Years ago, an elderly woman at my church would bring a big pan of carrot cake to dinners and it was incredibly amazing. Everyone would ask for the recipe, but she would never part with it, saying it was her mother’s secret recipe. I think this one is equally as good. It reminds me very much of that old fashioned Grandmother’s carrot cake from years ago.

Carrot cake has always been an obsession of mine, but it has to be very dense and heavy, extremely moist and bursting with flavor. This recipe fits the bill completely. It has a bit of extra cinnamon and unlike others, I added pumpkin pie spice… But, it works wonderfully. It’s adds such a great spicy flavor that puts this cake over the top. You just have to trust me on this one. I tested several different recipes over the years and this one is perfection.

Top with cream cheese frosting and serve it to all your friends. When they ask for the recipe, you can decide whether to part with it or not!! And they will ask…

3 cups carrot, grated
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz can crushed pineapple
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8″ cake pans.

In a large bowl, add sugars, oil, butter, eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in pineapple with juice and grated carrots. Mix well.

In another bowl, mix flour and spices, and then mix with wet ingredients till a batter forms. Stir in pecans.

Pour into the cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes.

Let cool, remove from pans and top with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese on low speed a couple of minutes until fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix.

Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix on low until combined after each addition. Once last cup is added, whip frosting on high for a minute or two to make it extra fluffy.

Chill a bit before icing the cake.

Tagged: carrot cake, dense, grandma, moist carrot cake, old fashion