My mother really likes carrot cake so I tried a few different recipes.  Most of them were too dense or not moist enough or worse, too moist.  I was beginning to lose my appeal for carrot cake until I tried the Silver Palate Cookbook carrot cake recipe.  In my opinion, it’s a really good balance of sweet, dense, moist and depth of flavour.  The frosting is good too.  Time saving tip:  Make a large batch of pureed carrots and freeze 1 1/3 cup portions for future batches of carrot cake or muffins.

Carrot Cake Recipe

adapted from Silver Palate Cookbook

3 cups all purpose flour

3 cups granulated white sugar plus extra

1 teaspoon salt 

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups corn oil

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups toasted walnuts, shelled and coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut

1 1/3 cups of pureed carrots that had been boiled until soft

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease two 9-inch springform pans with softened butter and lightly coat the greased pans with sugar.  This gives the cake a nice crust.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon).  Add the oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Gently stir in the walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans.  Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until the edges have pulled away from the sides and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 50 minutes.  Then place on a wire cooling rack to cool the cake completely before removing from the pans and frosting.  Once frosted, chill the cake through in the refrigerator.  Allow to sit at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes prior to serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

makes enough to frost a 2 layer cake; adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

2 to 3 cups icing sugar (to taste)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

juice of 1/2 lemon (optional, cuts the sweetness)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.  Then sift in 1 cup of icing sugar at a time, beating until well combined between additions.  When the frosting has reached your desired sweetness, and when the mixture is completely smooth, mix in the vanilla and lemon juice (if using).