Recipe: Heathers Carrot Cake

I don’t actually know where this recipe originated from (it might have been moms), but I think I got it from Heather when I moved from Alaska.
I tried it once a few years back and it turned out very dry so I didn’t give it another try until I was down in Freeport last week and helped Heather make one for the autumn party at her church.
It turned out wonderfully, and when I compared recipes the one I had at home had an error in the amount of carrots it called for.
All that to say…I tried it again last weekend and YUMMO!
Now I remember why carrot cake was always my favorite.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups oil
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients together. Blend the oil, eggs, and carrots in a bowl and add all at once to the dry mixture. Mix until well blended.
Bake in two 9-inch cake pans for 30-40 minutes at 350. Let cool in pans for a few minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks.

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup coconut (optional)

If you want to totally destroy the deliciousness you can add pecans to the top to garnish. Or even worse, add them to the cake itself. But I wouldn’t recommend it.

Also, if you decide to double the recipe so you can have a three-layer cake you’ll have batter left over to make some cupcakes as well.
A warning: grating 6 cups of carrots will make you think that your arm is going to fall off. It won’t. Don’t give up – the end results are worth it, I promise.

Check out the parties I link to here!