The Ultimate Carrot Cake

This is what carrot cake should be, moist, semi-sweet, and delicious. I followed the recipe very close but used toasted coconut which came out too chunky in the finished product. I also used a food processor to grate the carrot which saved a lot of time. I fully expected the cakes to be fragile so I just frosted over the broken parts and it looked great. Next time I will make 2 layers rather than 3. Frosting: I only used 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and it was plenty sweet. The consistency of the frosting was like whipped cream or a bit firmer, I would make it this way again. This cake is a labor of love!

Very good but I used crushed pineapple instead of apple.

Great taste...it was hard to cut. But everyone loved it.

What size pans did you use?  I wonder if a 9x13 pan could also work?

Thanks!  Denise

The cake turned out great and it will be delicious when we eat it for Thanksgiving. 

I have made this cake twice since receiving my Southern Living Magazine. It is truly one of my all time favorites and everyone that I shared a piece with..;))) This is truly a keeper and will be made often in our house. This is a very tender cake so when removing from the pan make sure that you treat it as if you would a newborn baby ( after all, it is, right? ;) ) after transferring to a rack to cool I wrap in Reynolds wrap and refrigerate over night,much easier to keep this tender baby from cracking. However if you do have one that crack using it as the foundation works best. It also never hurts to slide in a couple of toothpicks here and there. After all it is first about flavor and second about looks. Although I love a beautiful cake as good as anything. I toasted some coconut to dress the center after icing and pan toasted pecans with a little butter and a sm. Pinch of extra fine salt. Did not take the time to do the carrot strips but am planning to make for a family reunion and will give it a try. I have to say that this was my best dressed cake yet. Carrot cake lovers, this is a must try , you will not be disappointed!!

This went down a treat, I only made two cakes rather than the three but it only took an extra 15 - 20 minutes extra to cook each. It was moist, tasty and delicious. I tried the candied carrots but couldn't get them to work, they came out too chewy. I also reduced the powdered sugar amount in the frosting to 4 1/2 cups as that was all I had. It was plenty sweet enough and a little on the soft side but held together well. I kept the cake in the fridge. This is a keeper!

I made this recipe in hopes my cake hating husband would eat a slice.  He told me it was the best cake he has ever tasted.  I have to agree.  I squeezed some of the liquid out of the grated apple before I added it to the batter.  The layers are moist, the icing is delicious and as another reviewer noted, the toasted pecans put this recipe over the top!. 

Hi, I have experienced very moist cakes that fall apart/slide when attempting to frost also. However, I have found if you refrigerate the cakes for a while before frosting the end result will be a pleasant one...hope this helps for any future endeavors!

Wow! Carrot cake has always been one of my favorites, so I have eaten quite a lot of it over the years. This one is fantastic - definitely one of the best, if not the best. The cake is moist, and the icing is delicious. Be sure to toast the pecans - it makes a big difference. Yum!!!

This is hands down the best carrot cake I have ever made. The cake is so moist that as the recipe says you have to handle carefully. This will definitely be one of my go to cakes. My carrot strips were not long enough to make curls so I broke them up and made carrot candy crunches on top. Looked great and tasted fantastic. Worth the effort.

Wonderful - super moist and packed with flavor.  Was the hit of the party with absolutely no leftovers to enjoy :)

The hubby insists I rate this a zero. We followed the recipe step by step. It fell apart as we were frosting it. The sides cracked, slid down and so on. Not making again. Disappointed.