Birthdays and beyond - A cake for all occaisions

Carrot cake is one of those classic homemade cakes that never seems to go out of style. Here is my adaptation of my father's favourite recipe for carrot cake which I made for his birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp Angostura orange bitters or orange zest
2 cups carrots, grated finely
8 oz crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1lb or 31/2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease tins, line with parchment paper and flour two 9" round cake tins
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add sugar and oil and beat until fluffy and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions then add the bitters. Add pineapple, carrots and walnuts or pecans.

Divide the batter evenly among the two cake tins use a spatula to even out the batter. Bake  for 35 to 40 minutes or until the tops just spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip and the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and let stand 2-3 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack. Run a small knife around the perimeter of the cake and invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Brush any stray crumbs from the sides of the cakes wrap in plastic wrap and transfer the cakes to the freezer. until you are ready to frost the cake. Do not thaw the layers before icing. Freezing the cake ensures that loose crumbs will not ruin the look of the iced cake

When you are ready to frost the cake, combine butter , cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence and mix well. Once the cake is completely cool you may frost and layer one on top the other.