Kernza® Carrot Cake
About 10 servings
Timing
Prep: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Cooling: 30 min or more
Total cooking time: 1 hour 40 min
Equipment
- Food processor with shredding blade or a regular hand grater (for carrot)
- A stand or hand mix
- Two 9 in. round cake pans
For cake
- 1 1/2 cup Kernza Flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 to 5 cups grated carrots, grated in food processor or by hand
- 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 4 eggs
For frosting
(you can double this if you want the whole cake frosted; the amount below was used for one layer between cakes and one layer on top of the cake, see picture)
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon honey
Optional topping
- Coarsely chopped and toasted pecans
- Shredded coconut
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking." This is a delicious, pro-chunk carrot cake. Cinnamon and ginger really make the Kernza shine.
Prep
- Arrange your oven rack to the middle and preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Butter and flour the insides of two 9in. round pans (three if you have shallower pans, or would like more layers in your cake).
The cake
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
- In a large bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped pecans, coconut and cranberries so that the ingredients are well blended.
- In another large bowl use the stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer, to beat the sugars and oil together on medium until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time while the mixer is running. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, stop the mixer once the dry ingredients disappear. Gently fold in the carrot mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Pour the batter into the baking pans.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the middle of the cakes are set, you can check with a knife.
- Cool the cakes for 5 minutes before removing them from the cake pans, then cool on racks until they are room-temperature (important for the frosting!).
The frosting
- Again, use a stand or hand mixer to blend the cream cheese, butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture starts to become stiff.
- Pour in the honey and beat until the frosting is whipped, be careful not to overmix or the frosting will be runny.
Assembly
- Cover the top of one cake with the frosting, using a spoon to smooth it to the edges.
- Top with the second cake and frost this top as well (or the whole cake, sides included, if you would like).
- Sprinkle the reserved chopped pecans and coconut on top. The cake is ready to serve or you can refrigerate for 30 minutes beforehand to help the frosting set.
Feb 20, 2022 • Posted by Alison
I made this as my introduction to Kernza. It was quite good!
Changes I made, though: I decreased the baking soda to 1 tsp, I skipped the coconut, and I mixed the oil with the cranberries and set them aside to plump up a bit while I assembled the rest, beating the eggs with just the sugar.
Since you’re not going to get a light and fluffy cake with those ingredients anyway, I’ll probably skip the baking soda altogether next time; I don’t much care for it. But there will be a next time because this was good. Thank you for the recipe!