Olive Oil Carrot Cake + Chai Latte Frosting

I often (read: nearly always) have a difficult time patting myself on the back. I make the mistake of believing that if I'm never happy with what I make, I will always strive to do better. That's a load of BS in general but it's certainly so with respects to this cake. This is not only the best carrot cake I've ever made but the best carrot cake I've ever tasted, period. The olive oil creates both an insanely rich texture and flavor and the moisture knows no bounds. Whipping the chai latter frosting into a fluffy cloud counter balances the cake and brings a whole other set of deep flavors to the table. I ate this whole cake solo (another cause for a pat on the back).

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Large bowl

1 cup (215g) olive oil

1/4 cup (45g) vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Medium bowl

2 cups (240g) cake flour

3 cups (300g) shredded carrots

3/4 cup (87g) toasted walnuts, chopped

3/4 cup (87g) toasted almonds, chopped

2 tablespoons (20g) dry milk powder, optional

On the sidelines

Chai Cream Cheese Frosting

A few rainbow carrots, for decoration, optional

A handful of toasted almonds, for decoration, optional

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1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or lightly coat with nonstick spray two 9-inch cake pans. If you have parchment paper, line the bottom of the cake pans and give it another quick spray.

2

In the large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

3

Stir in the flour, carrots, nuts, and milk powder until the batter is well mixed.

4

Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans. If you're baking by weight (and you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE), I got 615g of batter per cake pan. Bake until the cakes are set in the middle- roughly 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and let cool in the pan completely.

5

Frost with as much or as little as you like of the Chai Latter frosting. Spoiler alert- I make a double batch of frosting for this cake. For the carrot roses, I used a vegetable peeler to create thin strips of rainbow carrots. I curled the strips into themselves and for the rebellious ones, I dabbed a bit of cornstarch mixed with water on the end to help stay put. For me, it helped to let the roses dry out before decorating the cake but fair warning, the color of rainbow carrots mutes just a tad from freshly peeled to dry. Though, they're still just as beautiful.