The Best Carrot Cake. Ever.

This really is the best carrot cake ever. I promise. Make it for your favorite person. Make it to celebrate spring. Make it for Easter dinner. Make it for someone’s birthday. Make it just because.

I made it myself a couple of weeks ago for one of my favorite people, Ann Voskamp, author of the New York Times Bestseller One Thousand Gifts.

Ann came to spend a day with the team at Zondervan, and a few days beforehand, when I found out that a lunch had been planned, I marched myself over to Author Care and told them to cancel the catered dessert. I then asked Ann’s editor, Sandy, to find out her favorite kind of cake.

I was thrilled to discover she had asked for carrot cake – thrilled because it’s one of my favorite cakes to make, and because it just seemed…right. It seemed like Ann, earthy and healthy (as healthy as cakes go, anyway).

Ann describes herself simply as “A Farmer’s Wife.” She’s also a mother of six, a faithful follower of Jesus, and an extraordinary writer. Her book has changed my life forever – there’s no going back once you’ve read One Thousand Gifts – and somehow, gifting her with a simple homemade dessert was the best thing I could come up with on such short notice.

For those I love, I bake. What can I say?

This cake is full of all kinds of good things: carrot (of course), pineapple, golden raisins, chopped walnuts, coconut. I couldn’t bear the amount of oil in the original recipe, so I reduced it and substituted apple sauce. Sometimes, I put currants in it instead of raisins. And of course, it calls for cream cheese frosting. Nothing else will do.

It’s dense and moist, and so rich and flavorful that you don’t need much more than a sliver. It’s wonderful in the morning with a cup of coffee, too.

You can bake this in three 8-inch pans for a triple layer cake, or use two 10-inch pans for a two-layer cake that will easily feed 20 people.

The Best Carrot Cake. Ever.


For the cake:
4 large eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup raw cane sugar
3/4 cup non-GMO canola oil
3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
3 cups finely grated carrot
1 cup shredded coconut
8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained well
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray three 8-inch pans or two 10-inch pans with oil. Set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer, beat the eggs and sugars until fluffy. Add the oil and applesauce and mix well, until thoroughly incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to the wet ingredients and beat until smooth.

Stir in the carrot, coconut, pineapple, raisins, and walnuts, and mix well.

Divide the batter evenly among the pans, and bake 40-45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Cool slightly, then invert onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla

In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the confectioners’ sugar, a cupful or so at a time, mixing well after each addition. If the frosting seems too thick, add a tablespoon or two of milk to thin it out. It should be creamy and spreadable, but not runny.

To frost:
Place the bottom layer on a cake plate or serving platter. Using an offset spatula, spread a layer of icing on top, the add the second cake layer. Repeat if you’re adding a third. Frost the top, and then the sides.

Decorate with curls of carrot, a sprinkling of coconut, and a few walnut halves.