Awesome Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Why is everyone giving this recipe a five-star rating after they have altered the recipe? IF you make this as directed: a)There is WAY too much oil, b)it has very little flavor, c)it takes a lot longer than 40-45 minutes to bake, d)the icing does not need that much sugar and butter. It sticks in your throat going down; and left my kids fingers slicker than the exxon oil spill. I think if this recipe was dramatically altered it would be OK. It would be easier to find another recipe...

I made this twice, the first time I followed the recipe to a T, but I found it kinda of oily, and the texture a little off, so the second time I made it I substituted the 1 1/2 cups of oil for 1 cup of non-sweetened apple sauce and 1/2 cup oil. The texture was perfect and it was easier to cut too. Also I used some spenda with the sugar to cut some calories and used lowfat cream cheese for the icing. The second time around I'd give it 5 stars!

MMMMM MMMM Good!!!! One of the best carrot cakes I've ever had. The only changes I made were: reduce oil to use 1/2 cup, 2tsp cinnamon, pinch of Allspice... I used 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/4 cup white flour.... I also took the advice of other reviewers and reduced the frosting: 1 cup confectioners sugar, 4 oz cream cheese, 1/8 cup butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup chopped pecans. I love cream cheese frosting but some recipes have too much for my taste.... Moist & Delicious!!! I love this cake!!!!!!!!!

This cake was too moist, almost as if it was soaking wet. I think the pineapple ruined it, made it taste funky. Also, there is just WAY TOO MUCH oil. Carrot Cake III on this site is much better and it doesn't need to be TWEAKED like this recipe to recieve a 5 by so many people...Won't make again. Z-

I decided on this cake for my friend's birthday. I baked it on a Friday for a Saterday party. I took the advice of people on the forum and made some changes. I used 1 cup sugar (rather than the 2 suggested) for the cake, as well as 2 tsp of cinnamon rather than the 1 suggested as I like a spicier cake. I used 1/3 cup vegetable oil and 2/3 cup applesauce. I didn't add any pecans. The cake turned out quite moist still, even with the reduced oil. I had a hard time getting it out of the pan, as parts of it stuck. After a bit of prodding it was out, but I was a bit worried as it seemed too moist. (I had baked most of the batter in a rectangular pan, and baked 1 small cupcake for tasting purposes.) But alas my fears were unfounded... Read below. I used the Neufchatel frosting suggested, but made one change- used 1 cup of sugar rather than 3 1/2 cups. Also- didn't mix the pecans in, but rather decorated the top of the cake with it. After leaving it in the fridge for 1 day, I was pleasantly surprised when it tasted much better than the day before. The gumminess that resulted from it being too moist the day before, was now a perfect level of moistness, and the frosting tasted delicious with the cake. You could actually see bits of carrot, and with the toasted pecans on top, it was visually gorgeous. Everyone loved it! I'd make this recipe again and again, but still use the modifications I've made above. I suggest baking the day before, and refigerating.

Oh my. This was great! My hubby advised me late last night he had to take something for a potluck today (dont you hate that) and since I've been eyeballing this recipe, my son and I went to the store and whipped it up! We saved enough batter to make 3 cupcakes so we could all taste it. It was SO fast to make with the food processer, and it was devine! I followed previous reviews and used 3/4 cup oil, used 1/4 cup cinnamon applesauce, upped the cinnamon to 3 tsp (we love spice) and added raisins. I decreased the sugar in the frosting to 2 3/4 cups. I put nuts IN the frosting and sprinkled a few more ON the cake (we're nut lovers too). The frosting was fantastic, after the cake was frosted, I had dibs on the bowl, beaters, knife, you name it, they were MINE! ;-) Great recipe, the pineapple was different, but DARN GOOD!

Very good recipe w/ some of the modifications mentioned by others: increase carrots to 4 c., reduce oil to 3/4 c., add 1/4 c. cinnamon apple sauce, increase cinnamon to 2 tsp., drain some of the juice off pineapple, add 1/4 c. raisins, AND most importantly reduce the powdered sugar in the icing. I used 2 c. and my sister still thought it was borderline too sweet. I also recommend waiting to add the carrots until the same time you add the pecans.

Just because it has a few carrots in it doesn't make it health food! I reduced the oil to under 1 cup and put less sugar in the frosting to reduce the calories with good results.

