Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

Cakes

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 0.5 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups premium flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp of soda
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 3/4 cup lightly toasted walnuts or raisins

Curd cream

• 225 g of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Lightly toasted walnuts for garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease two 22cm cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together vegetable oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
   
   In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and cloves. Stir in the grated carrots until coated (this will deepen the color of the cakes). Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly (the dough will be runny). Stir in the walnut pieces or raisins, if using.
3. Divide the batter between 2 pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. Curd creamBeat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Then stir in the vanilla and lemon juice, add the remaining powdered sugar, and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Assembling the cakeRemove the parchment paper from the cake layers and place one on a plate or platter. Spread a generous layer of frosting on top and top with the second cake layer.
   
   Cover the top and sides of the cake with frosting, creating swirls with a spatula. Decorate the cake by sprinkling a few walnuts on top or pressing them onto the sides. The cake can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days..