To Die For Carrot Cake

I was very excited to try this recipe for carrot cake. I just loved how the original was decorated! Carrot cake is one of my all-time favorite cakes and I was going to make it for my birthday cake in September, but ended up making it in July for our monthly "One-More-Month-in-the-Deployment-Done" cake.

My mom went to school for cake decorating, so when she paid me a compliment at how good the cake looked, I was very happy. I'm still working on my cake decorating skills and I really loved the outlet this particular cake gave. I need to get my hands on some orange food coloring to make carrots for next time I make a carrot cake :)
(Print)
What you need:
For the cake:

• 1 1/4 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups carrots, shredded
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, undrained

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

Additional:

• Orange and green food coloring, if desired
• Coarsely chopped pecans
• Toasted coconut

Directions:

1. Combine oil, sugar, and eggs.
2. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Stir in carrots, coconut, pecans, vanilla, and pineapple.
4. Pour into two parchment-paper, greased 8-inch cake pans.
5. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool.
6. Beat butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and powdered sugar.
7. Frost the top of the first layer of cooled cake. Top with second layer and frost entire cake.
8. You can get really creative with decorating. I added a little green food coloring to a small portion of frosting and made a border around it. I added pecans to the sides and coconut to the top (untoasted).

Recipe from Mom on Timeout

------------------------------

don't miss a thing. follow fantastical on:
facebook | twitter | pinterest | bloglovin