Ingredients

• CARROT CAKE
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 cups carrots, grated
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• FROSTING
• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Cooking guidelines

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C.

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Take a large bowl and beat together the eggs, white sugar, oil and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt by hand. Grate your carrots and stir them into the batter. Carefully fold in the pecans so that they spread evenly through the batter, but take care not to over-mix it. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Place your baking pan in the preheated oven and bake for around 40 to 50 minutes. You will know your cake is cooked through if you insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and it comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool in its baking pan for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a wire rack to let it set and cool completely.

In the meantime, make your frosting. In a medium sized bowl, beat your softened butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until the frosting lightens and gets a beautiful, smooth and creamy texture. Roughly chop your pecans and stir them into the frosting. Frost the cooled cake and decorate with more pecans if you like.