First, Bake The Cakes:

1. Preheat Oven & Prep Pans. To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans then line with parchment paper. 
2. Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk until well blended, then set aside.
3. Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine oil, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Mix until evenly blended.  
4. Add Dry Ingredients to Wet Ingredients and mix until almost fully combined (just a few floury/dry patches left). 
5. Fold In Carrots & Pecans and mix just until evenly blended throughout the batter. (You don’t want any large clumps of carrots!)
6. Divide Batter evenly between your two prepared pans. 
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-32 minutes rotating pans halfway through baking, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (The cake should just be starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and if you gently press the center of the cake with your finger, it should spring back fairly quickly)
8. Let Cakes Cool 10 Minutes Then Turn Out onto a wire rack to cool COMPLETELY before frosting. The cakes need to be completely, totally cool or they’ll melt the frosting. Don’t rush this step! (Once completely cooled, the cake layers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled overnight in the fridge.)

When The Cake Is Cool, Make The Frosting:

1. Start With Softened Ingredients. Before you start the frosting, it’s important that the butter and cream cheese have both been softened so they’ll blend well. If they’re cold, you’ll end up with chunks in your frosting, which is NOT what we want! 
2. Combine Butter & Cream Cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer (which I prefer). Beat butter and cream cheese 2-3 minutes or until fluffy, smooth, and well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
3. Add Powdered Sugar 1/2 Cup At A Time, until all of the powdered sugar has been added. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla then mix on medium speed 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is well incorporated and smooth. 
4. Check The Texture. At this point the frosting should be smooth and soft, but not runny or gooey. If the frosting is very loose (it doesn’t hold it’s shape when you put it on a spatula and rotate the spatula), consider chilling the frosting for 5-10 minutes to help it firm up. (Adding more powdered sugar can give the frosting more structure, but it will also add more sugar, which can get too sweet.)

Frost & Decorate The Cake

1. Build The Bottom Layer. Place the bottom cake layer flat side up (the side that was on the bottom in the pan should now be facing up on the cake stand). Add about 3/4 cup frosting on top of the cake layer and use an offset spatula to smooth the frosting to the edges of the bottom layer. 
2. Build The Top Layer. Repeat this process with the second layer, adding it flat side up on top of the bottom cake layer. Top with another 3/4 cup or so of frosting and spread to the edges of the top cake layer. 
3. Add A Crumb Coat (Optional). For an extra pretty cake, do a crumb coat. Add another 3/4-1 cup of frosting to the top layer and use an offset spatula to spread the frosting to the edge of the top layer and down sides of the cake. Your goal is to make a very thin layer of frosting to just coat the outer layer of the cake. You’ll be able to see the cake through the crumb coat. Chill the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes before frosting the rest of the cake. (Pop the frosting back in the fridge during this time so it doesn’t get too warm!) 
4. Finish Frosting & Decorating. After chilling the crumb coat, remove the cake and frosting from the fridge, and use the remaining frosting to coat the outside of the cake. If desired, decorate with chopped pecans, either adding a bottom “skirt” of pecans around the bottom edges of the cake, or adding them in a border around the top of the cake. 
5. Chill cake until ready to serve and store leftover carrot cake covered in the refrigerator 3-4 days. Since cream cheese frosting doesn’t do well at room temperature, cake should be out of the fridge no longer than about 1 hour at a time (less if it’s hot!).