Easy Easter Carrot Cake
A delightfully charming carrot cake perfect for an Easter sunday celebration.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup crushed pineapple with the juice, not drained
For the Frosting:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 16 oz powdered sugar
Decorations:
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- green food coloring
- small chocolate eggs
- chocolate Easter bunnies
- assorted Easter candies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9 inch cake pans by lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
- Spray two 9 inch cake pans generously with non-stick spray coating the inside of the pans.
- On low speed blend together vegetable oil, sugar and eggs, until well combined.
- To this mixture slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- Stir in freshly grated carrots, shredded sweetened coconut, 1 tsp vanilla, and crushed pineapple with juice, not drained. Use crushed pineapple that's packed in juice, not heavy syrup.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 40-55 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It took 55 minutes in my oven to completely bake two 9 inch cakes.
- Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then invert them onto a cooling rack. Gently peel off parchment paper and let cool completely.
- To make the frosting combine softened butter, softened creamed cheese, 2 tsp. vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
- Use the whisk attachment of your mixer and whip the ingredients together until you have a light and fluffy frosting, about 2-3 minutes on high speed.
- To decorate the cake spread frosting over the entire cake.
- In a mixing bowl combine shredded sweetened coconut with a few drops of green food coloring. Stir together and add more green coloring until you achieve a shade of green that resembles the color of grass.
- Sprinkle the top of the frosted cake with an even layer of colored coconut. Add candied eggs to the top of the cake.
- Press chocolate easter bunnies to the outside of the cake. The frosting will act as glue and hold the chocolate bunnies in place. You can add various Easter themed shapes and candies to the cake.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until ready to serve.