Carrot Cheesecake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fill a roasting pan halfway with water and place in the lower rack in the oven. Grease the inside of a 9-inch springform pan with unsalted butter.

For cheesecake, combine softened cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beating at medium speed until well mixed.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition; blend in vanilla and orange zest. Beat until the cheesecake mixture is smooth. The cheesecake batter is ready. Keep it aside.

Prepare carrot cake. In a large bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice into a bowl.

Add brown sugar into a mixer. Add eggs one at a time and continue to mix on low until it's smooth and incorporated. Add vanilla essence, food color and oil into the mixer. Continue to beat at low speed until fully incorporated. Transfer this mixture into a separate mixing bowl.

Add the flour mixture intermittently into the mixing bowl using a large rubber spatula to fold the mixture together until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots, along with the nuts and raisins. The carrot cake batter is ready.

Spread carrot cake batter in the prepared pan; top with cheesecake mixture. Cover top of pan with aluminum foil and put it on the middle rack just above the rack containing the steaming roasting pan. Bake until the cheesecake is set, for about 1 hour.

Run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen cake. Cool the cake to room temperature in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 8 hours and then remove the outside of the springform pan.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a mixer or blender, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat on medium speed until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the confectioners sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

When the carrot cheesecake is completely cooled, spread the frosting on top smoothly. You can decorate the cake as you want or if you want a simple decoration, you can create small waves on the frosting by light push and pull using the back of a spoon.

Refrigerate the cake for atleast 30 minutes before serving. Cut and enjoy the amazing carrot cheesecake slice.