The Best Carrot Cake

I'm extremely late in posting this recipe. This was one of the desserts we enjoyed Christmas Day. 

I have to give credit to the husband for finding this recipe.  Since I'm unable to eat dairy I was very limited to a lot of our traditional holiday desserts.  I wasn't thrilled about this and after complaining to hubs, he went in search of a dairy free dessert.  He emailed this recipe to me asking what I thought.  All I had to do was look at the picture before I gave him the A-Okay.  

Results: Hands down the best carrot cake I've ever made. The cake was moist and every single bit was full of flavor.  It was a BIG cake, so one little sliver satisfied my sweet tooth.  When I make it again (and I will) I'll use a 9x13 pan and do more of a sheet cake.  I will also cut the oil in half and add applesauce.  

Courtesy of All Recipes

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups grated carrots 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup raisins 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10 inch cake pans.
3.	In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
4.	Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting. *You can make your own frosting. I used the frosting from a can because it's dairy free*