Waffled Carrot Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cake: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Brush three 9-inch-round cake pans with vegetable oil and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then pulse in a food processor until very finely chopped.
• Combine the pecans, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and granulated sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the vegetable oil, lemon zest, eggs and 1/2 cup marmalade. Stir in the carrots, then fold the carrot mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. Divide among the prepared pans and spread evenly (it won't look like a lot of batter, but the cakes will rise in the oven). Put 2 pans on the upper oven rack and the third pan on the lower rack. Bake until the cakes bounce back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, switching the position of the pans halfway through. Transfer the pans to racks until cool enough to handle, then invert the cakes onto the racks to cool completely. Remove the parchment.
• Make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl with a mixer until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt until smooth.
• Put 1 cake layer on a platter. Spread with 1 tablespoon marmalade, then spread about 3/4 cup frosting over the marmalade. Top with another cake layer, marmalade and frosting. Spread the final cake layer with a thin layer of frosting. (This is the crumb coat; it doesn't have to be perfect.) Refrigerate 1 hour, then cover with the remaining frosting. Swirl some marmalade into the top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Photograph by Con Poulos

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with coconut oil.
• For the cake layers: Place the walnuts on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes. When the walnuts are completely cool, finely chop half and roughly chop the remaining half; keep separate.
• Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl until combined and set aside. Whisk the 1/2 cup coconut oil, cane sugar, milk, applesauce and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in the carrots until thoroughly combined. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the finely chopped walnuts until just incorporated.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans, then smooth the top into an even layer. Bake until golden brown, the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto wire racks to completely cool, about 1 hour.
• For the cream cheese frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and salt until combined. Reduce the speed to low, then gradually add the confectioners' sugar followed by the cornstarch until combined and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the cake.
• When the cakes are completely cool, trim the domes of each round with a large serrated knife so the tops are flat. Place 1 round, cut-side down, on a platter or cake stand. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting evenly over top. Place the remaining round, cut-side down, on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with 1 cup of the frosting and smooth completely to make an even crumb coat. (It's okay if some of the cake shows through. This is just the base layer of frosting.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the frosting set.
• Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, swirling decoratively, if desired. Sprinkle the top edge of the cake with the roughly chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until the frosting is set, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment and lightly coat with cooking spray. Spread the walnuts out on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until light brown and fragrant, about 7 minutes.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, apple pie spice and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk together the granulated sugar and eggs in a large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the oil until well combined. Add the grated carrots, vanilla and walnuts and mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake until the cakes are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a spatula, turn the cakes out and let cool completely on the rack, right-side up, about 2 hours.
• Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a large bowl, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt, gradually increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until the frosting is fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer running on medium-high speed, slowly pour in the cream and beat until it's all incorporated. Continue beating until the frosting is slightly lighter in color and creamy, about 1 minute more.
• Remove the parchment from the cake layers. Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate and spread 1 cup of the frosting evenly over the top, almost to the edge. Top with the other cake layer and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.