Last January my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary.  All 3 kids came home for the celebration.  Mom and Dad wanted a simple, enjoyable evening for everyone.  So, we headed to my parents’ favorite restaurant for an early dinner.  To extend our evening, we returned to our parents’ house for dessert and coffee.  Being the family baker, I offered to provide the dessert.  The happy couple chose carrot cake.  (A great choice not only for taste but also for the health benefits of walnuts and carrots in a tasty cake!)

Since then I hadn’t had an occasion to make another carrot cake.  But as January arrived, there was reason to make that same dessert.  Again it was the dessert chosen by my parents, but it was for a different celebration.  Mom and Dad are retiring and heading to a warmer climate.  Done with ice and cold, they have sold their house and will be leaving for shorts and flip-flops in the next few days.

Our family gathered for a late lunch this past weekend.  Wanting to spend more time together, everyone came back to our house after the meal.  Among the pleasant conversation, giggling children, and long hugs, there was carrot cake for all.

While the reason for making this cake wasn’t the happiest, it will be part of this family memory.

Mom and Dad’s Carrot Cake
1 1/4 pounds baby carrots3 cups flour 2 cups sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 tsp. salt 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon	1 cup oil4 eggs 1 cup walnuts (optional) 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 4 Tb. butter, softened 2 tsp. vanilla 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
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CAKE: Heat oven to 350.  Cook carrots in boiling water until tender.  Drain and mash.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Add carrots and blend.  Add oil and eggs, and beat well.  Mix in nuts.  Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake for 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes.  Remove from pan, and cool completely.FROSTING: Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and mix well.  Spread on cooled cake.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Desserts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.