Carrot Sheet Cake

I love sheet cakes! They feed a lot of people and are easy to frost. I made this one for Easter. I wanted to try it because of the fabulous description given on the website melskitchencafe.com. She writes, "this recipe has been around for a long time and was a renowned recipe in a large bakery that has since closed down. It definitely lives up to its fame! This cake is dense and moist and perfectly spiced. Topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting and it is a dream." I will definitely make this again. My 1 1/2 pounds of carrots gave me about 4 cups loosely packed. I peeled mine, but the original recipe left them unpeeled. I also added 5 minutes to the bake time because the middle wasn't done. So make sure you test the middle before you take it out.

Carrot Sheet Cake
melskitchencafe.com
Cake
4 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup water
2 tsps vanilla
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
2 tsps salt
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 pounds carrots, washed and ends trimmed
Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsps vanilla
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour an 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Shred the carrots, finely, on a box grater or food processor. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, oil, applesauce, water and vanilla. Whisk in the sugar to combine until evenly mixed.
3. In a second bowl mix flour, spices, salt, soda and baking powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until moistened. Gently fold the carrots into the batter until evenly distributed. Bake the cake for 30-32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.
4. For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the frosting and whip to combine (don’t overmix or the frosting will become too stiff). The frosting should be smooth and creamy.