Carrot & Pecan Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Bake #43 for 2025: Carrot & Pecan Cake by Claire Saffitz

Wow, this one is fantastic, friends! It does require a little more work and is definitely large enough for a party, but like a true Claire recipe – it’s phenomenal. The sweetness is *just* right and all the other flavors highlight the carrot, rather than fight with it. And the brown butter cream cheese frosting? Chef’s kiss, no doubt about it. When trying the cake, Charlie said, “Oooo, that’s where it’s at!” Which is about as high a compliment as it get’s from him. Leave yourself plenty of time (or even make the cake layers the day before), but this recipe is well worth sharing and making.

It comes from her cookbook Dessert Person, available here. The original recipe is also available on Penguin’s website PLUS Claire has a video walkthrough on her YouTube. 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups (150g) chopped pecans or walnuts 
• 1 pound (454g) coarsely grated fresh carrot (about 5 large)
• 1 cup (240g) buttermilk, at room temp
• 1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2-1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 4 large eggs, at room temp
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 3/4 cup (150g) dark brown sugar
• 1 cup neutral oil (226g), such as vegetable or grapeseed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and scatter pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 min, shaking halfway through, until the nuts are deep golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.*
2. Lightly brush the bottoms and sides of three 8” cake pans with oil and line the bottoms with parchment rounds. Set aside.
3. If needed, preheat oven back to 350F.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together the carrots, buttermilk, fresh ginger, and vanilla. Set aside. (Note: if possible, do this step anywhere from 15 to several hours in advance as the buttermilk will tenderize the carrots.)
5. Place half the pecans in a sealed bag, pressing out the air. Use a rolling pin to crush the nuts into a coarse meal. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and cloves. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
6. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs and sugars. Beat on medium-low to break up the eggs, then on medium-high until they reach ribbon stage, about 4 min. With the mixer on medium-low, slowly stream in the oil until the mixture is smooth and emulsified (it will deflate some).
7. Switch the whisk out for the paddle attachment. Then, incorporate the wet and dry ingredients alternately by adding a third of the flour mixture and beating just until it is incorporated, then half the carrot mixture, then half the remaining flour, the final half of the carrots, and then the final bit of flour. When the last traces of flour have disappeared, use a flexible spatula to fold in the remaining toasted nuts.
8. Divide batter evenly between three pans and bake until they are springy to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean, 25-30 min, switching racks/rotating pans at the 20 min mark.
9. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in their pans.
10. Meanwhile, make the frosting:

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks (227g) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 pound (454g) full-fat cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia, at room temp
• pinch of salt
• 1 pound (454g) powdered sugar, sifted if very lumpy
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean OR 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat, stirring and scraping the sides constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the sputtering subsides and the butter solids turn brown, 6-8 min. Immediately, scrape all the butter and browned solid bits into a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool to room temp.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium until completely smooth. Add the salt and all the powdered sugar, cover the mixer with a clean kitchen towel to avoid plumes of sugar. Pulse the mixer on low to incorporate the sugar, then beat on medium-high, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the frosting is light, thicky, and very smooth, about 1 min. Beat in the vanilla seeds/extract.
3. The frosting is now ready to use. If the consistency is too loose and won’t hold a peak, chill in the refrigerator, stirring every 10 min, until is becomes thickened and spreadable.

To Finish: stack the cakes, spreading with about 1 cup of frosting between the layers. Use a thin layer of frosting to crumb coat the stacked cake. Chill for 15 min, then cover the whole cake with a generous layer of frosting. Refrigerate another 15 min before serving.

The cake will keep wrapped and refrigerated for 3 days, but allow it to come to room temp before serving, either for several hours as a whole or 30 min – 1 hour for slices.