The reason so many are having cakes that are oily is that #1 you mast gradually add the sugar,beating until fluffy before adding more sugar. Continue adding small amounts at a time. # 2 Beat your eggs seperately till very light & gradually add to the sugar, oil mixture. You are not incorperating the sugar & oil & the oil separates & will be on the bottom etc. Try this, you will never have an oily carrot cake again.

MOIST!!! Is definately one word for this cake! I made this yesterday for my husband and son's birthday. My husband said it was almost custard-like it was so moist, but still delicious. I did make some modifications though. 1 1/2 cups oil seemed like WAY too much (maybe a typo?) so I used 1 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. I also cut out 1/2 cup of sugar so that it wasn't overly sweet. I also used one heaping teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger to up the spices a bit to give it more flavor. Next time I think I'll cut the applesauce down to 1/2 a cup since I think a whole cup was too much. I also didn't make the frosting in the recipe, but just took 2 8oz pkgs cream cheese with about 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tbs orange juice concentrate and 1 tsp almond extract. It was great! This is a good recipe to start out with and then make your own modifications as you go. Thanks! I will be making this again!

This was the first carrot cake I had ever made. My husband raved about it for days! Great recipe...

I tried this cake and honestly, it was terrible. I didn't change a thing so I feel that I can rate this honestly.

I made this cake for my hubby's birthday.It's fruity, dense and really, REALLY moist. Hubby loved it. I followed the suggestions of a lot of people here and reduced the oil to 1/3 cup and added 2/3 cup unsweatened apple sauce instead. I also reduced the amount of sugar to 1 1/2 cups from 2 cups, omitted the pecans and added 1/4 tsp ground cloves. Normally cakes last over a week in my house and left-overs end up getting tossed....this one lasted 4 days and even the sticky crumbs were scraped off the plate. I gave it a 4 out of 5 because the recipe did require a lot of modifications, but it was a good cake. A keeper.

Far and away the best carrot cake I've ever made. Found this recipe some time ago and have been making it often ever since. My father, who is a picky eater, (and his coworkers!) request this REGULARLY. My only addition after many cakes is ground ginger, 1/2 the amt. of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp of allspice. Adds a great extra zing, especially around the holidays when everyone loves to see something different from the usual pumpkin and pecan pies. However, great every time of year, especially cold out of the fridge on a warm spring afternoon!

Turned out Wonderful!I made this cake for a play date with some kids, so I had put them into little mini muffins and also a small square cake pan.In fact, most of the mothers ended up eating it, but the kids loved it too. And since it was kids, I didnt add pineapple or the pecans. I did follow others' advice and substituted the sugar for 1c of white and 1c of brown sugar. Also used 3/4c of oil and 1/4c of applesauce, instead of all of the oil. I used 3 tsp. of cinnamon (love cinnamon!) I used a 2 lb. bag of baby carrots and only needed half a bag. So I used 4 cups of carrots. For the frosting I used 1 8oz. cream cheese, 1/4c butter melted,2 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla, and 2 Tbsp. of orange juice (try it, you'll Love it!) It comes out just Wonderful, not too thick and not too tart, JUST DELICIOUS!

A+++ recipe! I have made this carrot cake countless times and it's a big hit. I gave the recipe to my sister-in-law and she has also made great use of it. I read the reviews and took some of the recommendation like adding less oil, use more cinnamon etc. The other change I made is the instead of using 3 cups of grated carrots I use 3 cups of left over pulp from making carrot juice. My husband likes it better that way and so do I. We get fresh heathly carrot juice and an Awesome Carrot Cake.

I made this cake this weekend and AWESOME is right. I went through the other reviews and went by their suggestions. For example, I only used 1 1/3 cup oil, 1 1/2 cup white sugar with 1/2 cup brown, I added 1 teaspoon more cinnamon and I also added a cup of raisins. I bake mine in two 9 inch cake pans and baked for about 32 min. For the icing, I used a whole stick of butter, only 3 cups of sugar and instead of vanilla I used 2 TBL orange juice and 1 TBL orange zest. This was only my second "from scratch" cake and my first attempt for a carrot cake. This cake is definately a keeper. Thanks Tracy! Oh, I also wanted to suggest to others that you really should grate the carrots yourself instead of using a food processor, that probably makes the difference on how your cake turns out.

