Name: Basically Carrot Loaf Cake
Yield: Makes one 9x5" loaf
Ingredients: 1 lb. cream cheese (2 8-oz. packages), divided; ¾ cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan; 2¼ cups all-purpose flour; 2 tsp. baking powder; ¾ tsp. baking soda; 2 tsp. ground ginger; 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting; 1¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided; ¾ lb. carrots; 1¾ cups sugar, divided; 2 large eggs; 3 tsp. vanilla extract, divided

Carrot loaf cake with cream cheese frosting on a platter with one slice cut.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Pearl Jones

The most casual-cool carrot cake of all time. A few notes on this recipe's star ingredient. We don’t generally endorse the use of horse carrots (a.k.a. those giant ones that are often sold individually at the supermarket) because they lack sweetness, but also grating a bunch of slender young carrots can be kind of a pain. Seek out something in the middle—healthy-looking, medium-sized carrots—which should deliver the right balance of flavor and convenience.