Carrot Layer Cake

Name: Carrot Layer Cake
Yield: Serves 10 to 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces), all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons, baking powder; 1 teaspoon, baking soda; 1 1/2 teaspoons, ground cinnamon; 3/4 teaspoon, ground nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon, salt; 1/4 teaspoon, ground cloves; 1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces), light brown sugar; 3/4 cup, vegetable oil; 3 large, eggs; 1 teaspoon, vanilla extract; 2 2/3 cups shredded, carrots (4 carrots); 2/3 cups, dried currants; 16 tablespoons, unsalted butter, softened; 3 cups (12 ounces), confectioners' sugar; 1/3 cup, buttermilk powder; 2 teaspoons, vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon, salt; 12 ounces, cream cheese, chilled and cut into 12 equal pieces; 2 cups (8 ounces), pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated May/June 2012, America's Test Kitchen TV

Desserts or Baked Goods

This American classic has a lot going for it: moist cake, delicate spice, tangy cream cheese frosting. If only it were handsome enough to serve to company, too.

SERVES10 to 12

TIME1½ hours, plus 30 minutes cooling and 1 hours chilling

has video

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Preparing this cake in a half sheet pan means that it bakes and cools in far less time than a conventional layer cake, and—cut into quarters—it produces four thin, level layers that do not require splitting or trimming before frosting. Addi...

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