According to the carrot museum website http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcake.html, carrot cake most likely descended from Medieval carrot puddings enjoyed by people in Europe. Carrots have built in sugar and sugar was often scarce in olden times.
Ah….fresh carrots from the Farmer’s Market are now available. What better way to use them….Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing!
Home grown carrots are now available at local Farmers’ Markets
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing is moistened with the addition of pineapple. The crunch in this recipe is from chopped pecans, a nice change from more traditional walnuts.
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Print recipe| Serves | 12 - 15 generous servings |
| Inspiration | Canadian Living |
Ingredients
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tsp baking powder
- 2 Tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tsp baking soda
- 3/4 Tsp salt
- 1/2 Tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 3 Large eggs
- 3/4 cups vegetable oil (such as a corn or safflower oil)
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Cups grated carrots
- 1 398 ml (14 oz) tin of crushed pineapple (drained, leaves 1 cup of pineapple)
Optional
- 1/2 pecans (chopped)
Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 250 gm (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (room temperature (or soften in the microwave - 1 minute at low power should do)
- 1/4 cup soft butter
- 1/2 Tsp vanilla
- 1 cup icing sugar
Directions
| Grease a 13 x 9 in (240 x 345 mm) Pyrex baking dish. | |
| In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. | |
| In a separate bowl, add the white and brown sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla. (Cracking each egg in a small bowl and then adding to the sugar mixture, prevents a bad egg from ruining your ingredients.) Beat with a mixer until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture, just until moistened. | |
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Peel and grate the carrots, using a box grater. Empty the pineapple into a colander and using a spoon, squeeze out the juice.  | |
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If the pecans are whole, use a rolling pin to crush them in a plastic bag.  | |
| Stir the carrots, pineapple and pecans (if using) into the sugar/oil/egg mixture. | |
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Spread into the prepared pan. Bake in a 350 deg F oven for 40 - 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.  | |
| Cream Cheese Icing | |
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In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese with the butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the icing sugar, gradually, until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake. Cut into squares and serve plain or with ice cream.  | |