Celestial Carrot Cake
Recipe from Sweet Serendipity
(Says it serves six. SIX! 14 of us couldn't finish this cake!)
For the cake:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, plus extra for the pans
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 (6-oz) can crushed pineapple
2 cups finely shredded carrots
1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut (I actually used sweetened, shredded, because that's what I had)
1 cup chopped walnuts, plus extra for sprinkling on top (I didn't use nuts--in my opinion nuts are the second thing besides carrots which usually ruin carrot cake--but do what you want)
For the frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans with oil and line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and blend into oil mixture until well combined. Drain pineapple and chop, if not crushed already. Add pineapple, carrots, coconut, and nuts (if you're using them) to the batter and stir to combine. Divide batter between pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
To make frosting, cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Add confectioner's sugar and blend.
Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Invert and reverse cakes. Cool to room temperature. When cool, spread 1/4 of the frosting between the two layers, then frost top and sides.
