Kate's Carrot Cake
All the credit goes to the Silver Palate (my favorite cookbook) for this recipe.
Ingredients:
Butter, for greasing the pan
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups corn oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup shelled walnuts, chopped
1 ½ cup shredded coconut
1 1/3 cup pureed cooked carrots
¾ cup drained crushed pineapple
Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 9-inch springform pans.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in the walnuts, coconut, carrots and pineapple.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until the edges have pulled away from the sides and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 minutes.
4. Cool on a cake rack for 3 hours. Fill and frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperaturePREPARATION
Cream together the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly sift in the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. The mixture should be free of lumps. Stir in the vanilla, and lemon juice if desired. Frosting for a 2-layer cake