A good carrot cake is very difficult to come by. Especially if you, like me, don't like cinnamon. I am not a fan of spices in general and never found the need to add them to my desserts. Personally, I find their taste a bit too strong and overwhelming, and that is why I tend to avoid using them when baking. The problem is, most carrot cake recipes require some amount of cinnamon, spices or raisins. Raisins. That's another thing I dislike. So, although I do love a good carrot cake, I seldom find one I actually enjoy or a recipe for one that doesn't require raisins and cinnamon or some other spice.
This recipe is my all-time favorite because it requires none of the ingredients I dislike and it tastes wonderful! I rarely make carrot cakes, though, because the amount of dishes I have to wash afterwards is depressing. So, I save this cake for special occasions and make it only once or twice a year. This year, I baked a batch over the Easter break.
If you are not a fan of cinnamon, spices and raisins but love carrot cake, this recipe is definitely for you.
The best carrot cake
Makes 24 muffin size cakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots (approx. 4 carrots)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple (drained)
Vanilla frosting
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla at medium speed until light colored and well combined. 3 to 4 minutes.
Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just blended.
Fold the carrots into the mixture. This step and the next ones are delicate, so hand mix with a spatula.
Fold the pecans into the mixture.
Do the same for the coconut, and then the pineapple.
Fill each liners about 2/3 full with the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cakes rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
For me, carrot cake comes with a good layer of frosting. Cream-cheese frosting to be precise. If there are none, I would get seriously upset. If you're looking for a good cream cheese frosting recipe, click here. It also happens to be my go-to vanilla frosting for any type of desserts.
Optional
If you want to impress people, decorate your carrot cakes with little curls of candied carrots. They look fancy but are super easy to make. There seems to be a lot of steps, below, but rest assured that the curls really are easy to make!
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
Make carrot strips using a vegetable peeler. Only 1 carrot will be needed.
Bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil, on high heat, and mix until all the sugar has dissolved.
Add the carrot strips and reduce heat.
Let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat an strain out the liquid. Let cool a few minutes.
Put parchment paper on a large baking sheet and spread the carrot strips on a single layer.
Bake for about 20 minutes, but do not turn off the oven.
The strips will be almost dry.
Working very quickly, wrap each carrot strips around a pencil to form curls and gently slide the curls off the pencil.
Put the curls back in the oven and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, until completely dry.
Let the curls cool completely before decorating the cakes with them.
Variation
If you don't want to make cupcake size cakes and prefer a bigger one, just use 2 9-inch round pans. Line their bottom with parchment paper, and butter the bottom and sides of the pans. Then, bake for about 35 to 40 minutes.