Super-Moist Carrot Cake

Yesterday, my husband brought in a full bushel basket of carrots from our garden. What do I do with that many carrots?!! We’ve also got three hungry teenage boys staying with us for a couple of days—in addition to our own two sons. What can I bake for them to keep them full? The solution to both: make carrot cake!!! I did that earlier today.(Granted, I will probably need to make about 20 carrot cakes to use up all those carrots!) My recipe is below. This is a family recipe that I have “tweaked” a bit over the years.

Super-Moist Carrot Cake

4 cups white flour
5 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. cinnamon
6 eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 ½ cups buttermilk
4 cups granulated sugar
4 tsp. vanilla extra
1 – 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
4 cups shredded carrots
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and four 9-inch or 3 10-inch cake pans; set side. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. In another bowl, beat eggs. Add oil, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut and walnuts. Blend well. Pour into prepared baking pans. Bake about an hour or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, and frost with cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 cup butter, softened
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3 tsp. vanilla
10 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 T. half and half or milk

Cream butter and cream cheese together until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.

If desired, you can bake this cake ahead of time and freeze it (unfrosted). It freezes very well! You just need to let it thaw for a couple hours before you frost it.

Here’s a photo of the cake after a few slices have been cut out:

I also made a few carrot cupcakes. We had company over tonight, and some of the cupcakes made it on my dessert tray.

Happy cake baking!
~Becky