Cream oil, eggs and sugar with an electric mixer in dry bowl for approx 5 minutes. Then add other ingredients. This makes a nice cake that is not greasy as other reviews have notated.

Outstanding cake! Just as I remembered. I did make a couple changes after reading the reviews. I only used 3/4 cup oil and I added 2 jars of baby food carrots. I also added coconut. This is without a doubt a great recipe.

This gets an A+! I made this cake for my boyfriend's birthday party, and everyone who tried it loved it (and asked for a second piece!) The amazing part is, I had never baked a cake before in my entire life (i'm a 25-year-old college student) and yet i was able to make something "from scratch" that tasted so delicious! Note: I followed previous reviewer's suggestions: i only used 3/4 cup oil, less sugar (1 1/3 cup) and made half as much frosting (4 oz cheese, 1/8 c butter, and 1 cup powdered sugar). Also doubled the cinnamon (to 2 tsp) and added 1/2 tsp of cloves and nutmeg. Came out perfect! And if *I* can do it, *anyone* can!

I would give it 5 stars but it was just a bit too oily/moist for my tastes. Will try again later with others suggestions.

I have made this cake twice now and it is absolutely Fantastic! I notice there were a couple complaints that it was too oil but it isn't if you mix it correctly. The first time I started hand mixing it and the oil would just not mix in and it looked like it would never combine no matter how hard I tried. I then used the electric mixer on a medium speed and wait a few minutes and it was perfect. The flavor on this cake is amazing and well worth making again and again!

Excellent!! Very moist and not too heavy. I followed the suggestion to only use 1/2 cup of oil, added a cup of raisins and cut back the sugar in the frosting to 2 cups. It's a nice adaptable recipe and very easy.

Too much oil!!!

Man,let me tell you this cake was the best cake I've ever tasted besides my mom good caramel cake.But this is the best cake,please tracy kirk give me more recipes that you have.Try this recipe you will love, love it, love it, love it.

Really good! I followed some advice from the reviews and used 1 cup of applesauce as well as 1/2 cup of oil instead of all oil. I didn't add any pineapple and think if I would have added it the cake would have been WAY too moist! I also reduced the sugar to 1/2 and made 1/2 the frosting. My measurments for the frosting were 1/2 package of cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/8 cup of butter. I don't like icing too sweet!

Too much oil, too heavy, little flavor. I agree with another reviewer that if you're going to CHANGE the recipe, don't review the original one as great. I put it in the garbage.

This recipe calls for far too much oil and has very little flavor. We had to make the following modifications in order for the cake to come out allright: reduce oil to 1/2 cup, add 1/2 cup applesauce, and increase cinnamon to 2 tsp. We also used 12 ounces of cheese instead of 8. With these changes, I'd give this recipe 4 stars.

OH MY GOD!!!!! This was incredible - this one is a keeper. It only takes about 4-5 carrots to make 3 cups. Thanks Tracy

This is a super cake! But you only need 1/2 cup of oil and its still a VERY moist cake. I also add a cup of raisins and use 1 cup of brown sugar and one cup of white sugar instead of all white sugar. My mother is very picky and she insists its the perfect carrot cake.

I did as the recipe called for and added 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil (which seemed like a lot, but i have never had any trouble with recipes on here before and everyone rated it well. It was in the oven for 45 minutes and still wasn't done because it was so oily. the rest of it seemed fine and the take was ok if you ignored the oil. I call a rematch!

* * #1 Carrot Cake * * The pineapple is key in this recipe-it sets it apart from the other carrot cake recipes, you won't be disappointed if you make this. I make this just to have around sometimes & for my moms birthday every single year!

I made this for my husbands birthday recently and my whole family was raving about it. I altered the oil quatity though to 250 ml. It was awesome!!

My third time trying this recipe and I finally figured out how to get it right. Use 3/4 cup of oil..that's it. Trust me I've tried with apple sauce as substitue for some of the 1 1/2 cups of oil but it was too much liquid. 3/4 cup oil is all you need. The cake came out perfectly moist and not too greasy. Family loved it over Christmas.

