Holiday Recipe #7 - Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake
(From the film Gosford Park; our guest Judy Baker lovingly prepared this luscious cake for our repast.)

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 c. vegetable oil

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. white granulated sugar

1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. ground nutmeg
3 c. carrots, peeled and grated
1 c. canned crushed pineapple (without the juice)
1 c. slivered almonds
1 c. flaked coconut
½ c. raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugars, and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and sift into the batter. Stir in the carrots, pineapple, almonds, coconut, and raisins until well blended. Pour into three 9" round pans that have been lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to settle for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When completely cooled, remove parchment paper.
4. Ice the top of each cake with a vanilla buttercream frosting (see next), then ice the sides until the entire cake is covered.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients 

½ c. butter, room temperature
1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
½ c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Cream the butter, then add the sugar a little at a time until the mixture begins to resemble crumbs. Slowly add the milk, beating all the while, then pour in the extract. Continue to beat until wispy. If the icing appears to be too runny, add more sugar.

Yield: 12–16 servings

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Recipes provided by Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels authors Anthony F. Chiffolo and Rayner W. Hesse, Jr.