Best Ever Carrot Cake

I don't remember how many years ago that this recipe was shared with me, close to ten years I think, but when my friend told me about it I knew I had to try it. She explained it was HEAVY. Not just dense heavy but everything about this cake is heavy. Although it has some healthy ingredients in it, I don't imagine with the amounts of oil, sugar and eggs in the treasure that it would be a food for anyone's diet.

How good is this cake? This is what my husband told me, "You need to make one every Sunday to make Mondays better."

Now can a cake really get much better than that?

Best Ever Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 ounces shredded coconut
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup oil
1/2 cup water
3 large eggs
8 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
Cream cheese frosting - recipe follows
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I used my food processor to make super fast work of shredding the carrots. 

Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, soda, salt, coconut and carrots in a large bowl.

In a large measuring cup add the water, oil, eggs, pineapple and vanilla.

Add all at once to flour mixture.

Stir until well combined.

Mix in nuts.

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. I measured the amount which was 8 cups then divided it between two pans.

Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes.

Cool completely, then frost.

Cream cheese frosting is not the easiest to decorate with.

I didn't take any pictures of making the frosting. But it's really easy to make and hard to mess up.
If it's too thick, add more milk. Too thin add more powdered sugar. I made this recipe pretty thick so I could use it to decorate.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package cream cheese-softened
6 tablespoons butter-softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat in adding milk as needed to thin.