Christine's Carrot Cake

Need a crowd-pleasing cake for a birthday or just craving a scrumptious slice of carrot cake? Sister Wives' Christine Brown has got you covered. She's sharing her family-favorite recipes on the new digital series, Cooking with Just Christine. Catch brand-new episodes every Sunday and scroll down for Christine's full carrot cake recipe!

CAKE:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup drained canned crushed pineapple (save juice for frosting)
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 cup raisins

FROSTING:

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• One 8-ounce block cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Reserved pineapple juice (from above), as needed

MAKE THE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 8 x 8-inch baking pans with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, making sure that some of the parchment hangs over the side.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Combine the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Whisk well until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just smooth.

Add carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins to the batter and fold it in to distribute evenly.

Pour half of the batter into one of the prepared pans and half of the batter into the other prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

While the cake cools, make the frosting: Beat the butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl with a hand-held mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla. Add the confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, and ginger and start beating on low to incorporate. Once it’s smooth. add 2 tablespoons of the pineapple juice and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (Add another 1 or 2 tablespoons of juice if the frosting is still too stiff.)

Remove one of the cooled cakes from the pan using the parchment overhang and remove the parchment paper. Place cake on a serving platter and spread half of the frosting on the cake. Remove the remaining cake from the pan and place it on top of the first cake. Spread the rest of the frosting on the top of the second cake.

Yield: 9 to 12 servings

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ease of preparation: Easy

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