Why-I-Joined-Zaar Carrot Cake

Bye-bye bakery carrot cake, hello homemade! This recipe is amazing as written & we are so happy to have found it!!! We do make a few substitutions: sub whole wheat pastry flour, pare down the sugar to 1 1/4 cups, decrease oil to 1/2 cup & add 1/2 cup applesauce, and add 1/2 cup golden raisins. We prefer to bake this in 2 round cake pans for 30-35 minutes, though it works well as sheetcake & cupcakes alike. This recipe is fabulous as written & provides endless options for those who want to tweak it just so. Thank you for getting me out of the bakery & into the kitchen for outstanding carrot cake!

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This recipe definitely deserves 5 stars! I made cupcakes instead and took them to work only to receive raving reviews. One lady said it's better than anything she could get store-bought. Some modifications I made after reading previous reviews: 1) applesauce instead of oil, 2) pecans instead of walnuts, 3) decreased to 1 cup of sugar 4) baked 18-20 minutes since I made cupcakes. Also, I let the dried coconut soak for about 15 minutes in boiled water. Then I strained it and added to the batter. That way the coconut is not as dry. Finally, I used a piping tip to swirl the icing on top...they looked absolutely delightful =)

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Looking for a delicious cake recipe and came across this one. It looked like a carrot cake recipe I had clipped from a magazine many years ago, so I thought I'd check to see how it was different. I discovered it was the same recipe (although the frosting uses only 3 oz. of cream cheese), but noticed the directions were a little more specific for the cake. My recipe says to use sifted flour and then, before adding wet ingredients, says to sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Thought I would mention it as I think this helps to assure all of the dry ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Additional comment (next day): Another change, I think that makes the directions clearer is to use sifted confectioner's sugar (called Icing sugar in the recipe) and also add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. It made a nice creamy easy-to-use frosting. I made my cake in two 9-inch round pans (baked for 40 minutes) and had plenty of frosting (using the 8 oz. package of light cream cheese) to frost both layers.

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This cake was great. Everyone that ate it loved it. However, I did make some changes to make it healthier for my family. Here are the changes I made: I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular flour, 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 1 ¾ cup of white sugar, and ½ cup of oil and ½ cup of apple sauce instead of 1 cup of oil. I also used another frosting that was very similar it calls for: 1 8oz cream cheese, ¼ cup of powder sugar, and 3 tablespoon of orange juice concentrate. Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely be making it again.

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I'm not sure what another 5 star review is going to do for something that is already rated so high, but I'll give it a shot. I thought this cake was outstanding. I love carrot cake and I think I am a good judge of a quality cake. I did make a few changes. First, I hate walnuts so i substituted pistachios. I skipped the coconut, because I can not see a purpose other than an extra flavor to distract from the already solid flavor foundation. I also added some fresh ground nutmeg and some ground ginger since I think they are good complimentary spices. Now the frosting is insanely good. I think it will go good on anything. Cake, scones, muffins, spoons, fingers, maybe even a steak. All in all, this is a great recipe and I know why it is so highly rated.

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Wow!! This is a really lovely cake. I followed the recipe to the letter. Perfect! It did not go down in the centre even though the recipe said it might.

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Well, after sitting and reading ALL 280+ reviews, I decided to make this recipe into cupcakes, to serve at my wedding in 2 days! I realized that I had NEVER made my fiance his favorite cake from scratch, probably because I didn't think I liked carrot cake - WRONG!. I just finished making 2 batches, and am thinking of making another, I am sure they are going to be a BIG hit! They are SO moist! I can't wait for them to sit a bit for the spices to come to full flavor. The preparation went quickly- after grating the carrots. I did incorporate a few changes as recommended in some of the reviews... 1) cut sugar to 1 cup, 2) 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce for half the oil, 3) added 1/2 tsp. nutmeg & 1/2 tsp. allspice, 4) added an extra 1/2 cup carrots, 5) omitted coconut & walnuts to appease fiance and new in-laws =), 6) baked 18 minutes for cupcakes - yielded approx. 18 cupcakes per batch, using an ice cream scoop to measure. I have only tried one w/o frosting, I think they will definitely be sweet enough once frosted, I like the extra spice, yet it isn't overpowering, I think the applesauce helps to "lighten" the finished product and reduces the chance of "sinking", and I love the pineapple! I used the frosting recipe, but added 1 tsp. vanilla. Will definitely update after the wedding! Thanks for the recipe! I am so glad I decided to try it!

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This cake is wonderful! It's moist and flavorful. The only change we used was to replace 1/2 of the oil with applesauce and it was still fantastic.

