This is the best carrot cake recipe I’ve made (and I’ve tried a lot of them!). I like it for two reasons: the cake doesn’t have extra “stuff” added, (raisins, chopped nuts, pineapple, coconut, etc.), and the cream cheese frosting isn’t overly sweet (which has been a problem with most of the other recipes I’ve tried).

Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots

Frosting:

• 12 oz. cream cheese
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 6 cups powdered sugar

To Make Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 round cake pans. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, white sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.