classic carrot cake with bourbon maple buttercream
A quad-layer tower of springtime awesome for your favorite bunnies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups finely shredded carrots
- chopped walnuts for garnish
bourbon maple buttercream
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 12 oz cream cheese, chilled
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp bourbon
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch or three 6-inch cake pans with butter.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until combined, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated, then the Greek yogurt and vanilla.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just combined. Squeeze excess moisture out of the carrots with paper towels or a clean tea towel. Fold in with a rubber spatula.
- Divide the batter amongst the prepared cake pans. Tap a couple times on the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake 30-35 minutes until an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then rub a knife around the edges to loosen the cakes and flip onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
- When the cakes are cooled, carefully slice each in half. Or, leave it in two big layers! Up to you.
- Make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-low speed until combined, then add the vanilla, bourbon, and maple syrup. Whip until incorporated. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating between each addition, until the frosting is smooth. Then CRANK THAT SHIT TO HIGH BRO and beat for 1-2 minutes until fluffy.
- Place one cake layer on a cake stand or large flat plate. Frost the top until covered. Add another cake layer and frost. Repeat with the remaining two layers, if you made four. Then, frost all over the remaining buttercream. If you have some left, do some fancy piping or some shit. I'm ass at decorating so I kept mine simple.
Notes
*To store: Because the buttercream uses cream cheese, I highly recommend storing in the fridge once the cake is decorated. If you need to prep ahead and have no fridge room for a completed cake, wrap the cooled layers thoroughly in plastic wrap or in a ziptop bag and store for up to 3 days before frosting. Decorated cake will last about 5 days in the fridge.