My mother must have baked hundreds of these super-moist three-layer cakes with maple–cream cheese frosting in her lifetime. It was a family favorite as well as the star of the dessert rotation at the restaurant she ran in downtown St. Petersburg. She probably burned through half a dozen food processors grating all those carrots. After Mom passed away, my sister Susie inherited the carrot cake tradition. One Christmas, Susie and I baked the cake layers and left them cooling on her kitchen counter. When we turned around, we discovered that Wyatt, our English setter, had devoured most of one of the layers. We mixed up another batch of batter, put it in the oven, and then realized we’d used up all the eggs we needed for another recipe. We set the timer and put my dad and Tom, who were watching football, in charge of removing the cakes. When we returned from the store, we were greeted with the distinctive aroma of burnt cake. Sure enough, their team had scored a couple of touchdowns—but our cakes were ruined. Again. That was the year we discovered that a two-layer carrot cake was better than none.
For the cake:
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
4 cups grated carrots
½ cup finely chopped pecans
Carrots with tops, coarsely chopped pecans for garnish (optional)
For the frosting:
1 lb. cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. maple flavoring
2 lb. powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease three 8-inch cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Beat the eggs and oil in a large bowl together with an electric mixer until frothy. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, beating until well combined. Stir in the grated carrots and chopped pecans.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.
4. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the vanilla and maple flavoring.
5. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating after each addition until combined. Beat in the milk, if necessary, to reach a spreadable consistency.
6. Spread the frosting between and on top of the cake layers. Garnish with carrots with tops and coarsely chopped pecans, if desired, and serve.
