Aunt Marcia's Carrot Cake

By CorbettCook

I love to make this cake for my nephews--and anyone else who's a carrot cake lover.

Ingredients

• CAKE
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (if I have coconut oil, I use that instead)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
• 1 cup raisins (I've substituted chopped dates if that's what I have on hand)
• FROSTING
• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 32 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 120mins

Preparation

Step 1

CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins. To avoid having these ingredients cluster in the bottom of the pan, mix them with some of the flour mix.
Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. For a layer cake, pour into 2 or 3 round cake pans and bake 35-40 minutes. Check doneness with toothpick.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving or frosting. If you can put the cake in the freezer for an hour or so, it will enhance the moistness AND make it easier to frost.

FROSTING
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the extracts, then gradually stir in the powdered' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.