Carrot Pecan Cake

Grudgingly, a Success

It is no secret that I have long been a carrot cake skeptic. I do not like the idea of people trying to “healthy up” my desserts. And carrots, famously, are healthy. Furthermore, carrot cake contains a deep layer of my least favorite thing in a cake: cream cheese frosting. Before I am accused of having a beef with cream cheese, let me assure you I adore it — I simply believe it belongs on a bagel and not on a cake. My love for bagels with cream cheese runs so deep that, in my New York days, I would exclusively buy Yonah Friedman’s “Ben’s Cream Cheese.” A cream cheese snob, if you will. (Kraft’s Philadelphia is simply not for me.) But more to the point: Sara’s cheerful threats of making the entire household drink carrot juice if I refused to bake her favorite cake may have forced my hand here.

This recipe loosely follows Claire Saffitz’s version from her New York Times bestselling book, Dessert Person. I added some extra ginger to cut through the sweetness of the carrots, but the most notable exception here is that I refused, on principle, to make a cream cheese frosting. I had a hunch that I could replace it with a brown butter and mascarpone frosting. It was all going well until I tried to cover the cake with it — the entire thing started to clump and fall apart. Since a thick layer of frosting didn’t sit well with me to begin with, I simply scraped it off and dusted the cake with powdered sugar instead. To me, this solution turned out to be far superior to a cake smothered in yet another layer of frosting. Some people like frosting, some people don’t — you say tomato, I say tomahto. I won’t judge you if you decide to cover the cake in your favorite frosting. But it definitely does not need it. This carrot cake is so moist and full of flavor that it tastes fabulous without. I’ll admit it was nice to have just a little frosting between the layers, but in my humble opinion, that was plenty.

To make the cake batter, think of three components prepared in three separate bowls: the dry ingredients, the wet ingredients, and the egg-sugar-oil emulsion. Once integrated, the batter is baked in three separate nine-inch pans.

Dry Ingredients

Pecans — 150 g

Flour — 325 g

Ground Cinnamon — 3 teaspoons

Baking Powder — 8 g

Kosher Salt — 3 g

Baking Soda — 6 g

Ground Cloves — ¼ teaspoon

Toast the pecans at 350°F for 8 minutes until golden brown, shaking the baking sheet halfway through. Let cool. Put 100 grams of the pecans in a zip-lock bag and crush with a rolling pin. Crush finely and add to the dry mix. Reserve 50 grams to add to the finished batter at the end.

Wet Ingredients

Carrots — 450 g

Buttermilk — 240 g

Grated fresh ginger — 2 tablespoons

Grate the carrots coarsely and the ginger on a fine grater. (If you like your carrot cake on the softer side, do this first and let the buttermilk tenderize the carrots for 30 minutes to an hour.)

Egg / Sugar / Oil Emulsion

Sugar — 150 g

Brown Sugar — 150 g

4 large eggs, at room temperature

Neutral vegetable oil — 225 g

Beat the eggs with a whisk for 30 seconds, then add the sugar. Whisk the egg and sugar mixture on high speed until it reaches ribbon consistency, about 4–5 minutes. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the oil in a slow, thin stream to create an emulsion.

Add the wet and dry ingredients to the emulsion in two additions, alternating between the two. Use the paddle attachment on the lowest setting. Once everything is incorporated, fold in the 50 g of coarsely crushed pecans.

Divide the batter evenly between three 9-inch pans that have been oiled and lined with a round of parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely. Once cooled, loosen the edges with a knife and flip onto a wire rack. Peel off the baking paper.

Brown Butter and Mascarpone Cream

Brown 200 g of unsalted butter, then let it cool until solid but not refrigerator-hard. Beat the butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Carefully fold in the mascarpone — do not overbeat or it will start to clump. Vanilla paste is optional; given the depth of spice in the cake itself, it is unlikely to be missed.

Powdered sugar — 300 g

Unsalted butter — 200 g

Mascarpone cheese — 200 g

Assembling the Cake

Place the first layer on a cake platter and cover with cream. Add the second layer, cover with cream, then place the third layer on top. If you have cream left over, apply a very thin layer to the sides of the cake — this will help the powdered sugar to stick. Dust the entire cake generously with powdered sugar.

Voilà: a carrot cake without cream cheese frosting. What is most endearing about this version is how brightly the ginger and spices shine through.