Carrot Cake by ATK

We love America's Test Kitchen around here.  When Doug was in Dental School in San Francisco, he'd walk home for lunch and we'd watch ATK on PBS while we ate.  (We didn't have cable.  And once again, we don't have cable.)

Anyway, we have a mondo ATK cookbook (The New Best Recipe) and Doug loves it.  So that is where I went for a Carrot Cake recipe for his birthday.  And it's good.  

Enjoy!!!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you like nuts in your cake, stir 1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter along with the carrots. Raisins are also a good addition; 1 cup can be added along with the carrots. If you add both nuts and raisins, the cake will need an additional 10 to 12 minutes in the oven. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is recommended by the “Test Kitchen”.

Carrot Cake

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound carrots (6 to 7 medium), peeled
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups safflower, canola, or vegetable oil. (This seemed like a lot of oil to me and I really wanted to substitute part of the oil with applesauce...but Doug wouldn’t let me.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position; heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the parchment.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
In a food processor fitted with the large shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside. Wipe out the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process both sugars with the eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
For the frosting: When the cake is cool, process the cream cheese, putter, sour cream and vanilla in a clean food processor until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down the workbowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the confectioners’ sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
Run a pairing knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, and invert the cake onto a serving platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface of the cake. Cut into squares and serve.