Carrot Sheet Cake
This moist Carrot Sheet Cake has fantastic flavor from carrots, cinnamon, crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and coconut! It is a keeper!
Servings: 15 servings
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake
- 2 ½ cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil 218g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (180g) grated (small pieces) carrots (do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots, they are too dry)
- ¾ cup (92g) chopped pecans
- ¾ cup (50g) sweetened coconut (we used Baker's Angel Flake sweetened coconut)
- 1 8oz. can crushed pineapple put in a strainer and let the liquid drain off….I press with a fork to remove not all, but a bit more liquid.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 16 oz cream cheese (We used two 8 oz packages) (Not reduced fat)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease and flour a 9x13 sheet cake pan. We like to line the bottom of the pan with parchment also.
- Whisk together for 30 seconds the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set Aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add 2 cups sugar , 4 eggs, 1 cup oil and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed until well blended and light colored.
- With a spoon stir in the flour mixture until moistened, then add the carrots, pecans crushed pineapple and coconut. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared sheet cake pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Makes 6 ½ cups batter
- Cool cake layers in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack then turn out. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended.
- Increase mixing speed and mix until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
Frosting the Cake
- Once cooled, frost the cake however you like! We used every bit of the frosting. First, we crumb coated (thin coat) the sheet cake on the top and sides. As an optional step, we like to chill the cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (or a bit longer in the refrigerator) to firm up the frosting before adding the second coat. We applied the second coat of frosting, and added a "chunky" border of shell piping using a large 1M piping tip on top of the cake.
Storage and Refrigeration
- Chill the cake in an airtight container or sealed bakery box in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese frosting. However, for the very best texture, remove it from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving so that it can warm and soften.
Notes
As with most of our cakes, the carrot cake layer can be baked in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap followed by foil, and frozen for up to three months! (You can place it on a foil-wrapped cake cardboard for extract support if you'd like).
To thaw, move the wrapped cake to the kitchen counter. Unwrap after about 20 minutes and continue to bring to desired temp for decorating. (Some decorators like to frost cakes when partially frozen as they are less fragile.)