Light and tender carrot cake with a blend of earthy, fruity, cinnamon spice flavors. This is perfect for any spring time celebration!

The story

My grandma was sweetness itself. She was one of the most patient people I ever knew. And if my mom disagrees with me, I bet that’s the same relationship she’ll have with my daughter. It’s a grandma thing, I’m betting.

My grandma passed away on Easter 2018. It was also April 1, which is funny because my grandma hated pranks of any kind.

We were on our way to Easter brunch with my mom that day. We’d just parked the car when my grandpa called. It was expected; she’d been sick for a while.

That was also the day we told my mom I was pregnant. And while some may say it’s a weak connection, I love that my daughter was born with my grandma’s hair color. Far more red and ginger-y than my auburn. It’s like a lasting memory of my grandma.

This cake is my grandma’s. I don’t usually care for carrot cake, but I actually like this one. It’s like spice cake meets carrots. It’s surprisingly light and fluffy for a carrot cake, too.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

Tips for this recipe

Grate or finely chop carrots

I already had shredded carrots, so I used a good old fashioned nut chopper from Ikea and chopped the carrots as much as I had patience for. I thought it was perfectly fine, but I’ve seen a few recipes lately with super fine shreds of carrots and they looked amazing, so that may be a recipe you see in future Easter cake posts!

Don’t drain pineapple too much

I set it over a measuring cup with a mesh sieve and that was that. If you press the juice out, you’ll have a drier cake.

Chop raisins

I know that’s a weird idea, but the hardest part about this cake was cutting around the raisins. Mind you, it turned out fine. But if you want a nice, clean, Instagram-able slice, you’ll want to chop the raisins so they don’t create uneven edges when you slice. Or, you can go retro and just eat the cake even if the slices are a little uneven.

Spice to your liking

I increased my grandma’s 1 teaspoon cinnamon because that’s how I roll. I recently told you I have a tumultuous history with it, but these days the more cinnamon the better. You can decrease my spice amounts by half, or even increase a little. But I wouldn’t go much beyond or it’ll be overbearing.

Bake in rounds and frost with my grandma’s cream cheese frosting!

I chose to go naked with this cake and use vanilla bean paste in the frosting to get that speckled egg look naturally. Cream cheese is classic with carrot cake. But a plain vanilla buttercream is also a great choice and doesn’t require refrigeration. Or, if you’re a true cinnamon fanatic, you can try my cinnamon vanilla bean buttercream.

Make an egg’s nest with toasted coconut and candy eggs!

I had leftover toasted coconut from making my chocolate coconut mousse pie, so it naturally followed that this would be my Easter cake. I literally just slowly made a little pile of coconut, using maybe 1/3 cup of the coconut, dug out a hole in the middle, and added Whopper eggs, courtesy of my daughter’s Easter basket from my mom. It was cute, but I may or may not have but definitely did eat all the Whoppers off the top before the day was over.

You can also use un-toasted, sweetened coconut and cover the whole cake, like the original recipe called for. It’s a preference thing, and I was going for lower sugar and using up that toasted coconut that somehow lasts forever.

Grandma’s Carrot Cake

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 30-35 minutes

total time: 45 minutes

Servings: 12-16, or one 8” cake or 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground allspice

4 large eggs

1 ¾ cups packed brown sugar (my grandma used 2 cups regular sugar)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup oil (avocado, grapeseed, or vegetable)

2 cups peeled and grated raw carrots (4 to 6 medium carrots)

1 cup raisins, roughly chopped, optional

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, slightly drained

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

shredded or flaked coconut, optional

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter three 8” or 9” round cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper and then butter and flour the cake pans. NOTE: You can also make this into a 2-layer cake, a 9x13 cake, or 24 cupcakes.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, add eggs and beat on medium-high speed until light yellow or approximately 2 minutes. Add the sugar to the eggs until well mixed and fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and beat an additional 1 minute.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the vegetable oil. Scrape down the bowl then beat another 1 minute.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and blend in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Alternatively, you can stir it in by hand. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the grated carrots, raisins, drained pineapple, and nuts.

Divide the batter equally between the prepared cake pans. Bake approximately 30 to 35 minutes or until a long toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pans for 5-10 minutes. Remove cake from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

If using toasted coconut to make a bird's nest (or just to decorate, because yum), toast while cake cools. Spread up to 1 cup (depending how much you want) shredded or flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, your preference—I used unsweetened) onto a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 5 minutes, stirring halfway. Check after 5 minutes and continue cooking until golden brown, checking every 30-60 seconds to avoid burning the coconut. Be careful, it burns quickly, especially if you use less than 1 cup! Alternatively, you can use un-toasted coconut or omit it.

Frost with cream cheese frosting, chilling after frosting each layer, then sprinkle top with coconut (toasted or regular). Optionally, you can also gently press coconut into the sides.

If using cream cheese frosting, it must be refrigerated. A frosted cake will last, tightly sealed, in the fridge 3-5 days (or at room temperature the same time if using another frosting).

Enjoy!