Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

This lovely moist carrot cake not only tastes delicious, but also presents beautifully. The grated carrots enhance the flavour and texture of the cake.

Cake	Cream Cheese Frosting	Garnish
110 g Walnut or pecan, toasted and coarsely chopped 340 g Carrots, finely grated 280 g All-purpose flour 1 tsp Baking soda 1 ½ tsp Baking powder ½ tsp Salt 1 ½ tsp Cinnamon, ground 4 Eggs, large 150 g White sugar 240 ml Salad or corn oil 2 tsp Vanilla extract 1 cup Crushed pineapple	50 g Unsalted butter, room temperature 250 g Cream cheese, room temperature 230 g Confectioners sugar, sifted 1 tsp Vanilla extract	Walnuts or pecans toasted Freshly grated carrots Marzipan carrots (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C/350F and butter or spray two 25x20x 4 cm or two 9 inch cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with baking paper.
Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Peel and finely grate the carrots. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
In bowl of electric mixer, with the paddle attached, beat the eggs until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored. Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Fold in the crushed pineapple.
Sift in the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.
You can prepare the frosting while cake still bakes. In bowl of electric mixer, with the paddle attached, beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and chill until the cake is ready.
To assemble: place one cake, top side down, onto your serving plate. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting all over the cake. Garnish with toasted nuts, grated carrots and marzipan carrots.