This recipe was completely awful! I made it exactly as the recipe is written. It turned out like a rubber ball sitting in oil. It was disgusting! I would NEVER even think about trying this recipe again. If I could rate it "no stars" I would. My recommendation: don't waste your time on this one.

I, too, adjusted the oil with the applesauce. I didn't care too much for the pineapple and the frosting was a bit too sweet for me. I made the cake again, this time without the pineapple, and it was very good. Although my husband loved the cake with the pineapple, we both agreed that this was a good recipe.

I tried this carrot cake recipe 3 years ago and my family loved it so much that it is requested every family gathering. I did cut the oil to 1 cup and the sugar to 1 1/2 cup. Those are the only changes. The reviews I get from family and friends are AWESOME!

Yes, this is best recipe yet. My granny made this every holiday. I have not made this since she passed away. But I think it's time. Kids that don't like pineapple or carrots or cream cheese will love this cake. They have no idea what's in it. You do not need to change this recipe, it is excellent as is.

5 star recipe as written. 10 star recipe with one tiny little addition.... 1/2 tsp of orange flavoring (or 1 tsp grated orange peel) in the frosting. This is a bakery tip, don't try using orange juice, you won't taste that; use the orange essential oil found in the peel or Lor Ann orange flavoring. Awesome recipe!

Oh, this is a great recipe. Made a cake for some friends today and they ate up every crumb. And of course, many asked for the recipe. They even said this was the best cake i ever made. However, I had to make some changes to the recipe (after reading some of the reviews) This was what i changed after summarizing some of the reviews (and the cake came out great: moist, not too sweet and full of flavor): almost 4 cups carrots, 1 1/6 cup sugar, 2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 3/4 cup oil and I drained some of the juice from the pineapples. For the frosting: (I halved the recipe) 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, 3/4 package cream cheese, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 cup chopped walnut. Ok, have fun baking this great cake. It is really awesome!

It truly is awesome. In case you're wondering, 3 cups grated carrots is 6 or 7 large ones. (I was wondering how many to buy.) I took other reviewers' advice and only used 1 cup of oil, and it was still plenty moist. I sprinkled flaked coconut on top of the cream cheese frosting, and it looked and tasted great.

WOW! Made some changes- 3/4 c oil, extra cinmn, added nutmeg, pecans & walnuts, 1c/white, 1c brown sugar. Baked over night, put in 'frige, frosted next morning. VERY moist & dense. Everyone loved it at work, me too. Thanks for sharing a great recipe! OH, and grate the carrots, not your fingers! OUCH!! :)

I made this and it turned out moist and delicious. I made a few changes, to make it healthier and though I was worried that it would taste "healthy," it tasted divine. I used one cup cake flour and one cup wole wheat flour. Instead of 2 cups of sugar, I used one cup of Xylitol. Instead of 1 1/2 cups oil, I used just 1/2 cup. I added 1/4 t Allspice and 1/2 t nutmeg. I toasted the pecans before adding them in and I added 1 cup golden raisins. I then cooked it in 2 9" round pans and made it as a layer cake. For the frosting, I used 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, 16 oz. Neufchatel, 10 T butter, and 1 1/2 t vanilla extract. I toasted the pecans and rather than add them into the frosting mix, I pressed them into the sides of the cake to make a nice presentation.

I use large carrots and grate them finely. Also, I cut the oil down to 1 cup, and they cake is still good but much less greasy.

HI IM KRYSTAL I'M 14 YEARS OLD AND I LOVE TO BAKE SO I FOUND AND I MADE THIS CAKE ABOUT 5 OR 6 TIMES AND EVERYTIME IT COMES OUT GREAT EXCEPT THE FROSTING NEEDS TO BE HALVED BECAUSE YOU GET DOUBLE WHAT YOU NEED AND IT GOES TO THE TRASH UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO MAKE TWO CAKES

This carrot cake is very good but I changed it a bit. I cut down on the oil to 1 cup and the powered sugar to 1 and 3/4 cup and it was plenty sweet. Next time I make this I will cut the powdered sugar down a bit more, but overall a good recipe!

I actually used box cake mix BUT used this recipe for the frosting which turned out AWESOME!!! Wonderful compliments on my carrot cake cupcakes and the credit goes to the frosting.

