It started snowing in Iceland this weekend. The snow obviously reminds me of Christmas and few things say Christmas like the smell of baked cinnamon. This super moist Carrot Cake gives the house a wonderful cinnamon aroma when it bakes, so I had to bake it right away 😉 The cake is made with puréed carrots and not shredded so it’s very soft and moist. This recipe comes from the Silver Palate Cookbook. I usually just follow it to the T – except I make this Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s my all time favorite 🙂

What about those cute little caramelized hazelnuts – adorable, right? And they are super easy to make. Here you can watch the Queen of (everything?!) homemaking, Martha Stewart, show us how they are made. She starts working on those nuts at 4:45 😉

Let’s get to the recipe then: 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups pureed cooked carrots
• 1 small 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Grease two 9-inch springform pans.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in the walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until the edges have pulled away from the sides and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-60 minutes.
4. Cool on a cake rack for 3 hours. Fill and frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting.