Ingredients

For the Loaves:

• 2 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 & 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1 pound whole carrots, peeled
• 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 & 1/2 cups vegetable oil

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 3 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Green and orange food coloring (optional)

Instructions

For the Loaves:

Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

In a food processor with grater/shredder attachment, process the carrots until shredded. Pour into medium bowl and set aside. (Recommend grating your own carrots. The pre-grated variety at the store are typically too thick to use in carrot cake and don’t soften adequately as the cake bakes).

Wipe out food processor and fit with standard metal attachment. Add white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Process until mixture is thoroughly combined.

Next, with food processor running, drizzle oil into the sugar/egg mixture until mixture is thick and emulsified. About 30 seconds.

Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients, using a spatula to scrape as much of the liquid ingredients as you can from the food processor.

Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients together until combined. Mixture will be very thick. Fold carrots into the batter using your spatula. Distribute batter evenly between 2 loaf pans.

Bake for about 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Using hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, a ½ cup at a time, until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Pipe or spread onto cooled carrot cake loaves.

Optional Decoration:

Separate two ¼ cup portions of frosting into separate bowls. Add a few drops of orange and green food coloring into each bowl and mix, adjusting colors to your preference. Spoon dyed frosting into small ziplock bags, and cut a tiny opening in the corner of each bag.

Gently pipe carrot designs all over the top of the cake, as desired. Carrots are made by squeezing a blob of orange frosting then quickly drawing the frosting in a downward motion. Add “leaves” by making 1-2 small dots on the top of the orange “carrot.”