Charm City Carrot Cake With Duffs Cream Cheese Icing Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Into a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, whip the eggs until they thicken and ribbons form when the beater is lifted, 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the oil and vanilla extract to the whipped eggs.
• Gently fold the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients to form the batter; it may feel a little thick. Add the shredded carrots and gently but evenly fold them into the batter.
• Pour the batter into two (8-inch) round pans lined with parchment. Bake until the cakes are puffed, golden and set, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Rotate halfway through for even baking. Remove and set aside on racks to cool before unmolding.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until well blended and lightened in texture. Beat in the vanilla until blended.
• Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until the icing is smooth and spreadable, then frost the cake.

Steps:

• Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Coat three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper; coat the parchment with more cooking spray. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then roughly chop 1 1/2 cups walnuts and finely chop 1 1/2 cups. Set aside the finely chopped nuts for topping.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the vegetable oil, granulated sugar and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just combined. With the mixer on medium-low speed, beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk, until combined. Stir in the vanilla. Gently fold in the carrots, raisins and roughly chopped walnuts with a rubber spatula.
• Divide the batter among the cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool 20 minutes in the pans. Remove the cakes from the pans, remove the parchment and let cool completely on the racks.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting: Beat the butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
• Place one cake layer on a platter or cake stand and spread 1 cup frosting on top. Add another cake layer, spread with another 1 cup frosting and then add the last cake layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting (this is the crumb coat). Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting, then carefully press the finely chopped walnuts into the sides.

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard muffin tins with 18 cupcake liners.
• Into a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer, whip the eggs until they thicken and ribbons form when the beater is lifted, 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the oil, vanilla and marmalade to the whipped eggs. Gently fold the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients to form the batter; it may feel a little thick. Add the shredded carrots and gently but evenly fold them into the batter.
• Distribute the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes.
• For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until well blended and lightened in texture. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until blended. Beat in the food coloring of your preference if using.
• Transfer the frosting to a piping bag. Pipe onto the cupcakes in a swirl.