Last week was my husband’s birthday. We have been so busy working on our house lately, that we really haven’t taken much extra time out to really enjoy each other and our family. My husband loves Carrot Cake, so this is something I make special for him every year. This year was no exception and he decided to cut the remodeling short that day and enjoy cake and the homemade presents from our children. This cake, and my husband of course were the highlight of the evening.
This Old Fashioned Carrot Cake is rich, moist and sooo delicious. It is one of those cakes that makes you close your eyes and say “Mmmm” with every bite. Freshly grated carrots, crushed pineapple and golden raisins make up the two cake layers which are covered in a delicious Cream Cheese frosting topped with lightly toasted walnuts
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. ginger
- 1/8 tsp. cloves
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1 cup pineapple crushed, lightly drained
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 (8 oz.) containers cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 4 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
- 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped and lightly toasted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare (2) 9 inch cake pans by greasing and flouring them.
- In your Kitchen Aid mixer, combine the sugars, eggs and oil well.
- Sift the flour,spices, baking powder, soda and salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Stir in the carrots, pineapple and raisins.
- Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes for 15 minutes and then remove them from the cake pans and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cool completely before frosting
- For the frosting:
- In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, whip together all ingredients except the heavy cream and confectioner's sugar.
- When combined, slowly add the sugar a little at a time on low-or you will have a mess.
- Slowly add the heavy cream.
- When all sugar and heavy cream is incorporated, whip everything together well until it is a creamy frosting like texture.
- Frost the first cake with a generous amount left on top (which will be the center frosting in the cake), layer with the other cake and frost even and smooth with an offset spatula.
- * To toast nuts- place the nuts in a small saucepan on low and stir around for about 5 minutes.
- Cool completely before placing them on the top of the cake.
- Cover and chill cake until ready to serve.
- I like to let the cake unchill a bit before serving.
- Enjoy!
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I love carrot cake so does my family, this past week I tried out this recipe and and my husband declared that is the best carrot cake I have ever baked! I agree with him!
Thank you so much Jackie! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it! If you’ve got a bunch of zucchini on your hands this time of year from your garden, your family might also like this Spiced Zucchini Cake– it’s very similar! Have a wonderful weekend & thanks for stopping by! 🙂
This cake was awesome! I made a few changes. I used coconut oil because it was all I had and I left out the raisins & pineapple (it’s a texture thing). I served it for Easter and everyone LOVED it!!! The spices were perfect. I can’t comment on your frosting because I left it off. But I have book marked this cake recipe because hands down it is the best one I’ve found.
Thank you so much Jenny! I am glad that you all enjoyed it this Easter! Have a wonderful week:)
I made this awesome cake, and it turned out Goooooood. I had some of the family licking their chops. Yes I will make it again.
I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it:) Thanks so much for your comment! Have a great week Carolyn!
This carrot cake looks positively divine, Shannon! I could eat a piece for breakfast! Thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful weekend.
Blessings,
Nici
Nici recently posted…Mexican Fruit Salad
Thanks Nici! It’s definitely a favorite around here:)
Just pulled this cake out of the oven! It smells amazing. I will be frosting it tomorrow and serving it after thanksgiving dinner. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thanks Holly! I hope your family enjoyed it and had a wonderful Thanksgiving:)
Oh my goodness, your carrot cake looks wonderful! It looks beautiful and sounds just delicious! Carrot cake is one of my absolute favorites, especially the frosting! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Maria! I love simple, classic desserts:)
I love a good carrot cake. Yours looks so pretty & Yummy! Thanks for the follow on twitter. Now following you back. Feel free to drop by & link up your recipes or other posts sometime on the blog.
Thanks so much Theresa:)
I love carrot cake. Many years ago, I tried to make a box cake with my little sister. The ingredients weren’t listed on the packages. So it turned out a disaster. I am planning on visiting my little sisters soon. I think I’ll have to make them this carrot cake to remember our failure but with something delicious.
What a great idea Victoria! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment:) I hope it turns out wonderful!
That looks amazing! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thank you Courtney!