For years my brother and I competed for the honor of “Best Carrot Cake.” Eventually I gave in and told him “You win! You make the Thanksgiving carrot cake from now to eternity.” He tried to get me to take on that task after a few years, but I declined. I must say, I still make a great carrot cake! I combined the recipes found in an old church cookbook to get just what I wanted. Many thanks to Kathy Beaudoin and Lee Cannon for the source material.
If I make a 3 or 4 layer carrot cake, I double the icing recipe. But then I have extras! What to do? Make a second carrot cake recipe and make it into cupcakes or a sheet cake and use the rest of the icing on that.
The other idea is to make 2 layers, split them and make a 4 layer cake. That uses a bit more icing
Or, just be decadent and eat it like fudge.
Carrot Cake
Course: Recipes12
servings30
minutes35
minutes300
kcal1
hour10
minutesIngredients
- Cake
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil (I use coconut oil)
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3 c. raw carrots, grated (I don’t measure, but I grate up about 1lb of carrots)
4 Tbsp. hot water
- Icing
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/4 c.butter
1 (1 lb.) box confectioners sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts (pecans)
Directions
- Cake
- Blend sugar and oil. Add eggs. Beat well. Add hot water.
- Sift dry ingredients. Add to sugar-egg mixture. Beat well.
- Stir in grated carrots.
- Pour into 2 or 3 (9-inch) or a 9×13″ greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350ºF for 25 to 35 minutes.
- Cool cakes and stack with frosting.
- Icing
- Work cheese until soft. Add softened butter. Beat in sugar gradually. Add flavoring ana nuts. Mix and spread.
Notes
- Mt family loves a 4 layer cake, so I modify this way: bake in 2 layers; when cooled thoroughly, I split the layers horizontally using dental floss so I have 4 layers. Double the icing recipe; don’t add the pecans until after icing between the layers. So — interior has no pecans, but the outside is covered!
