Carrot Cake & my beautiful birthday month !

It's October and I love the onset of the nip in the air . I also love tall cakes and find it adding a super ' fancy ' element to all the special occasions which come starting this time of the year . Also , if the cake in question is a headily spiced carrot cake then it makes everything all the more delicious and heartwarming . Like most traditional cake recipes , I like to keep mine simple yet deeply moist and packed with flavor and filled heavily with toasted nuts , rum soaked raisins and off course , not to miss mention the bite in texture , from the carrots . This cake is a dense cake but yet , each forkful tastes super soft . Do not miss out on the cream cheese frosting ever , as the flavor in the cake intensifies with layers of frosting - which also when kept overnight , create an even more tender bite to the cake .

With the start of the autumn months , a moist layered carrot cake with a delectable cream cheese frosting is everything you would ever want to dig into or bake along....

If you’re looking for a make-ahead bake whose taste and texture won’t be compromised by the time you eat it , do most definitely try your hand at making this recipe . Also , another important tip to get a good texture in a carrot cake is to use a good quality oil in the batter and no butter or margarine . Let me take you through this easy bake !

Things you will need :

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp cinnamon , finely powdered

• Pinch of nutmeg powder

• 03 eggs , at room temperature

• 3 medium cups of grated carrots

• 3/4 cup granulated brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 01 tsp vanilla essence

• 1/3 cup walnut or almond powder ( coarsely grated )

• 1/3 cup rum soaked raisins

Steps to follow :

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

• Grease 02 08 inch baking pans and line with parchment paper and keep aside .

• In a large bowl , combine all the dry ingredients with a whisk - flour, baking powder, walnut / almond powder , cinnamon and nutmeg.

• In another bowl , combine all the wet ingredients like the eggs , oil and vanilla essence with the grated carrots, brown sugar and the white sugar powder.

• Next , add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together delicately ( Do not overmix the batter)

• Now , pour the cake batter into your greased baking pans and spread the batter evenly in both the pan's - Place the bakes in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until done .

• Test with a toothpick which inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean .

• When cake is done, remove from the oven and let cool completely.

To make the cream cheese frosting , whip the below together :

• 450g full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature

• 115g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 600gms of icing sugar

• 1 tablespoon milk

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt, to taste

Assemble the cake

• Cut the cake top with a cake leveler and smoothen for a flat top for both the layers

• Layer the cake with the cream cheese frosting alternating between cake and cream cheese. Cover the top layer with the remaining cream cheese and smoothen the icing using an offset spatula or create designs using an icing comb.

• Decorate the cake with carrot roses / whole walnuts or anything you fancy .

• Cool the iced cake in the freezer for 05-10 mins to allow the cream cheese to set.

• Slice and serve !