Easter is historically one of the most oldest and important festivals, celebrating the resurrection of Christ. We do not celebrate it, but my kids are learning all about the festival and its importance in school since they go to a Christian school. It is fun to hear them narrate about the festival and talk about history. Carrot cake is one of the most popular desserts during Easter Sunday celebrations! I love carrot cake, and my mom used to make carrot cake very often for us. She would make an eggless version, which I do not have a recipe of, unfortunately.
I love fruit cake and love the dried fruit in the cake. I decided to make a carrot cake with dried fruits in it! I used tropical dried fruit like papaya, pineapple and crystallized ginger cut into tiny pieces along with all the warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom making this cake full of flavor and super tasty, transporting you to the tropics! To make the cake super moist, I used oil and grating the carrots fine, makes the cake really tender and super tasty! I made a classic cream cheese frosting and did an ombre effect on the outside with orange!
The cake turned out super most, very delicious with all the dried fruits and spices, and that classic cream cheese frosting is a must! I will have to make the again pretty soon! It is perfect with a cuppa tea or coffee in the morning. I was so happy that my kids loved the cake! Now it has carrots and all those spices, and dried fruits, it must be healthy right? 😉 and a slice for breakfast won’t do any harm! 😉
Try this carrot cake recipe, trust me you will not stop at one slice! It is THAT good! I bought the dried fruits from Sprouts, from the bins and they worked out perfectly! Â If you do make this recipe, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on the blog post.
Thanks so much for reading!
Happy Easter!
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- Carrot Cake:
- (Adapted from Bon Appetit)
- This recipe makes 3 6"cakes or 2 8" cakes :
- Ingredients:
- ½ cup dried pineapple and papaya
- ¼ cup dried ginger
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
- 12oz carrots, peeled, finely grated
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature or 1/2 cup greek yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 12 oz cream cheese frosting at room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- orange food color for ombre effect(if required)
Instructions
- Cake recipe:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat three 6 inch cake pans with butter and dust with flour. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the dried pineapple, papaya, ginger in the rum, just until warm, about 2 minutes. Remove the contents into a bowl and let it sit for an hour until all the liquid is absorbed by the rum.
- Grate peeled carrots with the fine grater, about 12 ounces. Toast walnuts in a small pan, on medium heat, tossing every minute, until they are light brown in color, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk flour, almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In an artisan mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl, until pale and thick, about 4 minutes. Add in the buttermilk and oil at low speed to incorporate about a minute. Add in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, mixing after each batch is added. Add in the carrot mixture, until well blended on low speed. Fold in the dried fruit, and walnuts with a rubber spatula. Scrape batter into prepared pans. I weigh the pans to make sure that all the layers are even.
- Put the pans in the oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cakes cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around sides of cakes and invert onto wire rack.. Let cool completely. You can even put the cakes in the fridge to decorate them the next day.
- Frosting and Assembly:
- Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla extract and salt. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in powdered sugar. Increase speed to high and beat frosting until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- You can slice the domed top evenly with a bread knife to even all the layers out. Place 1 cake, domed side down, on a platter. Spread 1/4 amount of the frosting evenly over top. Place the second layer , domed side down, on top. Spread the second layer with 1/4 amount of frosting. Add the top layer, cut side down and frost the top and sides with 1/4 amount of frosting and chill 30 minutes to let frosting set. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides, and decorate to your whim's fancy!
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