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Maple Pecan Carrot Cake

Maple Pecan Carrot Cake with Maple Buttercream Frosting

Maple Pecan Carrot Cake with Maple Buttercream Frosting - a delicious new twist on a traditional carrot cake with maple syrup and plenty of crunchy toasted pecans in the cake, topped off  by a creamy maple frosting.
Course Cakes/Dessert, Dessert
Cuisine North American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 12 or more servings
Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

For the pecan carrot cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups grated carrots
  • 1 1/4 cup chopped lightly toasted pecans

For the maple frosting

  • 4 cups icing sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To prepare the cake

  1. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper circles for easy release.
  2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and oil until light and fluffy.
  4. Stir in the grated carrots and toasted nuts.
  5. Fold in the dry ingredients by hand.
  6. Stir only until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix.
  7. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  8. Cool completely before frosting.

To prepare the frosting

  1. Simply beat the ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and spreadable.
  2. If the frosting is too thick just add a little milk to get it to a spreadable consistency.
  3. If it seems too loose, just add a bit more icing sugar.
  4. If you want to completely cover the cake with frosting make 1 1/2 to 2 times the frosting recipe.

Recipe Notes

To toast the nuts, just preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 7 or 8 minutes. Toss the nuts half way through that time. I do not use a grinder for nuts, as I think they generally get ground too finely. I give them a rough chop with a knife or if I have time, snap each pecan into 4 pieces, so that they are large enough to see and to bite into in the cake.