I agree with some of the others who didn't like this cake either. The taste was okay, but the texture was very rubbery and the icing was pasty. It really wasn't much like a cake at all. I, too, don't understand why this recipe is rated so high. I even made it with the modifications from the reviews and it still didn't work. Needs much less oil, or more flour, and the icing needs less cream cheese and butter to make it more fluffy.

This is a great cake, although I do add 1/2 tsp of allspice and nutmeg, but that is just a small change. This is the second time I am making it and made two so I could freeze one. Thanks

Followed this recipe exactly. It was very tasty but too oily. Will cut oil in half next time.

I give it 5 stars with the changes people mentioned: reduced sugar to 1 1/2 cups, reduced oil to 3/4 cup, added 1/2 cup apple sauce, and it was wonderful! Baked in two 9 inch pans.

This recipe is rated high by everyone so I keep wondering what I did wrong. I followed the recipe but the cake took forever to bake and then tasted very bland...other than the cream cheese frosting.. when it was done. I have been cooking for years so it's not a lack of cooking skills at fault. Sorry!:-(

This is the best carrot cake. My husband requests it for every event especially his birthday and my son wants one made every week.

Awful. Oily, Heavy, Doughy. Would never recommend.

Great recipe Tracy! My family thanks you. I added 1/2 cup raisins, an extra teaspoon of cinnamin, and reduced the oil to 3/4 c. It came out absolutely perfect...delicious and moist. Used cream cheese for the frosting and decorated with pacan halves. I will definately make this one over and over again!!

It's my sisters Birthday. I have NO gift for her. Came across this recipe. Never made Carrot Cake w/Cream Cheese frosting in my life! Just happen to have all the ingredents so I got to work really fast. Presented my gift of "Awesome Carrot Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting" to my sister. It was the only birthday cake and come to my surprise Carrot Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting was her all time favorite. Thanks so much for the recipe! I received great reviews from all and felt so much better that I had a Gift to Give!And PS: Followed Recipe as stated.

This was really delicious! I only gave 4 stars, however, because some modifications are needed...the first time I made this cake it wasn't nearly as good - it was too greasy and bland! This time, I made the following modifications: (1) I cut the oil in half and added an extra 1/2 cup of pineapple & juice and about 1/2 or 3/4 c. of extra carrot to increase moisture, (2) I cut out 1/2 c. of sugar, (3) I added raisins, (4) I added a 1/2 tsp. extra cinnamon & 1/2 tsp allspice (I like a spicier carrot cake). Also, I should mention, I ran out of vegetable oil, so I used only 1/4 c. of veg. oil with a 1/2 cup of olive oil and it worked beautifully. With all of these modifications, plus an extra 8 or so minutes of cooking (almost 50 min. in total), the cake was delicious. I find the icing too rich and sweet for my taste, but others liked it.

Everyone loved this cake. It was a little greasy though...next time, I'll cut back in the amount of oil.

This recipe was good & very moist. I've never had it with pineapple in it so it was a bit of a change. The frosting was a bit runny for my liking, but it was good. Thanks Tracy!

I have never been much of a carrot cake fan, but I made THIS recipe twice now in one week. It is the best carrot cake I have ever eaten!

This cake definately lives up to it's name!!!! I was a little hesitant about how much oil to use, since i read a lot of reviews about it being greasy. I had no problem with it being greasy, however I did cream the oil, eggs, and sugar so I don't know if it made a difference. Other than that I followed it to a T. Everyone loooooved it!!!!!!!! Yummy, you wonn't be dissapointed if you make this one.

This turned out great!! I heeded the other reviews and substituted the full amount of oil for 1c. applesauce (unsweetened) and 1/2 c. oil. I baked the batter in two 9" rounds (at 350 for 30 minutes) and they turned out beautifully!! I made the frosting with a little more powdered sugar (about 1 c. more) and a splash of milk... I wanted to make sure I had enough frosting for my layered cake. I sprinkled the remaining pecans on top of the frosted cake and the overall presentation was wonderful. Everyone loved the cake and I will definately be making this again!!

