Recipe #108: Jan Vitcovich's World Famous Carrot Cake

I worked with Jan a number of years at United Airlines and if you were lucky enough, you might have been able to partake of her carrot cake when she brought one in.  This is THE BEST carrot cake recipe I have ever made.  It can stand well enough alone without the help of any icing, but that said, for this recipe, I made it and iced it with the BEST cream cheese icing ever....why?  Because the ratio of cream cheese to butter is greater, giving the icing a little more zing.  You will absolutely love this recipe, whether you make it in a bundt pan, tube pan or 2 9" cake pans.  Now, let's bake...

2 cups sugar                                                          4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil                                                 2 tsp each baking soda and powder
3 tbsp cinnamon                                                   1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg*
1/8 tsp ground clove*                                           4 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts                                         1 can crushed pineapple, put in a sieve and juice
1/2 cup coconut*                                                      pressed out
1/4 tsp salt

*I added the clove and nutmeg, and bumped up the coconut from 1/4 cup

In a stand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until pale.  Add the oil.  Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture.  Fold in the carrots, walnuts, pineapple and coconut.  Bake in whatever greased and floured pans you wish at 350.  If using a bundt or tube pan, bake for about 1 hour.  9" pans will take about 35-40 minutes...test with a toothpick.  Bon appetit!

CREAM CHEESE ICING

12 oz cream cheese                                           6 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla                                                       1/4 tsp salt
1 box powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.