Carrot Cake

Let’s be honest, does anyone really expect much from a dessert that features a shredded root vegetable at its core?

I’ll admit, it took me a while to warm up the idea of carrots in a cake, but I’m a big fan now, and maybe you are too.

If you think about it, carrot cake might just be the greatest trick a vegetable ever played.

How delicious does this slice look?

When you cut into this carrot cake, the first thing you’ll get is an eyeful of all manner of yummy goodness and just wait until it hits your taste buds.

The texture is moist and the bite is bursting with mouth-watering flavors that blend well together.

You can thank the inclusion of crushed pineapple which helps to take this recipe to the next level.

When it comes to carrot cake, the guest of honor is, of course, the carrot.

As I mentioned, when I was younger, I could never quite get passed the idea of vegetables in a cake. But now, I know better.

I love the look of long, tapered fresh carrots that look like they were just plucked from the garden too.

Don’t neglect to pull a few aside, for crunchy snacking while you’re baking.

The secret is definitely in the shred, and the magic starts with freshly grated carrots, not the sad and bagged kind you find in the produce aisle.

If you can’t shred by hand, you could also use a few quick pulses from a food processor to get your raw carrots where you want them.

But be careful not to overprocess them though, or you may end up with carrot puree and then, you’ll have a whole other recipe on your hands.

While you can go nutty with your nut choices, walnuts and pecans are my favorite for this recipe.

Either works as good as the other, but whichever you choose, make sure you do a rough chop.

That way, every bite will be sure to get a nice chunk and light crunch.

I know there’s an eternal debate when it comes to using oil versus butter in cake recipes.

But for carrot cake, oil is the winner.

While butter may give you flavor, it’s oil that will give you the moisture we all love in carrot cake texture.

Now, let’s talk about the dreamy, cream cheese frosting.

It’s the fluffy crown jewel that adorns every slice. And here’s where it’s OK, to use salted butter, softened.

Be sure to let your cream cheese soften as well, to room temperature to prevent clumps, lumps and bumps in the icing.

Add a splash of vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt, and your frosting will truly sing.

NOTE: I used three, 6″ x 3″ baking pans for this carrot cake. You can find the pans at Michael’s or other online stores. Here’s are the ones I used, HERE. I love the six-inch pans because the smaller, stacked cake just looks a week bit fancier.

Here are a few links below, featuring other cakes I’ve made using the six-inch pans.

How to Frost a Cake | Sweet Lemon Cake | Chocolate Cake | Ombre Cake

Meanwhile, I continue to work on my food-on-the-move videography series, and I’ve included my latest Food in Motion video below featuring this Carrot Cake for your viewing pleasure.

You can watch the video fullscreen within this post, or you can click over and watch it full screen over on YouTube.

If you opt to watch this video on YouTube, please consider subscribing to my channel, as I’m trying to grow my audience on that platform too.

Thanks so much for the sweet support and enjoy the video (and the recipe that follows).

Food in Motion