Grandma Cookie's Carrot Cake

Recipe Rating:	4 Ratings5
Category:	Cakes
Keyword:	Carrot
Prep Time:	15 Min
Cook Time:	40 Min

Ingredients

2 c	flour
2 c	sugar
2 tsp	baking soda
2 tsp	baking powder
2 tsp	cinnamon
1/2 tsp	salt
3/4 c	oil
3/4 c	applesauce
4	eggs
3 to 4 c	carrots, shredded
1 tsp	vanilla extract
FROSTING
1/2 c	butter, room temperature
8 oz	cream cheese, room temperature
1 pinch	salt
1 tsp	vanilla extract
1 lb	powdered sugar
1 c	nuts chopped (optional)

Pinched by joyceawes, and 1,341 more.

Cara Roe

Full Flavored

Warsaw, IN (pop. 13,559)

lovemyterrier

Member Since Nov 2011

Cara's Notes:

This recipe came from my mom, a.k.a. Grandma Cookie. When my mom and dad were married back in 1970 my great grandma gave them a church cookbook and this was a recipe in it. I have changed a few things by adding some ingredients and lightened it by replacing half of the oil with applesauce. You won't miss the extra oil because this is a super moist and tasty cake. It also makes fabulous cupcakes.

Comments from the Test Kitchen:

Every bite of this cake is a delight! We couldn't stop talking about the icing...

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl.

Add the oil, applesauce, and eggs. Mix until incorporated. Fold in the grated carrots.

Grease 2- 9" or 10" pans (could use one 13"x9" as well). Cut out parchment paper to cover the bottom of the pan and line the bottom with parchment then grease again. Sprinkle a little flour in the pan and shake pan to cover with flour. Divide the batter between pans.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes(until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean) when using 2 round pans, additional time may be necessary for using 13x9" pan

**you have to take into consideration TYPE of pan (glass, dark, etc) and SIZE (2-8" or 9" or 9X13") when baking anything! Also, not every oven is the same...the temperatures can be off (too high or low) or you can use convection which will also often change cooking times. Please use this as a guideline and check your cake every so often. I usually check mine around 1/2 hour and then every 5 minutes after that.

To make the frosting, blend cream cheese with butter until smooth. Blend in vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar. Fold in nuts if using.
Wait until the cake is completely cooled and then frost.

**I like to use a little cinnamon or nutmeg occasionally in my frosting. Also, I like to toast coconut and use it while decorating.

Comments

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Jan Burch janburch

Jan 16, 2013

Hi Cara,
Did you mean 3/4 cup shredded carrots? Because it looks like 3 to 4 cups of shredded carrots (3-4 c). Please let us know. Sounds great!

Cara Roe lovemyterrier

Jan 16, 2013

It is 3 to 4 cups :)

Jan Burch janburch

Jan 16, 2013

Thanks, Cara! Just didn't want to over-carrot the cake!

Cara Roe lovemyterrier

Jan 16, 2013

No problem, Jan! You need to eat your veggies, so it might as well be with your dessert ;)

Jan Burch janburch

Jan 16, 2013

Amen to that, sis!

Ruthie Felix Ruthie_Felix

Jan 16, 2013

Sounds GREAT cant wait to try with cupcakes! Yum :)

Marjorie Harper TWMarge

Jan 16, 2013

Your cake looks beautiful. Did you frost the sides and then press nuts or coconut or something on the sides?

Cara Roe lovemyterrier

Jan 16, 2013

Thank you Ruthie! I'm sure you will enjoy them as cupcakes.

And Marjorie, I toasted coconut, frosted the sides, then pressed it on. I have also used nuts (pecans I think) with good results. Thanks for the compliment! There are a lot of good tips on YouTube of how to frost cakes. That's where I learned how to do the ruffle frosting that I have in one of the pics.