Swedish Carrot Cake

We took a trip to Stockholm, Sweden back in March for Spring Break. I absolutely loved Sweden. It has so much to offer. One thing I really loved was how much they enjoy dessert there, and make time for it every day with their Fika, or coffee break. In every restaurant we went to, there was always a dessert table laid out with so many delicious things that one could choose for either dessert or Fika. I saw this carrot cake everywhere. It took me awhile to try it, since I don't love carrot cake. But I did try it, and I absolutely loved Swedish Carrot cake! It's so good- a nice thick slice with cream cheese frosting. Don't use pre-shredded carrots for this; you want the moistness from carrots you shred yourself.

Swedish Carrot Cake  

adapted from True North Kitchen

Note: Makes an 8x8 inch pan. I doubled this and put in a large 9x13 pan

For the Carrot Cake:

¼ cup unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
½ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups packed grated carrots about 8 ounces

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

*vanilla bean paste, optional, about 1/2 tsp

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square cake pan. set aside. Place the butter in a medium saucepan or skillet (preferably not nonstick or cast iron so that you can more easily see the color change) and heat over medium low heat, swirling the pan frequently. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook over medium low swirling the pan frequently until the butter has a nutty aroma and is golden brown in color. Don’t walk away from the stove! Brown butter can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds. Transfer brown butter to a bowl to cool.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

3.  Combine eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl and whisk until fully combined and no lumps of sugar remain. Slowly whisk in oil followed by cooled brown butter and vanilla extract. Keep whisking until the mixture is emulsified and cohesive.

4.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just a few streaks of flour remain. Fold in carrots until the batter is just combined. Using a rubber spatula, transfer cake batter to prepared pan. Bake for 25-40 minutes or until a tester poked into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. (Start testing at the lower time.) Set cake aside to cool.

5.  Meanwhile, make the frosting: Combine butter and cream cheese in work bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium until fully combined, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar, vanilla (and optional vanilla beans paste) and a pinch of salt. Return the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is completely smooth, about 1-2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice, as necessary. 

6.  Once cake has cooled completely, spread evenly frosting on top. Serve or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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