I'm not usually a big fan of sweets, but I have a weakness for carrot cake. My old boss used to make a super moist carrot cake that used pineapples and I've been looking for a recipe that used it ever since. I followed the video recipe version since it used 1/2 the amount of oil than the written recipe. But also made a few small changes.. I increased the amount of carrots to 4 cups, added around 3/4 cup of raisins and decreased the sugar to just a little over 1 cup so it's not too sweet. I baked it for 40min and it turned out amazing! Super moist, not overly sweet, and definitely not greasy at all. Next time, I'm going to check it at the 30-35min mark and see if it's even more moist.

Tasted good, but not like a true cake texture. A little too thick.

Got rave reviews on this one. I did use my own cream cheese frosting recipe though. Can't wait to make this again!

It was completely unedible, oily and crusty on top and not even baked in the middle!!!

This recipe really does need to be "tweaked". I made it with 3/4 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, no nuts and drained most of the juice off the pineapple. It also needed closer to 50 minutes to bake. I can't imagine it being good the way it is written. I frosted it with "Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting" from this site (the BEST frosting...really!). It was a hit at my daughter's 4th birthday party with both the kids and parents!

Delish!

this was very delisous and very moist... we all loved it great recipe I used walnuts vs. pecans.. but all the same it was great :)

I used a mini bundt pan to make indivdual cakes and they were excellent! I had to shorten the baking time, but unfrosted, they freeze wonderfully.

i liked it but to much oil I'd cut it down a notch :) but on the other hand very good !!! :D

I had my doubts....when I got the batter all put together it was so runny, but I persisted. This was soooooo good! My husband commented that it is moist you could wring it out. One thing I will do next time is cut the oil down to 1 Cup as there was so much that there was a layer of it left on the bottom of the cake pan. A definate thumbs up!!

1cup unsweet apple sauce and 1/2c oil, instead 1 1/2c oil

This cake was GREAT! The only thing I did differently was use walnuts instead of pecans and I baked it for 60 minutes. It was moist and delicious!

After reading through all the carrot cake recipes on this site...this one seemed the best. It came out wonderful and was by far the most moist carrot cake I've ever eaten. I did make a few modifications: used 1c. each of white sugar and brown sugar, 1 c. Canola Oil, 1/2 c. Olive Oil, and I used fresh pineapple instead of canned. I baked it in 2 9" pans and used a traditional Cream Cheese frosting. I will definitely make again!!!

This recipe was an absolute hit. I did substitute one cup of applesauce for one cup of oil. I also used a little less sugar in the frosting but this is by far one of the best carrot cakes I have ever had. May attempt to add a few raisins the next time out.

Took this on my Easter dinner party and it's the first one I ever made and it will be the only recipe I will ever use it was sooo most and just so fresh and yummy!!! Good job to the creator of it 5 stars from me!!!

This recipe is almost identical to my mom's carrot cake recipe. It always gets rave reviews whenever I make it. The oil IS the right amount. It's supposed to be moist! And I have never had a problem with the oil sitting on the bottom of the pan? as some reviewers mentioned. So if you modify this recipe *sigh* then expect the cake not to come out as tasty as it should! And making the frosting from scratch is almost necessary! NO store-bought canned frosting! BLAH. If you are looking for a "healthy & low fat" cake, then pass this one by and make one out of tofu! Life is meant to be enjoyed and that means eating something delicious & sinful once in awhile!

This truly is an awesome carrot cake. I've tried many different recipes and this one is the best so far. I altered the recipe following previous suggestions and only used 3/4 cup oil...I added 1/2 cup applesauce and drained most of the juice from the pineapple. I doubled the cinnamon and added 1/2 tsp. each of cloves and nutmeg. We aren't too fond of chopped nuts so I only used about 1/3 cup, and I added 3/4 cup raisins. This recipe is definitiely a keeper and takes no time to make. Thanks for sharing.

I'm giving this a 4-star rating only because it improved after I had altered it. However, I thank Tracy for submitting the original recipe and the reviewers for wonderful suggestions to improve it. Like some reviewers, I reduced the amount of oil to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 cup of applesauce. My family also believe carrot cake should have raisins so I added 1 cup of raisins and decreased sugar to 1 1/3 cup for this reason. I have also substituted pecans with walnuts and added about a teaspoon of allspice. Cake itself came out very moist with just the right amount of sweetness coming from the fruits and sugar. As for the frosting, I have also reduced the amount of confectioner's sugar to approximately 1 cup and made it thinner by adding few tablespoons of milk. Nuts were sprinkled on top instead of including in the frosting. My in-laws are extremely picky-eaters and very diet-conscious. ...I was so very disappointed to see my husband come home with no leftovers for me!

