Carrot Sheet Cake
RAINBOW CARROT SHEET CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM AND WALNUT FROSTING
I have a confession. Growing up I hated carrot cake. I mean, I hated a lot of things. Carrot cake was at the top of the list.
However, my tastebuds have definitely changed, and now I love it. The more carrots the better honestly.
You can dress up your Spring cake with a few flowers. I’m definitely one for a little perky cake.
RAINBOW CARROT SHEET CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM AND WALNUT FROSTING RECIPE
Cake Ingredients
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups AP flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups grated rainbow carrots
Frosting Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
12 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Cake Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray 9x13” baking pan with vegetable spray, and line the tray with parchment paper overlapping the sides so you can easily pull out the cake to cool. Then spray the parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk both sugars, oil, eggs, nectar and vanilla extract.
In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture bowl, and then mix in the grated carrots. I use a food processor, it goes by must faster than hand grating the carrots.
Pour the batter into the oil sprayed baking tray, and bake for 45-50 minutes. You’ll need to check on it around 40 minutes just to make sure it’s not burning, because every oven is different.
When it passes the toothpick of knife test, remove and let cool. This will need to cool for about an hour. You don’t want the icing to melt or droop off the sides of the cake. The cake is moist enough to let it cool. Don’t worry about a dry cold cake.
With about 10 minutes left on the cake to cool, make the frosting.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium until fully smooth. This won’t take long.
Add in the powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, and be sure to cover it with a towel when you first start the mixer because it does splash up and get out of the bowl. After you use all the powdered sugar, add in the lemon zest and juice slowly, and vanilla extract. Beat until fully mixed.
Remove paddle attachment and fold in the walnuts.
If the icing isn’t thick enough, add in some more powdered sugar, but you should be fine.
Lift the parchment on both sides of the cake with equal pull and remove from baking tray to a surface like a table top or a serving platter.
Start spooning heaping spoons of frosting on to the center of the cake and spreading equally outwards to the sides of the cake.
You can add more walnuts if you want to, and even some flowers for decoration.
