Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake but rarely make it; I'm not sure why, but I have the perfect recipe and can't wait to make it again. The cake is super moist and I love the cream cheese frosting. There's just a hint of sourness from the sour cream that brings everything together. I topped the caked with crushed pecans but you could always omit those if you're not feeling nutty.

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp table salt
1 lb medium carrots, peeled and shredded (approximately 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp light sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch sheet pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugars and eggs on medium-high until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly stream in the oil. Increase the speed to high and mix until the mixture is light in color and has emulsified. Turn off the mixer and stir by hand the carrots and dry ingredients. Mix until completely combined.

Pour batter into your prepared baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes and then invert on a cooling rack to cool completely. I left mine in the pan to cool completely since I wasn't covering the sides with frosting.

To make frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla at medium high speed with a hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and mix until the frosting is fluffy. Frost and sprinkle chopped pecans on top of cake.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe