I use this blog, in part, to document cherished family recipes. Wanda was my childhood best friend’s mom and the woman who taught me a lot about cooking. Here is one of her best recipes: a carrot cake chockfull of many spices, pineapple, coconut and nuts — and carrots too! I had lost the recipe and her family did not have a copy either. My younger sister reached out to our late older sister’s daughter-in-law to see if she had our sister’s copy. Our sister Marion used Wanda’s recipe to make my wedding cake (as well as Lisa’s and my friend Carol’s, plus I would guess others). I’m so glad my sister Lisa was able to track it down.

• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. cinnamon, 3/4 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. mace
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained (reserve 1/3 cup for frosting)
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 2 cups chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
• 1 cup coconut

Mix oil, sugar and eggs together throughly. Add vanilla and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, spices, baking soda and powder and salt. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, beating well. Add pineapple, carrots, nuts and coconut.

Pour into a 13 x 9 baking pan and place in pre-heated 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until done. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

ADDENDUM: Lisa had reached out to two sources that she thought had this recipe, and later heard back from the second person. The one they had documented called for 1 1/2 cups of oil (which they then noted to reduce to 1 1/4 cups), vs. Marion’s note of 1/2 cup. And unlike Marion’s written copy, it said to “drain” the pineapple, which from what I remember when making this in the past, I always did drain it. The second one also called for 1/2 to 1 tsp. of grated orange rind (zest) to add in the last step (I think that sounds like a good addition). I’m going to experiment, and research other carrot cake recipes with pineapple and coconut to see what they use for the proper amount of oil.