Month: April 2016

Edie’s Carrot Cake

You’ll LOVE Edie’s Carrot Cake, an absolutely classic, DELICIOUS dessert with carrots, pineapple, pecans, cinnamon, and topped with cream cheese frosting!You'll LOVE Edie's Carrot Cake, an absolutely classic, DELICIOUS dessert with carrots, pineapple, pecans, cinnamon, and topped with cream cheese frosting!

Why I Call This Edie’s Carrot Cake

I’ve been making this Carrot Cake for almost 40 years now, and it’s the BEST! I received the recipe from my dear friend and former roommate, Edie, at a bridal shower 39 years ago! I’ve made it so many times over the years I can’t even begin to count… and it NEVER disappoints!

My sweet friend Edie has enjoyed much success as a musician in Los Angeles (she’s sung backup on vast numbers of albums, movies, commercials, TV theme songs, etc.). She’s acted in movies, and was also one of the stars of the classic TV show “General Hospital” years ago.

Edie still sings and has recorded music for many artists and TV/Movie soundtracks, conducts and has directed and sung with backup vocalists/choirs for The Voice, American Idol and other famous musicians (like Justin Timberlake, Aretha Franklin, and too many others to even count).

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

Lifelong Friends Are The BEST!

We met in Junior High, grew up singing together at our church, then shared an apartment together (and many late night fast food tacos) before I got married.

I don’t recall Edie even liking to cook back then, so I’m telling you… this recipe was a great surprise the first time I made it and tasted just how good it was. Ha Ha.

But you know what the BEST part is about my friend? She is an amazingly gracious, humble, encouraging and loving friend to those who know her.  I dearly love Edie (and her delicious carrot cake recipe!).

Here’s the two of us at a music reunion in Los Angeles in 2015.  I remain grateful God allowed our lives to intersect so many years ago, and for the blessing of our continuing friendship to this day.

Two women (author of blog and friend, Edie)

OOH… THIS Carrot Cake Is SO GOOD!

Edie’s Carrot Cake is so moist and delicious! It’s filled with carrots, pineapple, pecans, coconut, cinnamon, etc., and is topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting!

If left alone in a room with a fork and Edie’s carrot cake, I might be forced to eat the entire thing (wink wink).  Yes… it honestly is the BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had! You will LOVE it!!

How To Make Edie’s Carrot Cake

Cream together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, using an electric mixer until smooth and combined.

Mixing batter for carrot cake

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together into a separate bowl.

Flour, cinnamon and spices for Edie's carrot cake, cake in sifter.

Slowly mix the sifted flour mixture into the wet ingredients (eggs, oil, sugar, etc.). Mix to fully combine.

Stir in the grated carrots, drained crushed pineapple, chopped nuts, and shredded coconut, until fully combined.

Pecans, carrots, pineapple and coconut for Edie's carrot cake batter.

Edie’s carrot cake batter will look like this once the ingredients are fully mixed together.

Edie's carrot cake batter in mixing bowl.

Generously grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans (or 9×13 cake pan). Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared pan(s).

2 round cake pans with Edie's carrot cake batter in them.

Baking Edie’s Carrot Cake

Place the cake pan(s) into a 350°F. preheated oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is done. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into center of cake (see the hole in the middle of the bottom cake where I did this?).

If the toothpick comes out clean, then Edie’s carrot cake is done, and will look like this. Place cake pans on wire rack to cool.

Edie's carrot cake has been baked, and is cooling on wire rack

Let the cake cool down, then invert it (turn upside down) onto parchment paper, and release it from the pan.

Once the cake has completely cooled, turn it back over to the top side (still on the parchment paper).

Edie's carrot cake is inverted onto parchment paper on rack to release it from pan.

How To Toast Pecans

While the cake is cooling dry toast the chopped pecans, so they can be added as decoration onto the sides of the cake.

To do this, place the pecans in a large skillet on low heat. Cook, stirring often for 3-5 minutes. This step is optional, but the toasted pecans really add a LOT to this cake!

Dry toasting chopped pecans in skillet, for decorating Edie's carrot cake.

Make The Cream Cheese Frosting 

While the cake is cooking or cooling, mix up the cream cheese frosting. Sometimes I double the amount of cream cheese used, if I want lots of thick creamy frosting, but that’s optional.

I also add well drained, crushed pineapple to the frosting, but if you want plain cream cheese frosting, simply omit the pineapple!

Making the cream cheese frosting in a bowl, for Edie's carrot cake.

Frost Edie’s carrot cake with the cream cheese icing once the cake has completely cooled. If you’re making this as a layer cake, cover the entire cake with frosting, then add (optional) toasted pecans all over the sides of the cake.

I use my hands to carefully add the toasted pecans, a little at a time until cake is completely covered. Here it is the layer cake, midway through frosting.

Two layers of Edie's carrot cake, with frosting in the middle.

I am NOT a cake decorator (understatement of the century), but sometimes I will pipe colored frosting on top of finished cake. This is a photo of one time that I made this cake. You can see the chopped pecans on the side, and my flimsy attempt at decorating the top with colored frosting!  But guess what?

