Good old fashioned carrot cake just the way my Mom used to make. This cake brings back memories of my life on the farm.
When my Mom was in the mood to make carrot cake she’d ask me to go out and pick a handful of carrots for her, sometimes this meant walking over to the neighbours field to pick them if ours weren’t ready for picking yet. No, I didn’t steal them, it was always a help yourself policy between us and the neighbouring farmers.
Living on a vegetable farm meant hard work, but we had access to all the fresh vegetables we wanted. What we didn’t grow in our field, we grew in our massive garden beside our house. Have you ever smelled the delicious aroma of a fresh picked tomato? Or tasted the crunchiness of a ‘fresh off the vine’ cucumber? I know some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Skip the cream cheese icing if you want to cut down on your sugar intake, but I find the icing helps keep the cake moist, and I do love icing

Print Recipe

Carrot Cake

Course: Dessert

Keyword: cake, cream cheese, nuts, raisins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup light brown sugar packed
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3 cups coarsely grated carrots loosely packed
½ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 125g package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar

Instructions

Sift the first 5 ingredients together, set aside. Beat sugar and oil on high speed add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and beat on lower speed until combined. Stir in carrots, raisins and walnuts. Pour into a greased and floured 10” cake pan.
Bake at 325°F for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting Directions:

Beat butter, cream cheese and extract. Gradually add icing sugar until desired consistency is reached.
Frost the cake with a flat spatula.
Cake can also be cut in half and frosted.