A Carrot Cake to Write Home About

     I really, really enjoy carrot cake. I especially like the cream cheese frosting. Growing up, our family's favorite cake was from Shaker's, The Bakery, or Wild Thyme all owned by the same company and located in South Pasadena and southern Pasadena. Their delicious, round, two-layer carrot cakes were always my favorite.
     Until recently. I found a simple, ultra-tasty recipe from my favorite recipe site Recipes - Allrecipes. In fact, at a baby shower two years ago I brought this cake and someone else brought one from The Bakery. Someone tasted both and said, "Yumm....I can't tell which one is better." Score! Mission Accomplished! And then my sweet husband has affirmed in no uncertain terms that my carrot cake IS BETTER than Wild Thyme and The Bakery. Okay. I've always said that man has great taste (and he's smart, too!). This Christmas I took it to a Christmas Eve function where it was savored and showered with compliments. This made me happy. I aim to please.
     The funny thing about this recipe is that it is so easy. I have made some modifications to it, however. Instead of three cups of carrots, I put in two cups. I also add a cup of crushed pineapple, 1/2 cup of golden raisins (I like the way they look better than regular raisins), and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. I also don't add the nuts into the batter. I sprinkle chopped walnuts, not pecans, over the the top. (This is to accommodate my non nut-loving kids.) To the cream cheese frosting I zest fresh lemon peel and squeeze about 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice into it. I attempted a four layer cake a couple of times and it turned out pretty well. Try it yourself and let me know how it turns out!

Frosting! Yum!

I baked the batter on a cookie sheet and then cut four equal pieces. I put those pieces  together with wax paper between them to freeze them for easier assembly and frosting.

I prefer small chopped walnuts with my carrot cake

This was my first attempt. I'm not accomplished at fancy cake assembly, although I would like to develop this skill. Pretty cakes taste better!