Carrot Cake with Pecans is so moist and delicious. A reminder of my childhood and my favorite season, Autumn. It's full carrots, pineapple, nuts, and spices.
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two 9 inch cake pans with waxed paper and spray with cooking spray. Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand.
Prepare the Ingredients
Peel and coarsely grate carrots.
Using a nut chopper or knife, chop pecans or English walnuts.
Make the Cake Batter
In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and brown sugar. On medium speed, add eggs one at a time along with vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and freshly ground nutmeg.
Add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture, beating well. Fold in grated carrots, crushed pineapple (undrained), and chopped nuts.
Pour batter into pans. Lightly tap pans on counter once to get rid of any air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes until edges have pulled away from sides and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.
Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting
In a small bowl, mix on high speed the softened cream cheese and butter, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Lower speed and add in powdered sugar. Mix until smooth. You may add more powdered sugar until you have the desired consistency.
Frost the Cake
Frost layers, beginning with the bottom layer and using the frosting in thirds.
Add the top layer and frost the sides. End with the remaining frosting on the top and spreading until the entire cake is covered.
Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts as desired. Serves 16-20.
Notes
*Unless otherwise indicated, all butter used on this recipe site is salted.