carrot cake mess. [or, what to make when there's no more pumpkin.]

recently i've been told by a couple of people (one being my cousin heather, the other being connor) that i'm obsessed with autumn and especially pumpkin. though i laughed and instantly denied it both times i heard it, they were both absolutely correct. i am obsessed with autumn, more so this year than any other year probably because i'm not really getting to experience it. or at least the parts of it that make it so lovely to me - apple picking, cider donuts, sweater tights and light jackets, fingerless gloves and changing leaves. and pumpkin, well, it just tastes so good!

but okay, enough. here's a recipe my mom and i whipped together a few weeks ago when she was here. it does not contain any pumpkin (which comes in handy when your supermarket is wiped clean) and is friggin' awesome. ours didn't turn out perfectly since we didn't have the right kind of pan, but hey, you can't judge a book by it's cover, right? make this tomorrow for your thanksgiving feast and you won't regret it. promise*

carrot cake with lemon vanilla frosting

for the cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tbsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups olive oil

4 large eggs lightly beaten

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts, chopped

2 cups finely grated carrots

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

preheat oven to 350 degree.s butter two 9 inch cake pans. cut out rounds of wax paper and place at bottoms of cake pans. butter the top of the wax paper.

sift dry ingeredients into a bowl, add eggs, oil and vanilla. beat well. fold in chopped walnuts, coconut, carrots and pineapple.

fully aware of how unappetizing the pre-cooked batter looks...

pour batter into pans. set on the middle rack of oven and bake for 45 minutes (shift poisitions of cakes front to back if necessary about halfway through), until edges have pulled away from sides and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. cool on a cake rack.

for the frosting:

8 oz. low fat cream cheese at room temp

6 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tbsp lemon juice

cream together cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. slowly sift in the confectioners' sugar and beat until mixture is free of lumps. stir in vanilla and lemon juice. once cakes have cooked, frost. sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.

eat out of a bowl with a spoon + more frosting drizzled on top.

or, my personal favorite, straight off the plate with a fork standing in front of the sink.

happy thanksgiving baking!!! :)

xo jordan