I’ve got another recipe for you guys. This one I made for the last Cake and a Movie night.

We watched the movie, Hard Candy. Wow. This film was incredibly well done. Razor sharp, absolutely awesome… But not for the weak stomach at times. Definitely not a movie you’d pair with a carrot cake. It might be better paired with a glass of Vodka. Straight up.

We had a great group of people come over, 15 in all, though not all stayed the entire time. The movie got off to a late start as we couldn’t stop talking and socializing… not a bad problem at all!

Here are the tweeps that showed up

@j_tigers @laurenreid @mdanbom @ok2baprincess @madmax69 @turtis @kaleb1983 @aurablush @brooding_soul @savannahbrooke @clettenberg @coreyschmidt

And now for the cake!

This is a really great cake and holds a few firsts for me, mostly an original recipe and my first carrot cake. I was a little nervous about it coming out but it did just fine! A very forgiving formula, light and fluffy yet miraculously dense where it matters. The cake is spicy and moist, the frosting sweet and creamy. Let’s get to it!

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake Base
Makes about 7 1/2 cups

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups oil
• 6 eggs
• 5 cups shredded carrots

Start by washing, peeling and grating carrots, the smaller the shreds of carrots the better. Put aside.

In a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger until well blended. Add sugar and oil until well blended, batter will be thick. Add in eggs one at a time, ensures a consistent batter. Scrape the batter from the sides of bowl and add carrots, let this mix until smooth and well blended.

Spray three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with baking oil (I prefer to use the kind with flour). Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper as well.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans, about 2 ½ cups per pan, and bake the layers for about 40 minutes each, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes before placing in the freezer while you make the frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• 24 ounces cream cheese
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

All ingredients need to be at room temperature.

Using the stand mixer, whisk all the ingredients on medium until fluffy and smooth. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.

Remove cakes from the freezer, frosting from the refrigerator. Remove one cake from the pan, topside down on the cake platter. Peel away parchment paper. (You can choose to level the top of the cake by cutting it or just flip it upside down to save time and have an extra tall cake, doing so might require more frosting)

Frost the flat top of the first layer and add the second, and then the third and finally, frost the sides of the cake.

Place in the refrigerator until ready to cut and serve.

I choose to top the cake with some extra carrots that I shredded with a micro-plane to create these tiny, soft, bright orange carrot topping.

You can see the entire process in this slideshow.

I hope you enjoy this cake! Let me know if you bake it or have any suggestions. I didn’t include nuts in this cake because I’m allergic and no raisins because some of my regulars have voiced their opposition to the raisin haha.

It’s a HUGE cake when all is said and done. So tall that my glass dome wouldn’t sit on top. It’ll end up being about 6-7 inches tall, 9 inches wide. Mine served 15 with two slices to go, and we went with some really thick slices. You could easily serve up to 20 people with a cake like this.

Also, try substituting half the oil for applesauce or yogurt. You can also use fat free cream cheese for the first 16oz (if you do all fat free the frosting won’t have the proper consistency). You can even cut the sugar by using Splenda’s baking sugar substitute. Do all of this and it’s the perfect cake for those looking at their waistline after a few Cake and a Movie nights have hit their belt! It’ll still taste great and be super moist, I promise!