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Prep time
30 minutes
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Cook time
40 minutes
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Serves
12-15
Author Notes
I often (read: nearly always) have a difficult time patting myself on the back. I make the mistake of believing that if I'm never happy with what I make, I will always strive to do better. That's a load of BS in general but it's certainly so with respects to this cake. This is not only the best carrot cake I've ever made but the best carrot cake I've ever tasted, period. The olive oil creates both an insanely rich texture and flavor and the moisture knows no bounds. Whipping the chai latter frosting into a fluffy cloud counter balances the cake and brings a whole other set of deep flavors to the table. I ate this whole cake solo (another cause for a pat on the back).
—Finchly
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Ingredients
- Olive Oil Carrot Cake
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1 cup
olive oil
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1/4 cup
vegetable oil
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4
large eggs
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1 teaspoon
salt
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1 tablespoon
ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon
ground ginger
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1/2 teaspoon
ground nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon
ground allspice
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1 tablespoon
vanilla extract
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1 tablespoon
maple syrup
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1 1/2 teaspoons
baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
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2 cups
cake flour
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3 cups
shredded carrots
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3/4 cup
toasted walnuts, chopped
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3/4 cup
toasted almonds, chopped
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2 tablespoons
dry milk powder, optional
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A few rainbow carrots, for decoration, optional
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A handful of toasted almonds, for decoration, optional
- Chai Latte Frosting
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1
stick salted butter, room temperature
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8 ounces
cream cheese, room temperature
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3 1/2 cups
powdered sugar
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1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
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1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
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1 teaspoon
ground ginger
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1 teaspoon
ground cardamom
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1 teaspoon
ground coriander
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1/2 teaspoon
ground cloves
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1/2 teaspoon
ground allspice
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Pinch of salt
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or lightly coat with nonstick spray two 9-inch cake pans. If you have parchment paper, line the bottom of the cake pans and give it another quick spray.
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In the large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
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Stir in the flour, carrots, nuts, and milk powder until the batter is well mixed.
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Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans. If you're baking by weight (and you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE), I got 615g of batter per cake pan. Bake until the cakes are set in the middle- roughly 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and let cool in the pan completely.
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Frost with as much or as little as you like of the Chai Latter frosting. Spoiler alert- I make a double batch of frosting for this cake. For the carrot roses, I used a vegetable peeler to create thin strips of rainbow carrots. I curled the strips into themselves and for the rebellious ones, I dabbed a bit of cornstarch mixed with water on the end to help stay put. For me, it helped to let the roses dry out before decorating the cake but fair warning, the color of rainbow carrots mutes just a tad from freshly peeled to dry. Though, they're still just as beautiful.
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