This is my favorite carrot cake. It is easy, fast and totally amazing.
It is filled with goodness and weighs a ton!
1cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegatable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
Mix these ingredients together in a large bowl
Whisk together 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp backing soda
1 tsp salt
Add to the wet ingredients
Fold in
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups flaked coconut
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
1 cup toasted walnuts
Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F for about 50 minutes or until the cake has pulled away from the sides and a toothpick comes out dry (not doughy). Let cool completely and frost with:
Frosting
6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup milk at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Whip these ingredients together until no lumps appear and mixture is creamy.
Beat in
3-4 cups powdered sugar
It should have the consistency of a thick goey frosting, don't add too much sugar!
Hints and secrets:
- Toast the walnuts in the preheating oven while you mix the batter. Toasted nuts add a depth of flavor that you don't get if you don't take the time to toast.
- As you experiment with baking you will become more experienced as to what a cake that is done looks like vs. a cake that needs a few more minutes or has been baking too long. A dry cake often indicates that it has been baked too long. Cakes that sink in the middle often indicate that the cake has not baked long enough or the batter was too thin (too much liquid--eggs are too big? Most recipes call for Large eggs).
- It is important to have the ingredients for the frosting at room temperature and to blend the ingredients until there are no lumps. Biting into a lump of cream cheese is anything but yummy. To warm ingredients to room temperature use the defrost setting on your microwave. My microwave will warm butter to about room temperature in less than 30 seconds on defrost. Go slowly, you don't want to melt the cheese, or butter! If you can't seem to get rid of lumps, let the mixture sit at room temperature for a 10-20 minutes to allow the ingredients to soften. Overly soft or warm ingredients will make runny frosting.
