For all of middle school, I lived next door to my French teacher–we’ll call her Mrs. R. This was, as you can imagine, rife with awkwardness–some imagined, and some actually manifested.
One morning, like many mornings, I found myself late for school. I went through the standard rush job of brushing my teeth, washing my face, staring at my hair for a millisecond and acknowledging that things weren’t going to get any better, grabbing my lunch from the refrigerator and sprinting out the door with my sneakers half on.
As crappy luck would have it, the bus was already chugging past the house. I half ran after it, screaming, “WAITTTTT!” But like a lot of other mornings, it kept on going.
With my jacket half on and my socks all damp from the lawn’s morning dew, there was an irritated jig and much air punching.
The steam was just dissipating from my ears when I heard behind me, “Kaitlin? Do you need a ride to school?”
Mrs. R was looking at me in a rather concerned way, with a mug of coffee and teacher purse in hand (you know, the one that had to be big enough to fit 3 class’s worth of tests, books, and a lunch).
“Oh, heh..heh…umm…..” A long pause while I deliberated the awkwardness of riding up to school and getting out of Mrs. R’s old Lincoln…
“Yeah, sure!”
Informal rides to school aside, one of the biggest reasons why Mrs. R is an MVP in our family is because she gave us her family carrot cake recipe.
This recipe was first introduced to us at a block party (yes, we had our fair share of wonder years), and this cake was a revelation. Chock full of tasty noms (nuts, coconut, and pineapple), moist, and with perfectly thick cream cheese frosting, we immediately requested the recipe.
I have to say though that tastes have changed over the years, and we’ve come to prefer a lighter cake, so we cut some sugar and oil from the original recipe to lighten things up (Mrs. R’s recipe uses 2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups oil). Feel free to make the original carrot cake recipe and decide for yourself though (our neighbor across the street happily declared the original to be the best she’s ever had).
This is the latest in our informal series on our favorites and standbys–the recipes that ended all searching. Check out our recipes for our Favorite Chocolate Cake and The Perfect Spaghetti Carbonara if you’re looking to cross some more recipes off your list!
Carrot Cake Recipe Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Next, add the sugar, oil, and eggs; mix well.
Next, add the carrot, pineapple, pecans, and coconut. Blend thoroughly.
Distribute the batter evenly amongst the three pans; I like to use a ladle for the batter and fill each pan ladle by ladle to ensure even distribution without fussing with a scale.
Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them! Because of the high amounts of sugar and add-ins, the cake can quickly crisp too much on the edges. Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
When your cakes are cooled, make your cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Cream on low to medium speed. With the mixer on low, gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, scraping down the bowl as needed. If it looks too thick, add a little splash of milk (as Mrs. R so helpfully notes).
Frost the cake–spread a thin layer between each layer of cake, saving the lion’s share for covering the rest of the cake.
If you’re like my mom, you can halve the frosting recipe and just frost the center for a moderate level of sweetness. You can also garnish the top with more chopped nuts if you like.
Enjoy the results of this fine carrot cake recipe with a nice cup of black coffee. Middle school reminiscences are optional. ;)
Our Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1¼ cups vegetable or canola oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups finely grated carrot
- 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple (drained)
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
- 3½ ounces flaked coconut (optional)
For the cream cheese frosting:
- ½ cup butter
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pound confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Next, add the sugar, oil, and eggs; mix well. Next, add the carrot, pineapple, pecans, and coconut. Blend thoroughly.
- Distribute the batter evenly amongst the three pans; I like to use a ladle for the batter and fill each pan ladle by ladle to ensure even distribution without fussing with a scale.
- Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them! Because of the high amounts of sugar and add-ins, the cake can quickly crisp too much on the edges. Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- When your cakes are cooled, make your cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Cream on low to medium speed. With the mixer on low, gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, scraping down the bowl as needed. If it looks too thick, add a little splash of milk. If it’s too loose, add more confectioner’s sugar.
- Frost the cake, spreading a thin layer between each layer of cake, saving the lion’s share for covering the rest of the cake.
Can we use cane sugar with this recipe?
Yes, white cane sugar is fine, Maria!
I made this cake for a Christmas Eve party. It was a great success, only a few crumbs left! Everybody loved it. I’ll be baking another one today for a friend’s birthday!
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
HI Anne, sorry we missed your comment back in December, I’m so glad your friends and fam enjoyed it! Thank you for cooking and commenting ^_^
This is seriously the best carrot cake recipe ever. Thank you for sharing! Even my biggest cake critic loved it and had a huge slice!
So moist, delicious and full of interesting texture from the nuts and coconut. And the diced pineapple is just a stroke of genius! Nomnomnom!
I used only 1 cup sugar for the cake. And will probably cut down the amount of icing sugar next time for the frosting.
Thanks for sharing! Love this blog of recipes!
This is a great carrot cake, so glad you tried it and liked it!
Boy oh boy, this cake is a hit. It’s moist, rich, has great texture and wonderful mouth feel. I was concerned the layers were thin. It’s a three layer cake that’s more like the height of two layers, but…no worries. The cake served eight and half was left over, but not for long. The guests all took me up on offers to take piece home! This is a winner.
I know, Jill, this cake is definitely a crowd pleaser :-)
What a lovely cake! I like the idea of including pineapple in the cake.
Hi Victor, the crushed pineapple adds natural sweetness and moisture to the cake.
Hi Kaitlin,
I just have a question, the recipe calls for 8.5 onzes of crushed pineapples…if we can substitute that for unsweetened apple sauce, how much cups of apple sauce would you recommend? Not sure how much 8.5 onzes is translated to in cups for baking.
Thanks again! Love your recipes ?
Hi Marissa, sorry for the delayed response. one cup of apple sauce will do the trick!
I love you recipes they re super easy to follow. If I substitute the pineapple for unsweetened apple sauce, how much cup should I use?
Thank you!
Hi Al, thank you! You can use the same amount for either pineapple or unsweetened apple sauce, as they have a similar texture. I would keep an eye on the baking times though; the applesauce will add more moisture than the pineapple. good luck!
I read the comments about the intensity of sweetness of this cake etc. and amended the ingredients using 1 cup of sugar and a 1/4 cup of oil. It was perfect. The icing filling and topping add enough sweetness. Everyone who tried it rated it as superb. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your approval and your lovely comment, Patchouli!
Hi Kaitlin,
I tried this recipe today and everyone loved it but it was way too sweet for me. If I cut down the sugar, will it still work or would I need to cut down others? Also, the cake is really moist but it couldn’t quite stand cow it’s so soft – did I do something wrong?
Hi Josandi,
If you want the cake to be less sweet, it’s fine to reduce the sugar without altering the quantities of the other ingredients. As for your structural problems, you may have underbaked it slightly or not waited long enough for it to cool–it shouldn’t be so soft that it’s falling apart! Good luck!
Is the pineapple necessary or can it be opted out?
Feel free to swap out the pineapple! To preserve moisture levels, you’ll probably want to substitute it with something like apple sauce.