Serves 15 to 20
MAKING THIS SIMPLE, SOFTLY SPICED CAKE HAS BEEN A BALM FOR ME MORE TIMES than I can count. It was the first thing I baked after the births of both children, the recipe I reached for right after Gramma’s passing. And before things get way too heavy around here, let me say I’ve also made this cake for celebrations, dinner guests, and just for fun. Its method is so fantastically efficient and easy, it always makes me feel as though I’ve got a handle on life, if just for the moment.
Carrot “cake” recipes abound, dating back to the carrot puddings that appeared in many world cuisines as far back as the 17th century. But it seems the first recipes resembling current-day carrot cake—using wheat flour and leavened with baking powder—showed up in a cookbook from the Twentieth Century Club in Wichita, Kansas, in 1929. The Chicago Daily News Cookbook of 1930 included a carrot cake recipe, too, but it still wasn’t really catching on outside of the region. That is, until cream cheese frosting crept onto American palates in the 1960s. And as any cream cheese frosting lover can attest, you can basically slather that business on anything that’s not nailed down and you’ll be deliriously happy. So, the moment carrot cake was paired with cream cheese frosting and the word got out, carrot cake took off, and now, well, here we are, unable to imagine one without the other.
Nonstick cooking spray for pan
2¾ cups/352 g unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 pound/453 g carrots, peeled and trimmed
1½ cups/300 g granulated sugar
½ cup/113 g packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups/339 g vegetable oil
12 ounces/340 g high-quality white chocolate, such as Lindt, finely chopped*
12 ounces/340 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Prepare the cake: Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F/180°C. Spray a 9 × 13-inch/23 × 33 cm baking pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can bake the cake in two 8- or 9-inch/20 or 23 cm square pans, sprayed and papered.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Fit a food processor with the shredding disk and shred all the carrots. Dump the carrots into the bowl containing the flour mixture. Stir until evenly mixed.
Place the processor bowl used to shred the carrots back on its base and fit with the steel S blade. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and process thoroughly. With the processor running, pour in the oil in a steady stream.
Pour the sugar mixture into the carrot mixture and stir well with a rubber spatula until the batter is free of floury lumps. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely.
Meanwhile, Prepare the frosting. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, or in a microwave-safe bowl using 30-seconds bursts on MEDIUM in a microwave, stirring well after each interval until smooth. Let cool.
Place the cream cheese and vanilla in either a food processor fitted with the steel S blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until soft and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the melted white chocolate and beat just until the frosting is blended and smooth.
Slather the cake with the icing. Tightly cover and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 5 days.
*If you are baking the cake in 8- or 9-inch/20 or 23 cm square pans and layering them, increase both the white chocolate and cream cheese to 16 ounces/453 g each.