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Carrot Cake

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One of my favorite cakes to make from scratch is this Carrot Cake topped with an awesome cream cheese frosting.  Everyone loves it and I’m sure you will too!

On the rare occasion I bake a cake from scratch it’s usually to make this carrot cake.  Or my Black Russian Cake, but maybe that doesn’t count because it starts with a cake mix.  Seriously, this is one delicious carrot cake recipe if I do say so myself!  I have no idea where the recipe came from, but it’s one I’ve been making for 35+ years.

This carrot cake is a little dense but very moist.   In addition to the grated carrots, this cake has crushed pineapple, raisins and nuts. And what’s a carrot cake without the cream cheese frosting? I don’t know because I’ve never had it that way!  And the secret to really good cream cheese frosting…a little bit of hot coffee.

If you’re following a plant-based eating plan, I made this recipe into vegan cupcakes…you can get the recipe here.

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Ingredients

Units Scale

Cake

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 C. sugar
  • 1 1/3 C. oil
  • 2 C. flour
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • (optional – add a bit of nutmeg and cloves)
  • 3 C. grated carrots*
  • 1/2 C. chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 C. raisins
  • 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

Frosting

  • 1/4 C. butter, softened
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 lb. powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbls. hot coffee

Instructions

  1. For the Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. With a hand mixer cream together the eggs and sugar. Add oil and blend a bit more on medium speed. Then add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (and nutmeg/cloves if desired). Beat a few minutes more. Then stir in the carrots, nuts, raisins, and pineapple.
  4. Pour batter in two round cake pans (greased or sprayed with Pam) and bake 30-45 minutes. Start checking your cakes after 30 minutes, every oven is different. When done, remove and cool.
  5. For the Frosting:
  6. Combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and coffee and continue to beat to incorporate. If too thick, add a bit more coffee. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Equipment

Notes

*You can grate the carrots by hand, but it’s easier to use a food processor or even purchase pre-shredded carrots from the store.