Old Fashion Carrot Cake: Delicious, Homemade Goodness

Carrot Cake! As a kid, I was convinced it would be horrible because it had carrots. That may be a common problem.

Look, we all have to eat our veggies and what better way to eat them than hidden in a cake!  LOL.  My hubby mentioned that he loved carrot cake but can no longer have it due to his lactose allergy so I decided to hook him up.  It’s bad enough that he breaks out so much from the stupid allergy, no need to miss out more than necessary!  So, I found this recipe from some wonderful older ladies.  As a Cherokee, elders are my first go to source for any information!  I love that their recipes are so incredibly simple yet taste so great!

I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve gotten on this cake, I generally don’t say anything about it being dairy free as it really doesn’t matter if you can have dairy.  haha.  Any way you slice it, carrot cake is my absolute favorite way to eat carrots!  My coriander carrots come in second, but those are healthy. haha.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c cooking oil
• 2 c sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 c raw grated carrots (I took a shortcut and bought the carrots pre-shredded)
• 1 c chopped pecans
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine oil and sugar.  Mix.  Set aside.
2. In another container, mix dry ingredients (except carrots & pecans!)
3. Alternately mix dry ingredients and eggs into the sugar mixture.
4. Mix in carrots and nuts.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes until done, you can check with a toothpick or stick of pasta.

• I did two round cakes and served them separately.  Obviously, you can do this and layer your cake or make 1 traditional sized cake or 24 cupcakes.  If you do so, you’ll need to adjust the cook time: longer for traditional rectangle cake and shorter for cupcakes.
• Rather than using traditional cream cheese icing, order a Dairy Free version if dairy is an issue for you.