Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and he requested a carrot cake for his birthday cake. I haven’t made a two-layered cake in years and never made a carrot cake so I was a little nervous. I found an amazing recipe on The Fauxmartha website that looked wonderful. The cake was fairly easy to make and smelled amazing while it baked. The hardest part of this recipe, for me, was frosting the cake. Why oh why is frosting a cake such a pain? I think the toasted coconut made was a tasty and pretty garnish for the cake. My husband was thrilled and so were my children. It was a moist, flavorful, and seriously delicious cake with the tastiest frosting ever. I am happy to say it made my husband VERY happy! Yay!
How to Make a Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9″ round cake pans with coconut oil spray.
Use a food processor to grate the carrots. Mix together the shredded carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
In another bowl, combine together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove until mixed well.
Add the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until well combined.
Distribute batter evenly between the pans and place into the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely before icing.
To make the frosting, place one stick of butter in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until butter is browned, about 5 minutes. Pour through a small sieve into a small bowl to remove any brown bits then place into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to cool. Once cooled, cream together browned butter, regular butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt with a beater until smooth.
Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. After 2 1/2 cups, taste to see if additional sugar is necessary. I only used 2 1/2 cups.
Place the bottom layer of cake on a cake stand, leveling the top if necessary. Add a layer of icing. Place the second layer on top, leveling if necessary. Dirty ice the cake (click here for a link to instructions). Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to chill. Finish icing the rest of the cake using an offset spatula.
Garnish the bottom of the cake with toasted coconut and sprinkle some on top evenly. Refrigerate. Serve cake at room temperature. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 pound carrots finely grated
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups coconut oil melted
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 16 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar
- Garnish:
- ¼ cup shredded coconut toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9" round cake pans with coconut oil spray.
- Use a food processor to grate the carrots.
- Whisk together the shredded carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, combine together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove until mixed well.
- Add the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until well combined.
- Distribute batter evenly between the pans and place into the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely before icing.
- To make the frosting, place one stick of butter in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until butter is browned, about 5 minutes. Pour through a small sieve into a small bowl to remove any brown bits then place into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to cool. Once cooled, cream together browned butter, regular butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt with a beater until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. After 2 1/2 cups, taste to see if additional sugar is necessary. I only used 2 1/2 cups.
- Place the bottom layer of cake on a cake stand, leveling the top if necessary. Add a layer of icing. Place the second layer on top, leveling if necessary. Dirty ice the cake (click the link up above for directions). Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to chill. Finish icing the rest of the cake using an offset spatula.
- Garnish the bottom of the cake with toasted coconut and sprinkle some on top evenly. Refrigerate. Serve cake at room temperature. Enjoy!
Carrots? unusual ingredient for cake 🙂
Birthday blessings for your husband. I use my lazy Susan to frost my cakes. It really helps with getting that smooth finish. Glad everyone enjoyed the cake 🙂
I LOVELOVELOVE carrot cake! This is a great cake for the spring.
What a lovely spring dessert! Going on the Easter Buffet!!
Wow, Pam…this carrot cake looks incredible!
Oh…and Happy Birthday to your hubby!
Your carrot cake looks yummy! I have made a carrot cake in a long time. I like the toasted coconut, it looks great on the cake and I bet it taste yummy too. Happy birthday to your husband.
Beautiful looking cake and a wonderful birthday gift.
I love carrot cake!
Happy bithday to your hubby
Happy Easter Pam!
Happy Birthday to your husband! Carrot cake is wonderful, and I’m so glad he enjoyed his cake.
Frosting a cake is beyond my current skill set. The last one I made for Alexis’ birthday I made Trevor help so when it ended up looking like a high school kid frosted it, I had a reason why vs. just having crappy frosting ability lol. Happy Birthday Chad!
awesome! i always think of carrot cake when easter rolls around, and i like to have it for my birthday cake too, especially if coconut is involved! brown butter = awesome touch. 🙂
I’m such a sucker for carrot cake!! It’s my favorite. You did a GREAT job with this!