Carrot Cake

Do you ever make a dessert just because you feel like it? This is exactly what I did today. I had no special occasion or event to go, but I felt like creating Carrot Cake...so I did. This Carrot Cake recipe comes to you from William Sonoma's Cakes Book. I had most of the ingredients for it and I recently bought 8 inch circular pans to make cakes in that I have been dying to break in. Prior to this, I have made solely square/ circular layer cakes that were uneven. This is my first attempt at a real layer cake with equal layers. The William Sonoma Cake Book is fairly explicit on how to create the perfect cake. Hopefully I will be able to follow the explicit directions it gives and be able to create a masterpiece.



Ingredients

-> For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canola oil
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 can crushed pineapple in its own juice drained
1 cup finely chopped walnuts ( I used pecans instead)*

->For the cream cheese frosting
1/2 lb cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar

->For the topping
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used pecans instead)*


Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Butter two 9 inch round layer cake pans. Line the pans with parchment paper. Butter the paper, sprinkle it lightly with flour and then tap out excess flour.

2) Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and slat through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and granulated sugar. Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer with the twin beater. Beat the mixture on medium-high speed until it thickens and the color lightens slightly, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the vanilla extract. Slowly pour in the oil, mixing just until blending, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and mix just until no white streaks are visible. Add the carrots, pineapple and finely chopped walnuts and mix until evenly distributed, 1-2 minutes.

3) Pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly and lightly smoothing the tops. Bake until the tops look evenly browned, feel firm to the touch and a thin skewer toothpick inserted comes out dry, 30-35 minutes. Using pot holders, transfer the cakes to wire racks and let cool for 20 minutes. Working with one pan at a time, run a thin knife along the inside of the pan. Invert a wire rack on the pan and invert together. Lift off the pan and peel off the parchment. Invert another wire rack on the cake and invert the racks together, so the cake is top side up. Lift off the top rack. Let the cake cook completely on the rack, about 45 minutes. Repeat with the second cake layer.

4) Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or twin beaters on a handheld mixer to mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract on the medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the confectioner's sugar until smooth. Transfer 1 cake layer to a plate. Using an icing spatula, spread about one-half the frosting evenly over the cake. Center the second layer on top. Wipe the spatula clean, then spread about 1/4 the frosting in a thin layer on the top and sides of the cake. Wipe the spatula clean again ad spread the remaining frosting in a smooth layer over the top and sides of the cake. Top the cake with coarsely chopped walnuts.

Overall, I thought this cake turned out great. The main thing I would change is the icing process of the cake. I still need to work on presentations of cakes. I needed to wait a little longer prior to icing this cake for one and secondly, I could probably use a better tool other than a plain knife to ice it with. I will definitely make this cake again. It gets 5 out of 5 stars.