Best Ever Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda*
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3 cups lightly packed finely grated carrots**
• 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Set your oven to 350 degrees. Fit aluminum foil into 2 9" round cake pans, letting extra foil hang over 2 sides. Grease the foil, flour it, and set the pans aside. If you use a 9x13 dish, bake it for 40 – 50 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean; you can also halve the recipe and bake it in an 8x8 dish.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Add the dry mixture gradually, stirring until the batter is well combined. Stir in the grated carrots.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes for 35-39 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take them out of the oven and let them rest in the cake dishes for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
4. Use the foil overhang to lift the cakes from the pans, and leave them on the wire rack until they are completely cool before frosting. Once cooled, you can trim about 1/4" from the tops to level them, since the centers may sit a little lower than the edges. Turn the cakes upside down as you frost them with Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Store the cake in an airtight container.
5. The baking soda amount was originally 2 tsp, then changed on 4/5/15 to 1 tsp for a more level cake. Use the small holes of a grater for the carrots; this is usually 6-7 medium carrots.