Brown Butter Carrot Cake

I love a good carrot cake anytime of year but when the weather is rainy with a slight chill in the air, this spice cake just makes me all warm and cozy! This new recipe used brown butter – if you haven’t tried it yet, you need to just start adding it to every recipe you’ve got! The brown butter provides an almost caramel-y flavor to the cake and pairs perfectly with the cinnamon and nutmeg!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups grated carrot (about 4 large carrots)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 generous tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups butter melted and browned
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350*
• Grate carrots on small side of box grater and set aside
• Melt butter over medium heat. Stir occasionally until butter is browned, about 15 minutes. Try not to let the butter boil, keep stirring so it cooks but does not burn
• Place browned butter in a small bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Combine sugars and butter and beat on medium high until combined
• Add eggs, vanilla, and spices, beat on medium
• Add in baking soda, baking powder, and 1 cup of flour. Beat on medium until combined
• Add remaining flour and beat until just combined
• Using a spatula, stir in the carrots
• Pour batter into two 9-inch cake pans or one 9×13 pans and bake for 27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• Let cakes cool completely before frosting

For the Frosting:

• Whip cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until combined
• Pour in 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat on medium high until fully combined
• Add remaining powdered sugar and beat on medium until frosting has reached desired consistency
• Add more powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments if you prefer the frosting to be sweet
• If frosting in a design and the frosting isn’t holding, place it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to firm and then continue frosting

Putting the cake together:

• Using a serrated knife, cut the rounded top off of both cakes until flat
• Place cake layer on plate and frost a thing layer of cream cheese on top
• Carefully, place second layer upside down on the first layer, the bottom of the cake layer will be the smooth top layer of cake
• Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting as the ‘crumb coat’ this will keep crumbs from messing up the final finished look of the cake
• Place the cake in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm the frosting, if desired
• Using a knife or thin metal spatula, frost a final, thick layer of cream cheese frosting over the entirety of the cake I used a starburst shaped frosting tip and bag and just did ‘roses’ all the way around the cake!