Carrot Cake

Aaron had asked for a carrot cake for his birthday, and I happily said yes. After all, carrot cake is completely delicious and not ridiculously difficult to make. However, every time I went to make it, I wasn't able to. Ooops...the carrots were used for dinner last night. Ooops...the cream cheese has gone bad. Ooops...we're out of powdered sugar. So I finally made his birthday cake last night. And hopefully the fact that it was completely delicious made up for the fact that it was almost 3 weeks late. The frosting job is not the best, but you work with what you've got (for me, that means a rubber spatula and zero skillz). I think Katie would have licked her plate if she could have gotten away with it. That girl LOVED this cake. Sam's Famous Carrot Cake INGREDIENTS * 3 eggs * 3/4 cup buttermilk * 3/4 cup vegetable oil * 1 1/2 cups white sugar * 2 teaspoons vanilla extract * 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 2 cups all-purpose flour * 2 teaspoons baking soda * 2 cups shredded carrots * 1 cup flaked coconut * 1 cup chopped walnuts * 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice * 1 cup raisins DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan. 2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. 3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well. 4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins. 5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well. 6. Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan (I used 2 8-inch rounds), and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour (less time if you're using 2 cake pans). Check with toothpick. 7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Cream Cheese Frosting II INGREDIENTS * 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened * 1/2 cup butter, softened * 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract DIRECTIONS 1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use. (Recipes from Allrecipes.com)