Natalie's Killer Carrot Cake

Yeah Natalie! Yes, your carrot cake IS killer! First let me introduce you to Natalie's blog, which is where I found this awesome and my now favorite carrot cake recipe.
http://www.natalieskillercuisine.com/
I was not planning on making a carrot cake last night but then I came across this recipe and I had this great urge to bake it. Her recipe makes a 9 inch double layer. I wanted mine to be a triple layer so I doubled the recipe. A double recipe made 3 thick 9 inch layers plus a very thin 9 inch layer which we ate warm with no icing. Natalie's recipe does not call for vanilla but I did add a rather large splash of my wonderful homemade vanilla extract. This cake is everything a carrot cake should be. Sooo moist, flavorful, not too dense and definitely not greasy like a lot of carrot cakes made with oil. Perfect, really. I suppose you could probably play around with it a bit to meet your own tastes. Maybe add some pineapple or coconut. The recipe calls for pecans but I'm not one to add nuts to any of my baked goods. I like mine to be pretty plain. Straight up carrot cake. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. Natalie also includes a icing recipe which I also added below but I used my own cream cheese icing recipe.
Enjoy!

Of course I had a VERY thick layer of cream cheese icing on my cake.

Look how moist!!

Natalie's Killer Carrot Cake
yield: 2 9-inch cakes

2 cup AP Flour
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
4 Eggs
1 1/4 cup 100% Vegetable Oil
3 cups Grated Carrots
1/2 - 1 cup Pecan Pieces (save some for decorating)

preheat oven to 350 degrees
prepare two 9 inch cake pans

1. Whisk together first 7 ingredients. In another bowl whisk together eggs and oil.
2. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mix until incorporated. Fold in carrots and nuts.
3. Pour in two 9 inch cake rounds, bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Let cool at least 30 minutes before taking out of pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
yield: enough for this cake

2 8oz packages Cream Cheese, softened
2 TBS Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
1 TBS Lemon Juice
pinch Salt
2 - 3 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted

1. Using your electric mixer, cream together first 5 ingredients until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar slowly until 2 cups have been added. I prefer my frosting a bit more thick so I used closer to 3 cups.