Carrot Cake With Pecan Cream Filling and Cream Cheese Icing

DIRECTIONS

• For Pecan Cream Filling: A day before you make the cake, blend the sugar, flour and salt in a heavy saucepan.
• Gradually stir in the cream.
• Add the butter.
• Cook and stir the mixture over low heat until the butter has melted; then let simmer 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
• Cool to lukewarm.
• Stir in the pecans and vanilla.
• Let the mixture cool completely.
• Refrigerate it overnight.
• If it is too thick to spread, bring it to room temperature before using.
• For Carrot Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the corn oil and the sugar.
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Sift half the dry ingredients into the oil-sugar mixture, then blend well.
• Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients while adding the eggs, one at a time.
• Mix well.
• Add the carrots and pecans and mix again. (If you like raisins in your cake, feel free to throw some in now).
• Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan.
• Bake for 70 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Cool upright, in the pan, on a rack.
• While the cake is baking, prepare the icing.
• Icing: Cream together the butter and cream cheese until well blended and fluffy.
• Sift in the confectioners' sugar.
• Cream again. Then beat in the vanilla and the salt. If the icing is too soft to spread, chill it for a few minutes.
• Refrigerate it if you don't plan to use it right away, but bring it back to room temperature before using.
• Assembly: Run knife around inside of pan to loosen cake.
• Invert onto serving plate.
• With a long serrated knife, carefully split the cake into 3 horizontal layers.
• Spread the filling between the layers. (You may not need it all).
• Frost the top and sides of the cake with the icing.