Carrot Sheet Cake

 

My memories of carrot cake involve a dry cake with a too sweet frosting slathered on top.  This year for Easter, I decided to do some research and make (what I hoped would be) a delicious, moist carrot cake for dessert.  This recipe did not disappoint!  The cake was moist and the frosting was the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.  I love that it was a sheet cake so it was a little thinner and I wasn't serving up daunting pieces of carrot cake (granted we all went back for seconds and thirds...).

I combined the frosting from one recipe and the cake from another based on what I already had in my pantry and fridge.

When made in a 9"x13" pan, this will serve 10-12 people and when made in an 11"x17" sheet cake pan, it will serve 20-24 people.

Carrot Cake (this recipe is for the 11"x17" sheet cake pan - halve the recipe for a 9"x13" pan):
4 eggs
3/4 C oil
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
3/4 C water
2 tsp vanilla
3 C sugar
3 1/2 C flour
1 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 lbs. carrots, washed and shredded

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
5 TBSP unsalted butter
1 TBSP sour cream
1 1/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350.
Lightly grease the pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, applesauce, water, and vanilla.
Stir in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Do not over mix or you will have tough cake.
Gently fold in the shredded carrots.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
Bake the 11"x17" pan for 25-30 minutes and the 9"x13" pan for 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs attached).
Let the cake cool completely.
For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream.
Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until the frosting is smooth.
Frost the cooled cake and serve.

The cake recipe is from melskitchencafe.com and the frosting recipe is from Cooks Illustrated via melskitchencafe.com.