Libby’s Carrot Cake

I didn’t grow up eating dessert every night, but as far as sweets went, my mother’s carrot cake was pretty popular. My mom, Libby, often made it for my Dad’s birthday. (June 4th, put that on your calendar. He likes interesting ties, and books about baseball are always a good bet.) Her recipe is THE quintessential Southern Carrot Cake. Good any time, I can’t imagine a better Easter dessert.

Recently called, “the best carrot cake I’ve ever had,” by one of my more discerning taste testers, Libby’s Carrot Cake is really very easy and unfussy to make for such a delicious, classic cake. And it has other pleasing qualities, too. For one, you don’t dirty up every bowl in your kitchen. Also, this cake affords you some timing flexibility if you need it. The layers are even better the second day. (The taste-tester above had cake on day one.) So you can feel free to bake the layers one day, cool thoroughly and wrap them, and store at room temp overnight. Then you can make the icing and finish the cake tomorrow. You can even bake the layers, cool them, and freeze them if you want to. Just make sure to wrap them really, really, well, and make the icing fresh–it doesn’t freeze as well as the layers.

Mom’s recipe calls for chopped toasted pecans in the icing. Historically, most of us here at home liked chopped pecans in the icing. But now one doesn’t approve, and another one is allergic. That pecan thing can go either way. If no one allergic is here when we’re having it, I just decorate the top of the cake with pecans. Princess Persnickety eats around them.

I am in no way an icing pro. My cakes look homemade, and I’m fine with that. But to ice a cake without messing up the cake plate, lay four or five overlapping 3” strips of wax paper all around the edge of your plate, forming a ring of sorts. Center the bottom layer on the plate and the strips. It should cover the inner edge of the wax paper ring. If your cake layers are very domed, you may want to carefully trim them flat with a long, serrated bread knife held parallel to the plate. Spread ⅓ of the icing on top of the bottom layer. Place the top layer upside down on the bottom layer. This will give you a firm, flat cake top. Use half the remaining icing to frost the sides of the cake, and use the rest of the icing for the top. When you’re done, carefully slide out the pieces of waxed paper. Look! A clean cake plate!

Libby’s Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
2 ½ cups grated carrot
1 t. vanilla

Icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 °. Cream together sugar, eggs and oil. Mix dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. Then add carrots and vanilla. Pour into 2 greased and floured round cake pans. (I’ve started using that baking spray with the flour already in it. It seems to work like a charm!)

Bake for about 45 minutes, testing with a toothpick until it comes out clean. Cool the layers completely before making the icing.

Mix all icing ingredients together and ice the cake.