Hello!

There’s no doubt I am a person who is very traditional. I love the old ways, the old traditional recipes and of course, family, family gatherings and huge family meals.

Carrot cake is a traditional staple of Easter for me. I love the moist tender, sweet taste of this cake. I wonder who pulled carrots out of the ground and thought “with this, I will make a cake!”

I for one, am glad they did.

I typically make this for the Easter dinner, but I also make it several times throughout the year. It always gets the “OOHs and AHH’s.”

Of course, everyone who knows me, knows I like to modify recipes. One of my favorite things to do is when a cake recipe calls for oil or butter, I substitute it with an equal amount of applesauce. I really like the way it changes the texture and makes it moist and dense. It also really reduces the calorie count. A half cup of unsweetened applesauce has about 50 calories, where as a half cup of oil has about 960. That’s a huge difference.

I also like to make carrot cake in layers. You can put it in a 9×13 and bake it, but I like it in layers, with the cream cheese icing between the layers. You can use three 8-inch pans or two 9-inch pans. Just make sure you line your pans with parchment paper or oil and flour them to make sure the cake comes out easily.

Whichever way you decide to go, this one is always a hit.

Carrot Cake

1 ¼ cups unsweetened applesauce.

2 cups sugar

3 eggs (room temperature)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder.

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups grated carrots (I usually just run mine thru the food processor, it’s quicker)

1 cup shredded sweetened cocoanut.

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup crushed pineapple (do not drain and make sure it’s in its own juice, no heavy syrup)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup butter (softened)

16 ounces cream cheese (softened)

3 teaspoons vanilla

2 lbs. powdered sugar.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix, with a mixer, mix applesauce, sugar and eggs. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Beat well after each ingredient. Add in carrots, cocoanut, vanilla, and pineapple. Beat well until well blended.

Pour into pans that have been prepped with parchment paper or greased and floured.

9×13 bake 35 to 40 minutes, 9 inch pans bake 25 to 30 minutes, 8 inch pans bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

After baking, make sure cakes are completely cool, before adding the icing.

Directions for the Frosting:

Beat the butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy, add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until nice and smooth.

Ice the cake, or the layers and refrigerate. I typically keep this cake in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese and the butter.

Enjoy!