Carrot Cake

I just made a pumpkin cake for a Halloween party and was distressed by the amount of confectioners sugar called for in the cream cheese frosting so I googled cream cheese frostings and found a Martha Stewart recipe calling for only a cup with 8 oz cream cheese and 1 stick butter. Much better. Can't imagine this frosting with 3+....

This is similar to the carrot cake from The Silver Palate New Basics that I've been making for years. I may start substituting uncooked carrots (less work!) as per Dorie G.
I very much prefer a white chocolate cream cheese frosting to the one here, which in my opinion comes out too sweet and with a kind of gloppy texture. I use the recipe from Bernbaum's Cake Bible.

I read all the comments and decided to make the cake exactly as written. Wow...it was really good. All the folks who ate it loved it...many said it was the best carrot cake they ever had. The lemon juice in the icing cuts through the sweetness. Subtle and perfect. I will make this again without changing a thing!

I agree Janet. Too many carrot cakes are sugar bombs. You can safely reduce the sugar to 1.5 cups but no lower or the structure of the cake will suffer.
For a less sweet frosting see my reply to Betsy below.

How long did it take to bake with 2 layers instead of 3? And did you adjust temp? I want to make this but have only 2 cake pans!

My wife made this for our daughters birthday - I mention that Louise has made a lot of carrot cakes in the past 40 years in fact we had a carrot cake for our wedding, thats how much she loves them. OK - this recipe is the very best carrot cake recipe we've ever tasted. It was given rave reviews by everyone. I love it so much that I cut a few giant slices and hid them away in the freezer so I'd get to have a small piece for weeks to come - thanks for another NYTimes Cooking hit

So delicious!
I didn't put nuts or coconut in the cake, but sprinkled the top with some toasted, chopped hazelnuts. Also added a small amount of crushed, drained pineapple.
Last, but not least, I used what my family calls 'drunken raisins'. I plump up raisins (overnight) in booze. I used to use Honey Whiskey, but this time I used homemade Vanilla Extract. This litlle trick gives a new dimension in flavor and moistness.

Turned out to be my new favorite Carrot Cake.

No need to make 3 layers - works perfectly for 2 layers, same size pans. Then you can ice the sides as well as the top and in-between layers. Would recommend cutting parchment paper circles, buttered and floured in addition to the pans, to help with getting the cake out. Lastly - this cake is very rich and delicious. Accompanying it with lemon curd, which is also very rich, I think would be a mistake.

I absolutely adore this recipe. I have celiac disease, so I make a gluten free version, simply replacing the all-purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill Cup for Cup. And it works perfectly. No one knows it's gluten free, and the cake comes out moist, tender and delicious. The sweetness of the icing really compliments the heartiness of the cake.

I've made this cake twice now in two weeks with and without frosting. Both times in a bundt pan at 350 degrees for 55 min-one hour. Instead of 2 cups sugar I used one cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar and that was sweet enough. Without frosting i think it could pass as a great treat for brunch or afternoon tea, like a muffin or quick bread. It is delicious!

This is a fantastic recipe. Came out perfectly with minor adjustments. I followed the recommendations from others and cut the sugar in the cake to 1.5 and in the icing to just over 2 cups. Even with that fairly significant reduction in sugar, it was awesome and plenty sweet without being overly so, and everyone loved it. A major hit.

This cake is awesome! I use the recipe to make muffins but I use half the recommended quantity of sugar and 3/4 recommended quantity of oil. It comes out so well that I decided to go commercial with it.

Thanks to the fantastic recipe, I'm now a proud owner of a micro business right from my kitchen

28 servings at 358 calories per slice. I'd love to see my husband's face as I cut a piece that small (think about it, 7 slices from one quarter of the cake!).

Some members of my family don't like dark dried fruit in their carrot cake so I substituted very well drained crushed pineapple instead of raisins or cranberries and it was excellent.

For even more moisture and texture, add a small can of well drained pineapple.