Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

Cake

• Cooking spray
• 3 cups walnuts
• 3 cups premium flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1.5 cups of sour milk or kefir
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 450 g grated carrots (about 4 cups)
• 2/3 cup raisins

Glaze

• 440 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 packages of 220g cream cheese at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, line them with parchment paper, and spray the paper with cooking spray. Spread the walnuts on another baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop 1.5 cups of walnuts and finely chop 1.5 cups of thyme. Set aside the finely chopped nuts for topping.
2. Bake the cakes:
   
   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, beat the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Gently fold in the grated carrots, raisins, and coarsely chopped walnuts with a rubber spatula.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer the cakes to wire racks and let cool for 20 minutes in the pans. Remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment, and let cool completely on the racks.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.:
   
   In a large bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
5. Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand and spread 1 cup of frosting on top. Add another cake layer, spread another 1 cup of frosting on top, and then place the last cake layer on top. Cover the top and sides of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting to cover any crumbs. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour.
6. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting, then gently press finely chopped walnuts into the sides.
   
   Note
   
   Grate the carrots using a coarse grater or in a food processor fitted with a carrot attachment. Store-bought grated carrots are too thick for this recipe.