MANILA, Philippines — People love Carrot Cake for all the right reasons. One is that it is healthier than regular cakes, which tend to lean more on indulgent flavors and ingredients. Shredded carrots, after all, are loaded with beta-carotene (which converts to Vitamin A), B vitamins, Vitamin K1, fiber, antioxidants, and potassium.
Another reason to love Carrot Cake is that it goes perfectly with classic cream cheese icing. The combination is the bomb. The icing and the cake blend harmoniously into one, with their flavor profiles, textures and mouthfeel complementing each other. No new cake idea can beat this perfect classic.
Small wonder then that Chef Dorothy Ferreria, easily one of the metro’s best pastry chefs, chose to perfect her Carrot Cake recipe for Peotraco. She moved about, experimented with some flavor combinations and came up with this to-die-for formula.
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1 cup corn oil or canola oil
1 cup Peotraco Refined Sugar
1 cup Peotraco Dark Brown Sugar, well packed
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsps. cinnamon powder
2 tsps. Peotraco Baking Soda, sifted
1/4 tsp. fine salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
For the frosting:
1 225-gram bar cream cheese
2 tbsps. unsalted butter
3/4 cup Peotraco Confectioners’ Powdered Sugar, sifted
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.
2. Grease and flour 2 pcs. round baking pans (8” in diameter, 3” tall). Line bottom of pans with baking paper. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, refined sugar, dark brown sugar, and eggs. Mix well.
4. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add flour mixture to the oil mixture. Mix well.
6. Stir in carrots, crushed pineapple, nuts, and raisins.
7. Pour cake batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake in preheated oven for at least 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes and then unmold them. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.
9. To make the cream cheese frosting: In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and continue to beat at medium speed until a spreading consistency is achieved.
10. To assemble, position cake in the center of a cake plate or cake board. Spread an adequate amount of cream cheese mixture to serve as the filling of the cake. Top with remaining cake layer and use remaining frosting to cover the cake completely on top and on the sides. Garnish with finely chopped walnuts and carrot toppers.
11. Serve and enjoy.