Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Nov 25th

 

I made this luscious Carrot Cake for Pete’s Birthday this month. This recipe comes from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel. If you don’t already have this cookbook, I highly recommend it! When Pete and I visit the boy’s in NYC we always go to this fabulous Bakery and have the Vanilla Cupcakes, which I have a post on,  their Red Velvet cupcakes and their to die for Banana Pudding.  I have made Carrot Cake for Pete in the past but this is honestly the best Carrot Cake we have ever had. It is so moist and the Cream Cheese Icing is so yummy! I hope you will give this wonderful cake a try this Holiday Season. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day. Pete and I spent it in Tuscon with  our wonderful friends, Susan and Steve Heins. They were so kind to have us over since our boys were not able to be with us. We had all the traditional foods and the turkey was perfect. Susan made her famous Broccoli casserole and I made the Orange Cups with Sweet Potatoes, which was my last post. The dinner was fabulous and the company too! Thanks to Jenn and Mary and Aaron for letting us in on their family tradition! I also really want to thank Sydney Kramer from the Crepes of Wrath Food Blog for including our Boy’s and Ashlee and all the other orphan’s without a place to go! I know they ate really well too! Let me know if you try this Carrot Cake recipe and what you think of it. It honestly gets better the longer it sits in the refrigerator. Really, it is so healthy too, because you know, it has carrots in it! Thanks, Stacey

 

Carrot Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup canola oil

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups lightly packed shredded carrots

One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice, with juice

1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans plus another 1/4 cup for garnishing the top of the cake

3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

To toast the pecans, place on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour two 9 x 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and  salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until light and thick, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating well until well incorporated. Stir in the carrots, pineapple and juice, pecans, and coconut. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. When the cake has cooled , ice between the layers, then ice the top and sides of the cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Garnish with toasted pecans as desired.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces

6 Tbs unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups sifted confectioners sugar

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 1 hour to thicken before using.

Print Friendly