Ginger-Orange Carrot Cake with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting Cook's Illustrated thanks to Jean Heyer Yield: one 13 by 9 inch cake Ginger-Orange Carrot Cake 2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12½ ounces) 1¼ tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1½ tsp. ground ginger 1&189 tsp. ground cinnamon ½ tsp. ground nutmeg ⅛ tsp. ground cloves ½ tsp. table salt 1 pound medium carrots (6 - 7 carrots), peeled 1½ cups granualted sugar (10½ ounces) ½ cup packed light brown sugar (3½ ounces) 4 large eggs 1 Tbsp. grated orange zest 1½ cups vegetable oil, safflower oil, or canola oil ½ cup minced crystallized ginger Orange-Cream Frosting 8 ounces cream cheese softened, but still cool 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter softened, but still cool 1 Tbsp. orange juice 1¼ cups confectioners' sugar (4½ ounces) Instructions For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350o. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in bowl, and set aside. In a food processor fitted with a large shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer the carrots to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the food processor workbowl and fit with the metal blade. Process the granulated and brown sugars, eggs and the orange zest until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the carrots, crystallized ginger, and the dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotatiing the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours. For the frosting: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, and orange juice and zest in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Run paring knife aroud edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)

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