Carrot Cake

i love a good carrot cake in the spring! this recipe came to me from a roommate i had while in college. it was her grandmother's recipe, therefore it is measured by volume (not grams, my norm). with a little tweaking, it is truly the best carrot cake i've had. thanks, cora's grandma!



cake ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple including juice
3 1/2 c finely minced carrots (i prefer to use a food processor and dice them into what resembles a coarse meal. if you insist on grating them, cut back to 3 cups)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
2 c all-purpose flour
2 c white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
*optional: pinch ginger, pinch cardamom
**optional 3/4 c pecans

frosting:
3 c powdered sugar
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

pecans for decoration

1. preheat oven to 350 f. grease pan (this recipe makes one 9 x 12 pan, two 8" rounds, or one 10" round)
2. beat eggs and oil until combined. add sugar and beat lightly. add vanilla.
3. mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices together.
4. add flour mixture to egg mixture until combined. now add pineapple and carrots. if you insist, this is the time you'd add some chopped pecans, but i don't reccomend it. first of all, there's already enough going on. secondly, a lot of people are allergic to nuts. on the other hand, as the saying goes: sometimes you feel like a nut.
5. pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
6. cool (on a rack! on a rack! comes out easy if you wait for the pan to be cool enough to handle without mitts but not stone cold! then cool to room temp!).
7. frost. the above frosting recipe makes enough for a 9 x 12 cake but not enough for two 8" rounds stacked. a double recipe makes enough to generously frost two 10" layers stacked.

people who had never met a carrot cake they liked have been observed eating two slices of this! people who can't stand vegetables have eaten this cake and not uttered a false word! truly, a great cake. of course this is delicious as a cupcake and can masquerade as a muffin if left a la naturel. and, when it seems as if your garden has been invaded by zucchini-zilla, substitute the carrots for zucchini and you have a fantastic zucchini cake. if you go that route, try subbing out the oil for applesauce...you won't be disappointed!