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Peppercorn Carrot Cake with Drunken Golden Raisins & Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 2 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients

For the cake you will need

  • 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon fresh coarsely ground peppercorns
  • 2 teaspoons clove powder
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom
  • 1 tablespoon nutmeg
  • 2 cups white granulated sugar
  • 9 large eggs
  • 1 3/4 cups canola oil
  • 3 cups of peeled and grated carrots
  • 1 tablespoon of room temperature unsalted butter for greasing the pans

For the Drunken Golden Raisins you will need

  • 1 cup of golden raisins
  • 1 cup of spiced rum or bourbon

For the Icing you will need

  • 16 ounces full-fat cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2 sticks of unstalted butter
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered confectioners sugar sifted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Instructions

  1. One. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease one 18 inch by 13 inch sheet cake pans with butter, and line bottoms with parchment paper.
  2. Two. In a small bowl, combine golden raisins with your spiced rum (or bourbon) and let them re-hydrate for up to an hour.
  3. Three. In a bowl, sift the flower, baking powder, and baking soda together. Then mix in pepper, clove, cardamom, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  4. Four. In an electric mixer (or hand mixer circa the 90s like I have) on medium speed, whip the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer running, add the oil slowly to maintain the emulsion.
  5. Five. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and mix on medium for another 3 minutes. Once combined, add carrots and drained drunken raisins and mix until combined.
  6. Six. Pour the cake batter into the greased sheet-pan and bake for 20-25minutes or until golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the middle. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a cooling rack for 20 minutes, then remove carefully and let sit on the cooling rack until completely cool.
  7. Seven. For the cream cheese icing: In an electric mixer with paddle attachment (read also my 90s hand mixer with whip attachments), beat the cream cheese and butter at medium speed until creamy. Add in vanilla bean paste then gradually add confectioners sugar until combined.
  8. Eight. Using a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter, cut the cooled cake into circles and then lay circles on another sheet pan with a wire rack. Set this pan in the fridge to make sure there is no warmth remaining in the cake at all.
  9. Nine. Transfer the prepared frosting into a piping bag and cut the tip off. Pull the cooled cakes from the fridge and starting from the inside, pipe a spiral shape until the top is entirely covered. Garnish with pecans.