Edie’s carrot cake stands on its own merits. Even if you only make a 13×9 inch cake pan of carrot cake with simple cream cheese frosting (and that is all you do), you will LOVE this cake! 

Edie's carrot cake, with frosting and toasted pecans decorating it.

This Recipe Is VERY Adaptable

Over the years, I’ve also turned this recipe into cupcakes (adjusting cooking time), with cream cheese frosting and a dusting of cinnamon. 

Edie's Carrot cake batter can be used to make frosted cupcakes.

I’ve even used this same recipe to make miniature bundt cakes to give to friends (again- notice my LACK of decorating skills… Ha Ha!) 

My decorating skills may not be the best… but this recipe for Edie’s carrot cake IS the best!

Edie's carrot cake batter can be used to make frosted mini-bundt cakes.
However you decide to make it… cut yourself a big piece! You won’t regret it, because this is ONE AMAZING AND DELICIOUS CARROT CAKE!

A big slice of Edie's carrot cake, on plate with a fork.

Hope you enjoy Edie’s carrot cake! It tastes WONDERFUL! Remember all the great friends God has enriched your life with along the way, and be sure they know how much you love them!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you will come back soon! Take care, may God bless you, and have a GREAT day!

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Author's signature

Recipe Source: Edie Lehmann-Boddicker

↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓

0 from 0 votes
Edie's Carrot Cake
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 
You'll LOVE Edie's Carrot Cake, an absolutely classic, DELICIOUS dessert with carrots, pineapple, pecans, cinnamon, and topped with cream cheese frosting!
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Edie's carrot cake
Servings: 12 servings
Calories Per Serving: 660 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
For The Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs , well beaten
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups grated carrots
  • 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained
  • 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
For cream cheese frosting: (Double amount of cream cheese if you want really thick and plentiful frosting)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 lb. powdered sugar (confectioners) (1 box)
  • 1/2 stick butter =¼ cup or 4 Tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 can (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple (optional) well drained
For garnish (completely optional):
  • Additional colored cream cheese frosting (for decorating)
  • Chopped pecans or walnuts (to cover sides of frosted cake), lightly toasted in dry skillet
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. Set aside.
  2. Using an electric mixer, mix together oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.
  3. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly add the flour mixture into the oil and sugar mixture. Mix well, to combine.
  4. Stir in grated carrots, drained pineapple, 1 C. chopped nuts, and coconut. Mix well.
  5. Divide batter evenly into well greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of each cake pan comes out clean. (Note: if making cupcakes or baking in a 9x13 pan, you will need to slightly decrease baking times!).
  6. Make frosting while cake bakes: Combine all frosting ingredients, and mix, using an electric mixer until smooth and thick.

  7. When cake is done, remove it to wire rack to cool. When cool, invert cakes onto parchment paper, then turn them back right side up on rack. Frost cake only when cake is room temperature. Place one layer onto serving platter. Spread a layer of cream cheese frosting, then add second layer and frost entire surface of cake.

  8. If desired, add lightly toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts to the side of cake. If desired, use colored cream cheese frosting to decorate top of cake.
Recipe Notes

NOTE: Caloric calculation does not include additional pecans for decorating sides of cake. TIP: If you want a really "thick frosted" cake, DOUBLE the ingredients (except for the pineapple) when you make the frosting. You will have a gorgeous cake with plenty of yummy cream cheese frosting! I always do this!

Nutrition Facts
Edie's Carrot Cake
Amount Per Serving (1 slice)
Calories 660 Calories from Fat 243
% Daily Value*
Fat 27g42%
Saturated Fat 14g88%
Cholesterol 82mg27%
Sodium 557mg24%
Potassium 314mg9%
Carbohydrates 101g34%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 80g89%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 4130IU83%
Vitamin C 5mg6%
Calcium 86mg9%
Iron 1.9mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!You'll LOVE Edie's Carrot Cake, an absolutely classic, DELICIOUS dessert with carrots, pineapple, pecans, cinnamon, and topped with cream cheese frosting!

 

 

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Chicken Club Pasta Salad

Chicken Club Pasta Salad is a delicious, filling, chilled salad with rotini pasta, chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, etc. in a creamy homemade ranch dressing.Chicken Club Pasta Salad is a delicious, filling, chilled salad with rotini pasta, chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, etc. in a creamy homemade ranch dressing.
The weather has finally warmed up here this week, so to celebrate the sunshine I made a Chicken Club Pasta Salad for dinner the other night. I served it with some fresh fruit on the side – and boy, was it good! It FELT like it was summer (at the end of March!)!

I found this recipe for a chicken club pasta salad on Pinterest, and decided to give it a try, because any salad with chicken and bacon in it has to be good! Add to that cheddar cheese, tomatoes, fresh herbs, and a creamy ranch dressing… and it sounded like a winner! And it was… we REALLY enjoyed this entree salad (and I got to use fresh parsley and chives from my garden in it, also!). If you like a more traditional pasta salad, check out my simple recipe for that here.

