Deliciously Simple Carrot Cake

I spent my Valentine's Day making a multitude of scrumptious things, one of them being my grandmother's deliciously simple recipe for carrot cake. There's not too many ingredients, it's not time-consuming (the only real work comes when you grate the carrots), and assembly is non-existent because it's baked in a tube pan instead of cake pans. I stayed mostly true to her recipe, but I did put sweetened coconut on the outside of the cake after frosting, and I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose in the cake.

If you don't have much time but you want to make something elegant and delicious, make this cake. Everyone will love it.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

For cake:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut, if you prefer

For frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Sweetened, flaked coconut (for top and sides)

Procedure:

For cake:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
2. Add sugar, oil, and eggs. Mix well.
3. Add carrots and nuts.
4. Grease and flour a 10 in. tube pan and pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
5. Let cake cool 10-15 minutes in pan and remove. Finish cooling on wire rack

For frosting:

1. Beat butter and cream cheese together until well-combined. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.
2. Beat in powdered sugar, a little bit at a time, just until combined.
3. Frost cake beginning with the top and moving to the sides. When completely frosted, take coconut and press lightly onto top and sides of frosted cake. Lightly cover cake and keep stored in refrigerator. Bring to room temperature to serve.