Preheat your oven and line a baking dish so nothing sticks later—you’ll want those edges to be easy to cut and serve.

Whisk together the oil, half the sugar, egg yolks, milk, and orange peel until it’s pale and creamy. Take your time here; a bit of muscle helps with the cake’s final texture.

Gently whisk in all the spices, flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Don’t over-mix or the crumb suffers.

In another bowl, whip those egg whites until soft peaks form, then slowly trickle in the remaining sugar. You want them glossy and cloudlike, not dry.

Fold the fluffy egg whites into your spicy batter in big, gentle swathes. It’ll look a bit streaky—stop folding as soon as the white disappears. Then stir in the carrot, raisins, and walnuts for those bursts of flavor and crunch.

Spoon the batter into your prepared tin, smoothing the top. Bake until the top springs back and a tester comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs are fine—a soaked cake doesn’t want to be dry anyway).

Let your carrot cake cool almost completely, then use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the surface. This lets the tres leches mixture seep in everywhere and creates that signature custardy texture.

Stir together the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream with vanilla essence. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the cake, letting it soak in little by little. Press gently with a spatula if you need to help it along.

Cover the cake and chill. The soak transforms the crumb, so patience matters here—it’s worth the wait.

For the frosting, whip softened cream cheese with a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla until fluffy, then whip in heavy cream and a generous dusting of icing sugar. Spread or pipe over the cooled, soaked cake.

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and cinnamon right before serving for that bakery-worthy finish.