I had never been a particular fan of carrot cake, but much like most things I now eat, I've grown to like it. The first step came thanks to a show I was working on. One of our cast members insisted that the carrot cake at Sweet Lady Jane's was the best ever. That night, Mark and I drove over to see if in fact this was true. One slab covered in lacey, toasted coconut and I was a hooked.
One of my co-workers on the same show would often bring in baked goods and leave them in the kitchen for all of us to enjoy. He explained that he loved baking but didn't want the stuff around his house. One of his creations was a carrot cake. He told me that he got the recipe from the "Silver Palate Cookbook," and though I've not had a whole lot of success baking cakes (they always seem to end up dry) I decided to give this one a try. The difference between this recipe and many other carrot cake recipes I've looked at is, rather than shredded carrot, this one uses cooked pured carrot. The resulting cake is nice and moist. I loves me a moist cake.
INGREDIENTS
for the cake
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups corn oil (or canola or safflower)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/3 cups pureed cooked carrot
3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple
Cream Cheese frosting (see recipe above)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.
Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in walnuts, coconut, pureed carrot, and pinapple.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Set in middle rack of oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Until edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan and a cake tested inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on a cake rack for 3 hours. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting.
By far the best carrot cake recipe. I prefer to cut the sugar to 1 1/2 to 2 cups because I use sweetened cocnut (for the moistest cake). Enjoy!
Posted by: Sarah | November 04, 2006 at 07:43 AM
FANTASTIC!! I made this cake 6yrs ago for a kids birthday party and it has become their favorite.I, now, usually make muffins (without icing or sometimes just Icing surgar on top) and they are a hit with the kids and great for school.
Posted by: Lisa Fischer | August 29, 2007 at 02:22 AM
I have made this cake for years. I also cut the sugar by 1 cup. Additionally, I substitute 1 cup of applesauce for 1 cup of the oil. I have used fresh grated carrot as well as the pulp or flesh after juicing carrots. It's definitely a family favorite.
Posted by: Lisa Benson | March 01, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Excellent post ! You make some brilliant points liked the idea keep it up
Posted by: nike air max | November 21, 2010 at 01:38 AM
The best carrot cake ever! I skip the coconut as we are not fond of it and the cake is delicious and moist every time.
Posted by: Judy | December 05, 2010 at 05:38 AM
WOW, this sounds amazing! Going to try it this weekend. Can't wait, thank you!
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What a perfect desert!
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