Aunt Juanita's Carrot Cake
The Manchac Church Cookbook Classic That Uses "Salad Oil"
If you're from Louisiana, you know the best recipes don't come from Pinterest. They come from spiral-bound church cookbooks with butter stains on page 17. This is page 17.
Aunt Juanita Schexnayder's Carrot Cake fed every funeral, wedding, and "just because" Sunday in Vacherie for 40 years. It's not fancy. It's not "healthy." It's salad oil, sugar, and enough cream cheese frosting to make you forget your name.
And baby, it's perfect.
🛒 Shop this recipe: Aunt Juanita's Carrot Cake Kit on Amazon has the tube pan, maple flavoring, and box grater below in one place. [HERE]
Why This Isn't Your Basic Carrot Cake
"Salad oil" — that's what they called vegetable oil in 1930. It makes the cake stupid moist. Butter dries out. Oil don't. Aunt Juanita knew.
10-inch tube pan — not a bundt for looks, a bundt for feeding people. Aunt Juanita didn't bake for 4.
Maple frosting — not vanilla. MAPLE. With cream cheese. Changes everything.
No pineapple. No raisins. — Fight me. Aunt Juanita said "fruit don't belong in carrot cake unless it's frosting."
Aunt Juanita's Carrot Cake Recipe
From the kitchen of Mrs. Juanita Schexnayder, Vacherie, Louisiana
Serves: 16–20 church ladies or 8 Pawpaws
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 1 hour
Cake Ingredients
2 cups finely grated carrots
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1½ cups salad oil (vegetable oil)
½ cup chopped nuts (pecans — this is Louisiana)
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened — 8 oz works too
1 cup confectioners sugar
½ tsp maple flavoring — not syrup, flavoring
Milk, optional, to thin
Chopped nuts for top
Coconut for top, optional — but Aunt Juanita did it
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Cake
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Don't skip the flour, or it'll stick and you'll cry.
Combine the carrots, sugar, eggs, salad oil, and ½ cup chopped nuts. Beat well. Aunt Juanita used a wooden spoon — you can use a hand mixer.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients gradually to the carrot mixture. Beat well — the batter will be thick.
Pour into the buttered pan. Bake at 375°F for 1 hour. A toothpick should come out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Step 2: Make the Frosting
Blend the cream cheese and confectioners sugar until smooth — no lumps. Aunt Juanita would make you start over.
Add the maple flavoring and beat.
If necessary, add a small amount of milk to reach spreading consistency. Aunt Juanita liked hers thick.
Spread on the cooled cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and coconut.
Nana's Notes — Don't Skip These
Finely grate the carrots. Big chunks = sad cake. Use the small holes on this box grater.
Salad oil = vegetable oil. Not olive oil. Not coconut oil. Wesson. Crisco oil. 1930's oil.
Room temp cream cheese. Cold cream cheese = lumpy frosting = Aunt Juanita would not approve.
Don't overbake. 1 hour max — dry carrot cake is a sin. Start checking at 55 minutes.
Tube pan matters. A regular 9x13 won't cook the same. This is the 10-inch tube pan Nana uses, if you want it to rise like Aunt Juanita's.
Why "Salad Oil" Works Better Than Butter
Oil is 100% fat. Butter is 80% fat, 20% water. Water evaporates — oil stays. That's why this cake is still moist on day 4,
if it lasts that long.
Pawpaw ate half of one at a sitting in 1972. Still talks about it.
How to Serve & Store
Serving: Strong coffee — Community brand, if you're doing it right. A glass of milk for the kids. A fork. That's it — this cake needs no help. It's a natural fit for funerals, weddings, and "just because" Sundays,
the same way it was for Aunt Juanita for 40 years.
Storing: Keep the cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week, since the cream cheese frosting needs refrigeration for anything longer than a day or two on the counter. Let it sit out 15–20 minutes before serving if refrigerated, so the frosting softens back up.
Freezing: The unfrosted cake freezes beautifully for up to 3 months — wrap it tightly in plastic, then foil. Thaw overnight in the fridge and frost once fully thawed.
Freezing the cake already frosted works too, but the frosting's texture holds up better if you freeze it plain and frost after thawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a regular 9x13 pan instead of a tube pan?
You can, but the texture and bake time change — a 9x13 will bake faster (start checking around 35–40 minutes) and won't have the same moist, dense crumb the tube pan produces. If you want the cake Aunt Juanita actually made, the tube pan is worth using.
Can I use pre-shredded carrots from a bag?
It's not recommended — bagged shredded carrots are cut too thick and can be dry, leading to a less moist cake. Finely grating fresh carrots yourself, as the recipe calls for, makes a real difference here.
Why does the recipe call for "salad oil" instead of butter?
Salad oil is simply what vegetable oil was called in the 1930's. Oil is 100% fat with no water content, unlike butter, which is about 20% water — that's what keeps this cake moist for days instead of drying out.
Can I substitute the maple flavoring with real maple syrup?
Maple flavoring and maple syrup behave differently in frosting — syrup adds extra liquid that can thin the frosting out and make it too soft to hold shape. If you substitute, add it a little at a time and skip the optional milk.
Can I make this cake ahead of a party?
Yes — the unfrosted cake can be made a day or two ahead and kept covered at room temperature, or frozen further in advance.
Frost it the day of, or the night before, for the best texture.
Nutrition Information — Aunt Juanita's Carrot Cake
Estimated with USDA data. Actual values will vary based on your specific brands of oil, cream cheese, and sugar.
Makes: 16 servings (cake only, with frosting)
Per serving:
Calories: 385 kcal
Total Fat: 20g — Saturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol: 55mg
Sodium: 240mg
Total Carbohydrate: 48g — Fiber 1g, Sugar 35g
Protein: 5g
Where the calories come from:
Sugar (2 cups cake + 1 cup frosting) — ~1,900 cal combined
Salad oil (1½ cups) — ~2,900 cal — this is the moisture source, don't reduce it or the texture changes
Flour (3 cups) — ~1,365 cal
Eggs (4) — ~280 cal
Cream cheese and pecans — ~700 cal combined
Lighter option: Cutting the sugar in the cake batter by ¼ cup and using a thin layer of frosting instead of a thick one are the two easiest ways to bring the per-slice calories down without changing the texture Aunt Juanita was known for.
This is not medical advice — just Nana's estimate from USDA data. If you have dietary needs, check your specific ingredients.
More Louisiana Recipes
Mama's Famous Coconut Poke Cake Recipe
Homemade Banana Pudding Recipe
Southern Pecan Pie Recipe
Gingerbread with Warm Lemon Sauce
Tell Nana: maple frosting convert, or are you loyal to vanilla? Comment below.
🛒 Ready to bake? Shop Aunt Juanita's Complete Carrot Cake Store on Amazon → [HERE]
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