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Amazing! Bloody marvellous!!!!!!!!!!!! REALLY EAST TO MAKE and has the best results!!!! left out walnuts as i knew my little ones would not be keen and we did not miss them even though I love walnuts. I know this will be made over and over.Planning on it for my easter cake this year.I did a 2 layer cake (2 round pans)with the frosting in the middle-yummeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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this was amazing! i had never made a carrot cake but made one for mothers day. all the mothers loved it and were impressed with it. I find i have to add some of the pineapple juice to get the batter the right consistency, or the batter is too dry. i also baked in two 9 inch rounds. update: i have made this cake a few times now and wanted to add you can safely reduce the sugar to around 1 cup, especially if you frost the cake it is still plenty sweet enough.

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Words are overrated....you have to make this cake!!
I can't keep my husband away from it!!!
He's already asking me when I'm going to bake another one and this ones not even gone yet.
Only thing I changed was I omited the coconut, like ROV CHEF said didn't want to muddle the flavours.
My little ones are not crazy about chunks of nuts in their cakes either so whenever I bake any type of cake I simply grind the nuts I want to use into a powder and add it in at the end, noone can tell there are nuts in it and this way my little ones get the nutritional value.
This is our new family favourite...thanks Lennie.

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I just made this cake and I have to say it is so good. I added rasins to my cake, I chopped baby carrots fine and added them instead of shredded carrots. I was worried this would make the cake too heavy and would sink in the middle. The cake turned out great. 45 minutes was just the right amount of cook time. The only gripe I had was there was a slight salt taste. I will for sure make this cake again along with the frosting (which was so good)Next time I will half the salt. Thank you for posting such an easy recipe, that looks and tasts like I spent all day in the kitchen!

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Let me just say everyone in my house hates carrot cake (except me), especially with coconut. I made it and didn't tell anyone what was in it. Everyone has been raving about this cake, even after I told them what was in it! This is my go to carrot cake recipe...perfect in every way, cooking time is exact as well. Thanks for sharing!!

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This is beautiful! Since there's enough rave reviews, I'd just like to add that for the cream cheese frosting, I ended up adding 3 cups of icing sugar for it to reach piping consistency, hope that helps some!

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i have always thought of myself as a non-baker... no matter what i do, everything i BAKE turns out mediocre, but i followed this recipe to the "t" and it was the BEST cake i have ever had. NOT MADE, but HAD!!! I was so proud of myself, and so glad I tried this recipe! Anyone can make this WONDERFUL cake!!!!! : )

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OMG...What a cake!!!!! I made this for my husband and new daughter-in-laws birthday today and wow---it was heaven. I have never had success with any cake recipe and usually buy birthday cakes, well, until now. So now we have to wait until Feb. to make this again. It is so moist and favourful. I added a touch more cinnamon and allspice, but other that that it was so perfect. Made it into a layer and I am so proud---just like a cake from a bakery......kudos to food. com for yet another huge success to make me into a gourmet cook. YES!

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So delicious! Made for my roomates birthday yesterday and it is almost all gone! The only things I did differently was i made w. 1 cup applesauce instead of oil (couldnt even tell), left out the walnuts (not a fan of nuts in cake), and added abt a tbsp of vanilla to the frosting. Also made it in a bundt cake, had to bake for 55 mins. Can't wait to make another one!

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THIS is true carrot cake heaven!!! This is actually the closest I've ever come to my grandmother's recipe EVER. The only thing I added (sorry :)) was tea soaked rasins and some nutmeg and truely I was seeing my grandmother sitting in her rocker saying "have another piece dear, you're soo thin" (thats not a problem anymore :/) Oh, and I also made it "gluten free for my kids, too. Just sub 1 1/2c. corn flour for the all-purpose, and add 4tsp baking soda and 2 tsp baking powder, and 2 tbsp more oil. They ate it all without a complaint!

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This recipe is as good as everyone says. The only change I made is to add finely grated orange peel to the frosting. My daughter and I once had carrot cake at a shop and they had added orange peel to the frosting. We talked about that cake a number of times until we were both back in that area again. We rushed into the shop for a piece of the cake...and they had no idea what we were talking about! The manager said they DID have "girl" "awhile back" who was always making things DIFFERENT from the recipes, and they had to let her go. YIKES!!! Try the orange peel and see how it adds a wonderful new dimension to an already complex and delicious cake! THANK YOU for this recipe.

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Awesome! I made it gluten free and dairy free frosting. My 2.5 yo son loves it, as do my non GF parents, husband and myself! MMMM!

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