This carrot cake turned out amazingly moist and perfectly warm with more than a hint of cinnamon and clove. Here's a peek at the final cake: Snowy and cool on the outside (January needs more appropriately wintery desserts) and warm deliciousness on the inside.
Did I mention that the kicker here, that actually forced me to go for a carrot cake recipe, was that it was our friend Crispy's birthday. Crisp absolutely adores winter/snow/christmas at all times and in all things and in all places. So we went for it!
Here's a shot of one of the six-inch rounds that I stacked and later layered with the icy blue cream cheese frosting.
Since I had never even attempted a carrot cake, I searched the internet for "best" carrot cakes, and finally landed on Paula Deen's recipe for the best carrot cake cupcakes. The recipe was really easy to follow and (surprise to me) called for crushed pineapple, which I thought sounded absolutely delish. I made a few very slight modifications to the recipe, but overall, I think it's great.
[Below] Process: frosting an orange crumby cake with wintery cream cheese frosting.
