Carrot Cake

All my life I have looked for a great Carrot Cake recipe. I mean a great one. A really great one. Every once in a while I'll have a piece of carrot cake at a restaurant that I am sure is the recipe that I am looking for. But do I have the recipe? No. Just the cake. Which is good. But not as great as having the recipe. I have made many many different carrot cake recipes. Most are pretty good. But not the great one I am looking for.

And then, enter Emily Price from Laurel, Maryland. She sent in her secret recipe for carrot cake. She calls it Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake with Buttermilk Glaze. My heart speeds up a little just reading the name of it. This cake is so good. No. It is great. So amazingly great. I'm tellin' ya...my search for a great carrot cake recipe is over. This is it. This is the one I've been waiting for. You will love it!

Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake with Buttermilk Glaze


Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla


Cake:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated carrots
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
1 cup seedless raisins
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped


Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel


Glaze: In a saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, baking soda, buttermilk, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside until cake is baked.

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or two 9-inch cake pans. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add oil, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts; stir well. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and slowly pour buttermilk glaze over hot cake. Cool cake in pan until buttermilk glaze is totally absorbed. about 15 minutes. Cool and frost.

Frosting:
In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla, powdered sugar, orange juice and orange peel. Mix until smooth. Frost cake and refrigerate until frosting is set. Serve cake chilled. 20 servings.

This recipe is on page 202 of the Worldwide Ward Cookbook - Secret Recipes. You can find it at your local bookstore, especially at Seagull Book and Deseret Book. You can also find it online at seagullbook.com or at deseretbook.com or amazon.com