This is a very easy salad to prepare. Most of the prep work (and it’s not too tedious) involves cooking bacon, a piece of chicken, and some pasta (I like to call it “multi-tasking!”). The rest comes together quickly and with little to no fuss! My kind of meal! I made the entire salad in the early afternoon, tossed it with a bit of the dressing (to keep it from drying out) and refrigerated it until dinner time. Then I added more salad dressing right before serving!  Here’s how you make it:

Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page

How To Make Chicken Club Pasta Salad

First cook a large chicken breast. (Boil it, grill it, bake it… or use leftovers… just get enough cooked chicken for 2 cups, and cut it into 1″ cubes and set aside).  Next thing is to cook the bacon until fairly crisp. Drain and cool, then cut. I used kitchen shears to cut it into small pieces.

Cutting cooked bacon for pasta salad

Cut the bacon, cheddar cheese and tomato into small pieces. Set aside.

Cheddar cheese, tomatoes and cooked bacon for chicken club pasta salad

Add all dressing ingredients to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to fully combine. Refrigerate until ready to add to salad.

Ingredients for creamy pasta salad dressing, in metal bowl

Creamy salad dressing is mixed for chicken club pasta salad

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water, until pasta is completely cooled off. (I used tri-color rotini pasta for the color it added, but you could also use shells, macaroni noodles or mini-penne pasta for this dish).

Cooked tri-color rotini pasta is drained, for salad

Add cooled pasta, bacon, chicken, cheddar cheese and tomato to a large salad bowl.

Pasta, bacon, tomatoes and cheese are mixed together for club salad
Time For The Salad Dressing

Pour some of the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. If making this up early in the day, add only enough dressing to cover the pasta so it won’t dry out in the fridge. When ready to serve later, add additional dressing, to taste.

If you are making and serving this salad immediately, add enough dressing to taste and coat all ingredients (there will be some leftover dressing no matter which way you choose to prepare this!)

Creamy dressing is poured over pasta salad
Serve the salad up, dig in, and enjoy this delicious, filling salad!  It tastes wonderful the next day, as well. Hooray for leftovers at lunchtime!

Chicken club pasta salad, on plate with fresh fruit
We really enjoyed this chicken club pasta salad. I think it would be perfect on a HOT summer’s night, or to serve at a luncheon or potluck with friends! Hope you will consider giving this a try!  You might also like this BLT Wedge Salad, or my recipe for Chopped Greek Chicken Salad

Be sure to check out ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. Have a fantastic day, and may God bless the work of your hands!

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Author's signatureRecipe Adapted From:  http://www.spendwithpennies.com/chicken-club-pasta-salad/

0 from 0 votes
Chicken Club Pasta Salad
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
0 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 

Chicken Club Pasta Salad is a delicious, filling, chilled salad with rotini pasta, chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, etc. in a creamy homemade ranch dressing.

Category: Entree
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken club pasta salad
Servings: 5 servings
Calories Per Serving: 674 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
Ingredients
For The Salad:
  • 8 ounce pasta (I used rotini tri-color pasta)
  • 8 slices bacon , cooked crisp, then cut into small pieces.
  • 2 cups cooked chicken breast , cut into 1" cubes
  • 1 tomato , seeded and diced
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese , cut into 1" cubes
For The Ranch Dressing:
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh chives , chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon dried dill weed (or chopped fresh dill)
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley , chopped
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt & black pepper , to taste
Instructions
  1. Prep ingredients (cook chicken and bacon / chop tomatoes, cheese). Set aside.
  2. Make the salad dressing. Set aside.
  3. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Rinse with cold water, until pasta has completely cooled off; drain well.
  4. Put salad ingredients into a large salad bowl (except for the salad dressing). Mix.
  5. Add salad dressing to taste. You will NOT have to use all the dressing. If eating salad immediately, just add enough to toss and coat all ingredients well. If making salad early in day, add enough salad dressing to lightly coat all ingredients, stir, then cover dish and refrigerate until ready to serve. At serving time, add additional salad dressing to taste (since pasta will absorb some of the dressing while refrigerated). Stir to combine. Serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes

Note: I used 1 really large chicken breast, which provided me with the 2 cups chicken.
Original recipe also called for 1/2 of an avocado, diced. Didn't have one when I made this, but I'm sure it would be great in this salad, as well.

Nutrition Facts
Chicken Club Pasta Salad
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 674 Calories from Fat 378
% Daily Value*
Fat 42g65%
Saturated Fat 13g81%
Cholesterol 106mg35%
Sodium 536mg23%
Potassium 475mg14%
Carbohydrates 38g13%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 32g64%
Vitamin A 670IU13%
Vitamin C 5.3mg6%
Calcium 165mg17%
Iron 1.9mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!Chicken Club Pasta Salad is a delicious, filling, chilled salad with rotini pasta, chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, etc. in a creamy homemade ranch dressing.

Save