Get the App

Recipes

Find a Recipe Blue Ribbon Recipes Pinch It!™ Feed Browse All Recipes

Editorial

Food Bites & Articles Videos What is a Blue Ribbon? Meet the Test Kitchen

Community

Member Recipes Groups Sweepstakes Contests Shopping

best. carrot. cake. ever.

(2 ratings)
BarbieinTN avatar
Recipe by
Barbie Sill
@BarbieinTN
Shippensburg, PA

I used to make a cake very similar to this but this looks even better. I used pecans instead of walnuts. Pecans and carrot cake seem to go together. Either way, it is wonderful!! I found this version on the Baby Gizmo Blog. http://blog.babygizmo.com/2012/04/best-carrot-cake-ever/ She adapted it from Southern Living October 1997. Aren't we all good at sharing?

(2 ratings)
yield 8 -16
prep time 45 Min
cook time 30 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For best. carrot. cake. ever.

  • FOR CAKE:
  • 2 c
    all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp
    baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp
    salt
  • 2 tsp
    cinnamon, ground
  • 3 lg
    eggs
  • 2 c
    sugar
  • 3/4 c
    vegetable oil
  • 3/4 c
    buttermilk
  • 2 Tbsp
    vanilla extract
  • 2 c
    carrots, grated
  • 8 oz
    crushed pineapple, drained
  • 3 1/2 oz
    coconut, flaked
  • 1 c
    walnuts or pecans, chopped
  • FOR THE BUTTERMILK GLAZE:
  • 1 c
    sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp
    baking soda
  • 1/2 c
    margarine or butter
  • 1/2 c
    buttermilk
  • 1 Tbsp
    corn syrup, light
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • FOR THE FROSTING:
  • 3/4 c
    margarine or butter, softened
  • 11 oz
    cream cheese, softened
  • 3 c
    powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 1/2 tsp
    vanilla extract

How To Make best. carrot. cake. ever.

  • 1
    Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.
  • 2
    Stir together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
  • 3
    Beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot, coconut, pinapple and nuts.
  • 4
    Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
  • 5
    Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze (recipe below) evenly over layers (I only used about 2/3 of the prepared glaze which I thought was perfect!); cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
  • 6
    Once the cake is cooled, slice each layer in half to give you a total of 4 layers. More layers = more frosting = me happy! Note: I put the 2 cake layers in the freezer for 45 minutes to make slicing them in half easier.
  • 7
    Make the cream cheese frosting according the recipe below. You can use a canned frosting but it won’t hold a candle to this delicious homemade icing!
  • 8
    Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. I’m a BIG frosting person so I made 1 1/2 batches of the cream cheese frosting to make sure the cake was completely covered. I also sprinkled chopped walnuts in between each frosted layer to take it over the top.
  • 9
    Slice and enjoy!
  • 10
    Glaze Prep: Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often, 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
  • 11
    Frosting Prep: Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!

Categories & Tags for Best. Carrot. Cake. Ever.:

ADVERTISEMENT