Our favorite recipe!! We prefer without the frosting.

This recipie would have definetly gotten five stars if it had not been so oily tasting. My suggestion to anyone who would like to try this recipie: use only 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil. This recipie is very flavorful and moist. Also, the frosting matches well and makes the whole cake final, especially since it's homemade and not out of a can. Overall this carrot cake recipie is a great choice.-Nikkii

I was very disappointed with this recipe. It was dense and oily and rather smushy. I've got a 20 year old recipe that I normally use that calls for canned carrots, so I thought I'd search out one with fresh carrots for this fall. Considering all the rave reviews, I can't imagine how my idea of carrot cake could be so different! The flour to oil/moisture content is all wrong. I followed the directions to the letter (and I'm an avid baker). After searching through many recipes, including my old one, I notice that most others call for a full additional cup of flour to the same amounts of liquid/oil.

This is so great. Perfect as is. My friends husband claims to not like carrot cake but he couldnt leave this one alone. A winner.

This is my husbands favorite! I always use 2-9inch cake pans and make a round, layered cake. Spectacular, moist cake that gets devoured every time. THANK YOU!

I think all these oily cake complaints might come from scaling the cake down. I cut the recipe in half before and it comes out super oily. If I bake at the default quantity it comes out perfect. I'm not surprised though banking gets wonky like that when you tinker with it. The baking time... I think is a little low but better a little low than too high.

This cake is excellent as written. IF you have real health-foodies, it tastes almost as good with 1/2 the sugar and raisins added. But: try it as written first: 5 people devoured the whole cake in half an hour!!

WOW! Delicious! I made this as cupcakes so the cook time went down to 25 minutes and I cut the confectioner's sugar in half for the frosting (you may have to mix extra depending on how much frosting you want to put on each one - it turns out more like decadent icing)

This is the best carrot cake EVER. I ended up with a marriage proposal for making this cake for a co-worker! I did cut back on the oil slightly to 1 1/4 C. Added more cinnamon and cloves.

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE carrot cake recipe. Everyone I have made it for just melts the moment they put it in their mouht. HOWEVER, I do make 1 1/2 times the frosting because I like to make 3 round layers and slather the frosting in between each one. YUM! Sometimes I add a bit of shredded coconut to the batter and the frosting for a lil extra something.

The cake turned out good except for one thing. It was REALLY oily. I would definately substitute 1 cup applesauce and use 1/2 cup oil. Other than that it would have been great. I will try it again but instead use the applesauce!

I put fresh lemon juice from 1/2 lemon or lime juice to the frosting (and less sugar). It makes it refreshing.

MUST USE 1/2 APPLESAUCE for the oil! Otherwise way too oily. Grated the carrots SMALL so mixes in with the rest of the ingredients. I took the suggestions of other reviewers – ½ APPLESAUCE for the oil, boiled raisins in rum before adding, added 1 c. sweet small flaked coconut and 1 large can crushed drained pineapple, much much much better than the other one on this site that got over 1500 reviews. (because I am HIGH ALTITUDE I also had to add 3/4 c. more flour which we have to do with most recipes)

This cake was okay but there was too much oil. Next time I make it, I will use less oil and more applesauce. Thanks for the recipe!

I substitute 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce for 1 cup of the oil called for in the recipe. It gives the cake a lighter (yet still delicious) taste and cuts a lot of fat and calories.

I don't know how anyone can mess up this recipe. It's absolutely perfect as is. I've used canola and vegetable oil and it always comes out wonderful. The only thing I can think of is that they're not mixing the carrots and dry ingredients well enough before adding the wet ones. I serve this at my restaurant and it's the most requested dessert. THANK YOU!

Lives up to its name. I also cut back on sugar (by a half cup) and didn't use oil (I used 1/2 cup apple sauce and 1/2 cup flax seed instead). It turned out awesome and super moist.

Super moist but oh sooooo bad for you. 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of oil!!! The low fat cream cheese in the frosting cracks me up. It was out of this world though and add raisins to make it even yummier!

Holy Cow GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!