Best Orange Ginger Carrot Cake Recipes

CARROT-GINGER LAYER CAKE WITH ORANGE CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper and butter. Dust pans with flour and tap out any excess. Set aside. Spread pecans in a single layer on an ungreased baking pan and toast in oven until lightly golden, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand until completely cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Finely chop pecans and set aside.
• Place carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, and ginger in a large bowl; mix until well combined.
• Into a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Fold in the butter and toasted pecans.
• Divide batter between the two cake pans and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove pans from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so surfaces are level. Place a layer on a cake stand or cardboard round and spread 3/4 cup frosting over top. Place the second cake layer on top and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of assembled cake. Transfer to refrigerator and chill 3 to 4 hours.
• For the candied carrot strips, set a wire rack over a baking pan. Using fingers, lift one candied carrot strip from the sugar syrup, holding it over the container. With the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, gently squeeze the carrot strip and slide your fingers along its length, removing as much excess syrup as possible; lay the carrot strip on the wire rack. Repeat with remaining carrot strips.
• Decorate cake with candied carrot strips as desired. Cut cake and serve.

ORANGE-GINGER CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round pans. Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Add dry pudding mix; beat 2 min. Stir in carrots, 1/2 cup nuts, ginger and orange zest. Pour into prepared pans.
• Bake 30 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 10 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Whisk in COOL WHIP. Stack cake layers on plate, filling with 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting. Use remaining frosting to frost top and side of cake.
• Place colored sugar in large resealable plastic bag. Add marshmallow halves, in batches; close bag, then shake gently to evenly coat cut sides of marshmallows. Arrange marshmallows on cake as shown in photo. Press remaining nuts into frosting around bottom edge of cake.

GINGER-ORANGE CARROT CAKE WITH ORANGE-CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• 1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment. 2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside. 3. In a food processor fitted with a large shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer the carrots to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the food processor workbowl and fit with the metal blade. Process the granulated and brown sugars, eggs and the orange zest until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the carrots, crystallized ginger, and the dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours. 4. For the frosting: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, and orange juice and zest in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. 5. Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)