Trisha Yearwood's 6-layer Carrot Cake

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups corn oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts (finely chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups grated coconut
• 1 1/2 cups pureed carrots (about 6 medium, boiled)
• 3/4 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
• 6 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups walnuts (finely chopped)

Recipe

• 1 for the cake: preheat the oven to 350°f grease the bottom of three 9-inch, round cake pans with cooking spray, line with circles of parchment paper, and grease the paper with cooking spray.
• 2 with an electric mixer, cream the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. add the walnuts, coconut, carrot puree and pineapple. beat until smooth.
• 3 divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350°f or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• 4 cool the layers in the pans for about 5 minutes. run a knife around the edges of each pan and turn the layers out onto wire racks that have been sprayed with cooking spray. cool the layers completely before frosting. (note: after the layers have cooled, cutting will be much easier if you wrap each cooled cake layer in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.).
• 5 cream cheese frosting: combine the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer and beat until smooth. slowly add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until fully combined. add the vanilla.
• 6 slice each cake layer horizontally in half using an electric knife. ease a piece of parchment between the layers and lift off the top portion. frost the bottom slice then add the next layer. continue until the entire cake is frosted.
• 7 press the chopped walnuts into the sides of the cake. refrigerate until ready to serve.