Easter is right around the corner! I can’t believe how fast March flew by. I don’t know if it was just me but I feel like it went by crazy fast. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about that though, because I love Easter and I leave for Hawaii in 5 days! I love celebrating Easter and all the traditions that come with it. Having kids makes Easter 10x more fun too! I love decorating Easter eggs with them and seeing their excitement in the morning when the Easter Bunny has visited and left them their baskets. It really is magical seeing their little eyes light up in excitement.
The other thing I love about Easter is obviously the food! Deviled eggs, ham, potato salad and most importantly carrot cake. If you’ve been here for awhile you know I love a good sheet cake and this carrot cake is no different. You guys all know I couldn’t just make a plain and simple carrot cake, I’m just too over the top for that. I love a cake with some texture to it so what better texture to add then the pretzel crack that’s on my Banana Pretzel Crunch Cake. This carrot cake starts with a traditional base loaded with carrots, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Then it’s frosted with a light cream cheese whipped cream and last the pretzel crack only this time I added some of those warm spices to the crack to really tie in the traditional carrot cake flavor.
Tips & Tricks
- If you are not a fan of pecans you can use walnuts instead. If you want to do a nut-free version, omit the pecans in the carrot cake batter and for the crack, substitute the cup of pecans for an extra cup of crushed pretzels.
- Make sure and measure the pretzels after they are crushed and not before, otherwise you won’t have enough pretzels.
- The pretzel crack will come out of the oven looking very soupy, that’s totally okay and is normal. Once it cools, it will all solidify.
- I like to break up this cake into 2 days. On day one I will make the cake and the crack. I store the cake covered on the counter top and the pretzel crack in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. On day 2 I make the frosting and assemble the cake.
- Don’t add the pretzel crack on top too far in advance because it has the chance of getting soggy if it sits in the frosting too long before actually serving it. I like to add it about an hour before serving.
Carrot Pretzel Crack Cake
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 20–24 servings 1x
Description
Delicious homemade carrot cake with cream cheese whipped cream frosting and a cinnamon spiced pretzel pecan brittle.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup pecans
- 12 oz shredded carrots
- 3 tbsp sour cream (room temperature)
- 1/3 cup apple sauce
For the crack:
- 2 cups pretzels, broken into small chunks**
- 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
- 2 1/2 sticks melted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
For the frosting:
- 1– 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup packed powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate medium sized bowl whisk together eggs, sugars, oil, sour cream, vanilla and apple sauce.
- In a small bowl, add 1 tbsp of the dry mixture to the 1 cup of chopped pecans and mix to coat them completely. Set aside.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until no flour streaks remain.
- Fold in the carrots and the pecans to the cake batter, mix until carrots are evenly distributed.
- Spray a half sheet pan liberally with cooking spray.
- Pour cake batter into the pan and bake for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let cake cool completely while you make the crack and frosting.
For the crack:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl combine all crack ingredients until sugar is fully melted and mixed in.
- Using a baking silpat or parchment paper, line the bottom of a half sheet pan with it.
- Spread mixture in an even layer and bake for 9-10 minutes until starting to bubble. At this point turn your oven to high broil, don’t walk away from the oven, watch your mixture the entire time and let it broil for 30-60 seconds until its a toasty caramel color. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- Once completely cool, break it into chunks and set aside.
For the frosting:
- In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla on medium/high speed for 3-4 minutes until completely smooth.
- With the mixer on medium/high speed, slowly pour the cold heavy whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Once all the cream has been added, turn mixture to high and beat for another 30-60 seconds until stiff peaks are formed.
Assembly:
- Frost cooled cake with whipped cream frosting.
- Right before serving, top the cake evenly with the pretzel crack. Cut into squares and serve. Do not add the pretzel crack until an hour before serving or else there’s a chance it could get soggy.
Notes
**Measure the pretzels once they have been chopped, not before.
- Category: Dessert
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