Incredible Carrot Ginger Cake Recipe

Carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes. And now carrot ginger cake is also on my list of favorites. Surprisingly, until now I have never made a carrot cake myself. So when I was asked to make a carrot cake for a friend’s birthday, I was very excited. I was also allowed to customize the cake as I saw fit, which also made me very happy.

I decided to add a jam filling to the cake and initially wanted to use a pineapple jam filling. But with the cake recipe already including pineapple and not wanting pineapple to overpower the carrot and spices, I decided on a ginger spread. The jam is a seasonal item so I grabbed a few in case anyone wants to order one of these. I am taking custom orders for all baked goods now. If you’re in the DMV area, I’ll deliver for free. I had an absolute blast making this cake and my friends loved the flavors so it was a very fulfilling experience making this cake.

Frosting Notes

For the carrot ginger cake, I used a traditional cream cheese frosting. The tang and sweetness of the cream cheese frosting balances so well with the sweetness and spice of the carrot cake. This is the same frosting used in the pumpkin cupcakes as well. Maybe it works with all vegetable cakes? Drop a comment below if you have a cream cheese frosting combo that you tried that didn’t work and I’ll give you some baked goods. Seriously. Anyway, let your cream cheese come to room temperature. I’d recommend pulling the cream cheese and butter out, then prepping your cakes. Once your cakes are in the oven, the cream cheese will be ready to use. Add the cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat until light and airy, around 3 minutes.

Scrape the bowl down a few times during this step. Add the softened butter to the cream cheese and beat until incorporated. Next, a little at a time, add the powdered sugar. When the mixture reaches the right consistency and is well combined, add the vanilla extract.

Once the vanilla has been incorporated, transfer the frosting to a piping bag and place it in the fridge until ready to pipe.

Carrot Ginger Cake Notes

If you have a food processor, I would highly recommend it for shredding your carrots. It saves so much time, having to clean the food processor afterwards makes it worth it.

Anyway, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans. Be sure to do this well so your cakes don’t stick when removing them. In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients and flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and whisk to combine.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and incorporate using the paddle attachment. Add the dry ingredients in and mix until well combined.

Using a spatula, fold in the shredded carrots, pineapple, chopped walnuts, and coconut. Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter between the three greased and floured pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Roughly forty minutes but check earlier rather than later. Once the cakes are done, let them cool in the pans for five minutes and then invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Carrot Cake Assembly.

Trim and level the cake layers once cool so that cakes can be easily assembled and the finished product won’t lean. On your first layer, spread a thin layer of icing on top and then pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the top edge of the cake to prevent any jam from leaking out. Thin the jam with a bit of water to help it spread more easily so you don’t run the risk of ripping your cake while spreading the jam. Lay the next cake layer on top and repeat.

Apply a thin crumb coat and let the cake cool in the fridge for a few minutes. Frost the rest of the cake as desired.

Sugar Work Decorations

I decided to have some fun and try some sugar work on this cake. Having seen contestants on the great British bakeoff make caramel-dipped hazelnuts with long tails, I wanted to make those with pecans. I made a small batch of caramel using 200 grams of sugar and 56 grams of water. Add both to a clean saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a spatula until all of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has come to a boil.

Once the mixture boils, stop stirring the sugar mixture and continue to cook on medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to help keep the heat of the sugar mixture consistent. Cook the mixture until it reaches an amber color and immediately remove it from the heat. If using a candy thermometer, cook to around 270 degrees or the soft crack stage.

Place the pecans in the caramel mixture and coat them with caramel. Using a toothpick, poke the pecans and remove them from the pan, pulling a long string of caramel as you pull them out.

Snap the caramel tail off at the desired length and place it on a piece of wax paper or a Silpat to cool and harden up.

Once hardened, arrange them on top of the cake as desired. Add pieces of candied ginger if desired and serve.