Outrageous Carrot Cake

Sydney Mike's Note:

Over the years I've grown tired of the somewhat dry carrot cakes and the cream cheese frosting, so when the original of this recipe came to my attention I was intrigued with it. From time to time I reworked it, finally settling on this current version. One of the things I like about it is that with a little imagination, this cake can also be made into a Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cake!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 24

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs , room temperature
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple , well drained
• 4 ½ cups carrots , grated
• 1 ½ cups walnuts , chopped
• 1 ½ cups coconut , grated
• 2 cups golden raisins , chopped
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease & flour a 13"x9" baking dish, preferably glass.
2. In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, soda, cinnamon & salt.
3. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, then add oil, buttermilk, sugar & vanilla, & blend well.
4. Add this egg mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly, then stir in the pineapple, carrots, valnuts, coconut & raisins, & mix well.
5. Pour into prepared baking dish & bake at least 65-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. For the glaze-- 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE CAKE IS DONE-- in a saucepan mix the sugar, soda, buttermilk, corn syrup & butter, then bring to a boil & boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat & add vanilla.
7. Remove the cake from the oven & with a skewer or knife poke a number of holes into the hot cake, making sure the holes reach the bottom of the cake.
8. Slowly pour the hot glaze over the hot cake, carefully spreading it all over the top of the cake, until it is absorbed.
9. Let the cake cool completely, then refrigerate. DO NOT REHEAT THE CAKE!

Reviews

[2Bleu]

This is so nice and moist! We loved the addition of crushed pineapple. :) I quartered the recipe to serve 6 and used an 8x8 pan. I also omitted the coconut for personal preference, and we enjoyed it 'unglazed'. It was gone in a flash! :)

[YungB]

Very good carrot cake! The cake came out moist and has so much good stuff in it :) My family loves it. A change from the cream cheese frosting variety. We don't like things too sweet so I reduced the sugar in the cake to 1 1/2 cup. I also only made only half of the glazing recipe. It was perfectly sweetened. Thank you for sharing Sydney Mike.

[Melanie Adrienne]

Outstanding! Did not have any trouble understanding when to add buttermilk as it was listed once at the top for the cake ingredients and again at the bottom with the glaze ingredients. Very nice recipe :-) Thanks!