Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
When it comes to winter produce, there's not a lot to choose from. (Trust us, no one wants to make a Brussels sprouts cake.) But carrots are one staple veggie that's available through the entire season. And, carrots are one of the best — if not the best — veggie for baking. Sorry, zucchini bread, but there's nothing like a good carrot cake.
And if you're in need of a good carrot cake recipe, look no further than Yo's ultimate carrot cake topped with her four-ingredient cream cheese frosting. This recipe has been tested and perfected so you can avoid the pitfalls that can come up when you add veggies to cake.
There are two main things that go wrong with carrot cake: It comes out too sweet or too wet.
Carrots are a sweet vegetable, and they release their natural sugars as they bake. Yo's recipe balances these extra sugars with the bright, citrusy flavor or a whole puréed orange so you don't have to worry about tipping over into too-sweet territory.
Adding produce to cakes can also make your batter too wet. Carrots release moisture in the oven. If you add too many carrots to your batter, they could release too much moisture and ruin your cake. And while moist cake is normally a good thing, too much liquid can make your cake dense. Yo's recipe has the perfect amount of carrots to create big flavor with a fluffy texture.
If you want to learn more about avoiding cake-tastrophes, sign up for Yo's free Cake and Icing Basics Program. In this 4-week program, she'll walk you through the techniques you need to get perfect cake every time. There are even step-by-step video tutorials for her best dessert recipes, including her carrot cake and cream cheese frosting.
