Today on the blog I wanted to share another cemetery recipe with you. All the recipes I have made so far have been sweet treats, and today’s recipe is no different. It’s the Easter long weekend, so I thought today’s recipe would be a perfect fit – A Good Carrot Cake. 

This recipe is a little different than the previous ones I have made. It can be found on a white tablet gravestone for Christine W Hammill in Ferndale, California. Her stone sits beside the stone for her husband Richard. The difference is that Christine and Richard are still living.

They seem like pretty fun folks as well, based on their gravestones! Not only can this delicious recipe be found on the back side of Christine’s gravestone, they both also have some funny epitaphs on their headstones.

The white granite tablet gravestones read:

“Oops, / I should / have listened / to my wife.”

Richards S. Hammill

June 3, 19__ – 

“Yeah. / Look where / we ended up.”

Christine W. Hammill

Nov. 

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find more information about the Hammills and where their future resting place is, but I do know that Christine makes an excellent carrot cake.

Here is the recipe:

A Good Carrot Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. soda
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 (8 1/2 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
• 2/3 cup chopped nuts

Sift together flour, baking powder, soda salt, and cinnamon. Beat eggs and add sugar. Let stand 10 mins. Mix in oil, pineapple, carrots, nuts, flour mixture. Turn into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350’ for 35 – 40 min. Cool in pans for 10 min, remove to wire racks, and cool well. 

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

Mix butter, cream cheese, vanilla then add sugar. First between layers, top and sides.

This is one of the more thorough sets of baking instructions I have come across on a gravestone. It didn’t need any guesswork at all. The recipe is very easy to follow and create. I started with the prep work first; chopping, grating, and measuring out ingredients to make the mixing process a bit smoother. 

I did start off thinking I would only need two cake pans, but I did need to make a third layer. I only filled the cake pans about halfway with batter because I had a feeling they would rise as they baked. They did rise as I suspected so that left batter for a third layer. I only have 2 cake pans though. I put the first two pans in the oven for 35 minutes and used the toothpick trick to test if they were done. 

If you don’t know this trick, you take a toothpick and stab it into the middle of the cake, touching the bottom of the pan. If it comes out clean when you pull it out, it means the cake is done. If there is batter on the toothpick when you pull it out, it means the center is not cooked all the way through and should go back in for a few more minutes. 

After the first two layers were done, I let them cool for ten minutes then removed them from the pan and placed them on a wire rack to continue cooling. Then I put the third layer into the oven to bake. This did make the baking process a bit longer, but it wouldn’t be an issue if you have extra cake pans. 

I used the time while the last layer was baking, to make the cream cheese frosting. I have to say, it’s the best frosting I have ever made. Sifting the powdered sugar made all the difference in creating a smooth and creamy frosting. I ended up with some extra frosting as I was unsure how much to frost in between the layers. I was afraid to run out of frosting for the top and the sides. I didn’t have to worry though as I had quite a bit left over. I put the leftover frosting in a container and put it in the fridge to use as a cookie dip. I couldn’t let that deliciousness go to waste.

I had some chopped walnuts left over and decided to sprinkle them on the outer edge of the cake as decoration and to use them up. I think it was a nice added touch, but you can decorate it however you like. The white frosting is a lovely base for frosting accents, sprinkles, or any other type of decoration you may want to add to make your cake more festive. 

I love a good carrot cake with a good cream cheese frosting, and this might just be the best one yet. I was curious how the final product would taste with the addition of pineapple. I had never seen that in a carrot cake recipe before. The cake is so moist and sweet, I think because of the pineapple. It’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. I shared this cake with my mother and fiancé, and they both agreed, it was delicious. I think this cake would make a lovely finish to an Easter meal, or any meal for that matter. It’s a big cake, so it’s perfect for sharing with loved ones. 

I wish I knew more about Christine and this recipe. I am going to assume that it is a Hammill family favorite. At any rate, I want to say thank you to Christine, for sharing this sweet treat with the world!

Have you tried this recipe before? Do you have a favorite carrot cake recipe? I would love to read about it in the comments. 

Happy Easter, and thanks for reading!

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References:

• Ghostly Archive video | TikTok