing ingredient (in carrot cake or otherwise).

and yes, the cake does say "Hannah Slays" on top...a little more fun than "Happy Birthday" don't you think?

Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

cake adapted from Cook's Illustrated

For the cake pictured, I doubled the recipe below and made a 4 layer 10-inch cake which is enough cake to well, feed an army. A single recipe will make a 2 layer 9-inch cake with nice, thick layers or fill a 9 x 13-inch pan if layer cakes aren't your thing. You could also double the cake recipe and make a very tall 4 layer 9 or 10-inch cake. You'll want to double the frosting recipe too. When you are making the frosting, make sure that the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature which will ensure that the frosting beats up nice and smooth. This cake is also great because the layers can be made a day or two in advance and stored in the fridge before you decorate them. Any longer than that and I'd wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap and a layer of foil and store them in the freezer.

Classic Carrot Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamom

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch cloves

1 teaspoon salt

1 lb. peeled carrots, about 6 

1 1/2 cups canola or grape seed oil

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 

4 large eggs

3/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons creme fraiche 

1 lb confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

pinch salt

To make the Cake

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Butter 2, 9-inch cake pans and line them with parchment paper. Butter the paper, then flour the pans and paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in large bowl; set aside. Use a food processor or box grater to shred the carrots.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat the sugars and oil together until well combined. Add the eggs and mix on medium-high until thoroughly combined and emulsified. Fold in the flour mixture, shredded carrots, and walnuts (if using) until well combined and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes for 9-inch round pans and 40 minutes for a 9 x 13-inch pan. Let the cakes cool in their pans for about 10 minutes then invert them onto a rack to cool completely.

When the cakes are cooled completely, make the frosting.

To make the Frosting

Beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed until fluffy and smooth add the creme fraiche. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the confectioner's sugar until just combined, then turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat until fluffy and smooth, making sure to stop the mixer and scrape down to the bottom of the bowl so everything is evenly mixed. Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt.

To Assemble the Cake

Trim the tops of the cake layers so they are flat, if necessary. Place one layer on a serving plate or pedestal and spread about 3/4 cup of frosting on top. Top with the second cake layer, then smooth a thin coat of frosting on the outside of the cake. Chill for at least 30 minutes, then cover the cake with a second, heavier coat of frosting to finish.

This cake will keep in the fridge for about 4 days. 

Plum Macaroon Cake

August is such a show-off of a month. The end of August, specifically, when stone fruit is at it's peak and the first fall produce is starting to show up is one of the best times to visit the market. Peaches and nectarines tend to hog most of the stone fruit spotlight, but plums certainly have a special place in my kitchen. They come in an outstanding array of shades and shapes, from tiny round Greengages to oblong purple Empress plums, they are all a bit sweet and tart which makes them perfect for baking and preserves.

A week or so ago Pete and I made a trip upstate for a fun film project, and one of the orchards we visited had a small orchard of plum trees, all hitting their peak. Pete spotted these guys, so deep in color they looked almost black in the bright sun (I think they were Damsons, but no one could confirm for sure) and I beelined down the row, knowing they would be perfect for baking. I had already filled up all of my bags and baskets with grapes, raspberries, and early apples so I grabbed as many plums as I could carry in my hands, all while seriously embarrassing myself freaking out about how beautiful they were. Eh, what can you do? Sometimes you just gotta exclaim about pretty little plums as families having a relaxing afternoon picking fruit together side-eye you...

I had bookmarked this cake in Tara's book ages ago, and with my fresh glut of plums I finally had a good excuse to make it. With a crackly coconut macaroon-inspired top, this plum cake has become a new favorite. It is the kind of cake you'll find yourself sneaking a tiny slice of, every time you walk by. It also keeps exceptionally well for a few days on the counter (covered), if you are the kind of person with a little more self control than tiny-slice-stealers like me.  

Plum Macaroon Cake

Makes one 9-inch cake

From Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady

This cake is sweet, nutty, and perfectly punctuated by wonderfully tart plums. I used tiny purple and red plums, so I just sliced them in half, rather than the sixths that the recipe recommends. Once baked and cooled this cake keeps exceptionally well for a few days on the counter at room temperature, if it lasts that long. 

Cake

1 1/2 cups (190g) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (60g) shredded coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup (60ml) milk

about 1 pound (455g) red or purple plums pitted and cut into sixths (or small plums cut in half)

2 tablespoons demerara or granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping

1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons (25g) almond meal

seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup (60 g) shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9-inch removable bottom cake pan or springform pan with butter.

To make the cake, whisk the flour, coconut, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set this dry mix inside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 2 more minutes. Decrease the speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the almond extract and turn the speed down to low.

With the mixer still running, add half the dry ingredients to the wet, followed by all of the milk and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined, scraping the bowl once or twice.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread the thick batter to the edges of the pan. Stand the plums in rings in the batter, up on their ends. The fruit will shift inward during baking so arrange them nice and close to the edge of the pan, and do not cluster too many at the middle. Combine the demerara sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then sprinkle across the fruited Stonehenge. Bake for 50 minutes.

While the cake bakes, make the topping. Whisk the butter, sugar, eggs, almond meal, vanilla bean seeds, almond extract, and shredded coconut in a pitcher with a pouring spout. Working quickly, remove the cake from the oven and pour the mixture over the hot cake. Return the cake to the oven and bake until the topping is puffed, evenly golden, and set, 25 to 30 minutes more.

Cool the cake completely, in its pan on a wire rack before serving. Serve as is or dusted with confectioners' sugar. The cake can be kept under a dome or loosely wrapped in its pan at from temperature for 3 days.

Full disclosure guys: I usually find these "hands offering" type photos a little cheesy, but I actually grabbed as many plums as I could and held them like this until I could find a bag, and honestly, how amazing are these colors?!?!?