Traditional Carrot Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Easter is just a week away, and I can’t wait! All the egg hunts, Easter baskets, and yummy food await! This is the first year we’re doing a real Easter egg hunt with Charlotte, and I’m so excited! When I think of traditional Easter desserts, the first thing I think of is carrot cake! This is a moist cake, with lots of spices, topped with delicious ginger cream cheese frosting.

It’s amazing how much moisture there is in carrots and apples! Make sure you use fresh carrots, not pre-grated ones. If you buy them already grated, they’ll be too dry. Believe me, I tried it! Plus it’s really easy to grate carrots, so it’s not worth paying a premium! 

The ginger in the cream cheese frosting is so good. Fresh ginger is beyond delicious, and really sets this carrot cake apart. You can of course omit it, but I promise you won’t want to!

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup melted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups freshly grated carrot
1 apple, skinned and grated
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients: 

1 cup butter
16 oz cream cheese
5 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla
8 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

Directions: 

Grease and line the bottoms of three 6″ cake pans. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through nutmeg. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time.

Add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Gently fold in the carrots, apple and pecans.

Distribute the batter between the three cake pans, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, followed by the vanilla and ginger. Beat until light and fluffy.