A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR NICK

...so I know the cutest boy on earth, and I love him!!! I knew that his birthday was coming up, so a while back I asked him what his favorite fruit is. He said that was a hard one because he loves them all then decided it probably was "plum." Then, I asked him what his favorite cake is. He thought for a quick moment and said, "I guess that would have to be carrot!"

I didn't want it all to be too obvious but, I wanted to do something special for him. However, I was running into snafus. This year his birthday is on Inauguration Day - January 20, and he told me that he had to work. HUMMMM! What to do? Ok, I am not so much into the public spectacle of things [LIAR!] so I just thought I'd bite the bullet and take him a cake at work. Hehe! And, he just so happens to be a bartender at one of my favorite watering holes here in Milwaukee.

Ok so there is a lot to be said about carrot cakes. I've had good ones and bad ones! Dry cakes of any flavor piss me the hell off!!! They just don't work for me... a cake has to be moist and tender, (and in the case of carrot cakes they must have all those great little surprises inside of it.) You know, golden raisins, walnuts, pineapple, and a touch of coconut... in the absolute perfect combination. After all carrot should have a sweet carrot flavor.

*Guess what? carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes too!*

KISMET!!! So, I decided to write an original recipe especially for him! [That's the kind of thing I do for people I love!] I have been reading every carrot cake recipe I can get my hands on, and there is a lot of funky stuff that people are calling carrot cakes out there. This is far from any thing traditional but believe me you are gonna love this.

After a few of sorta hits and a couple of way far-out misses this is what I came up with. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine and wisk together until completely combined.

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaping Tablespoon Chinese five spice powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

In another large mixing bowl combine
4 eggs (beaten well)
1 ¼ cups + 2 Tablespoons of oil
1 14-16 oz. can of pumpkin (approx 2 cups)

Mix well. Then add the following ingredients one cup at a time mixing well after each addition.

Add 2 cups of shredded carrot - mix well.
Add 1 cup shredded coconut - mix well.
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts - mix well.
Add 1 cup golden raisins - mix well.
Add 1 cup drained crushed pineapple - mix well.

Add 1/3 of the mixture from the dry bowl and mix until well blended. Add the second third of dry mixture and so on. Until all of the ingredients are mixed very well. The batter will be quite thick. If you have succeeded you should have about 9 cups of batter. Prepare 3, 8 inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Do not use butter as it has the tendency to burn. Using a 1 cup measuring cup scoop and pour 3 cups of batter into each cake pan.

I like to use a drop and spin method to set the batter in the pans. This will give you almost perfectly even cakes with your finished product. Simply pick up the cake pan full with batter about 5-8 inches above the work surface and let it drop square and flat onto the work surface. Then grip both sides of the pan and spin it in place in one direction. Repeat the drop and finish by spinning the pan in the other direction. This is very important: remember this batter has a dense viscosity to itself and you really want the batter evenly throughout the pan. Place pans in preheated oven. Check after 20 minutes. Continue to check every 5 minutes until the cake is done. Note: If the top center seems a bit too soft but the cake is almost done turn the oven off and let cakes sit an additional 5-10 minutes in the warm oven with the oven door shut. A bamboo skewer inserted to the center will come out clean when cake is done.

The Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2-2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients until light and fluffy. I make this recipe 1 and a half times to frost 3, 8 inch cakes. Garnish your cake how you like... I always use fresh flowers.... after all I am a florist...