It was Nattie's birthday on Saturday, and I decided, at the insistence of some friends and family, to actually make a real birthday cake this year. Or cupcakes as it turned out. I asked Nattie what her favorite was and she said "a surprise" which perfectly coincided with the gently whisperings in my ear from another adult entity about carrot cake. Who wants carrot cake for their birthday? I decided to go out on a limb and give it a whirl. And since Josh is convinced we are destitute after The Holidays, I further decided to make it all from scratch. The only thing we had to buy was red food coloring. I would like to hereby nominate myself for a Good Mom award for Outstanding Effort in the Area of Birthday Dessert Design. If I win this prize, I will give a nod of recognition to my artistic consultant, who also doubles as my boss, and Nattie's best friend for insisting on a pig cake.

You all know I don't like nuts. I did, however, plan to add walnuts like the recipe calls for into the second half of the cupcake batter. I forgot. Oops. Josh was crushed, but was consoled by the added raisins which made Kizzie gag, and in the end, it was all for the best since one of Nattie's friends is allergic to Walnuts. I'll go ahead and credit that little triumph to my stellar intuition. I googled "carrot cake recipe" and actually ended up using the one at the top of the list. I didn't even skip past the sponsored links like I usually do, looking for a "real person" link. I will post the recipe, but also the link to the site, which actually pretty cool. I liked this recipe because it comes from the 40s and anything from the 40s is cool. I have to say, the thought of carrot cake does not make my mouth water. I'd just as soon have an extra slice of garlic bread than a slab of carrot cake, which, as Josh (my carrot cake adoring husband) points out, is egregiously stupid since garlic bread has WAY more calories than Carrot Cake. He knows because he looked it up on his calorie counter app and manipulated the inputs to read that way. (yes, 1/4 ounce of carrot cake does have less than 1/2 loaf of garlic bread. good job, honey.) I made this very basic, traditional recipe with coconut oil, organic flour and sugar, raisins, and of course, no nuts. The website I stole this from is called Just A Pinch, and I will probably use it again.

Best Carrot Cake Ever

2 c	sugar
1 1/4 c	oil
4	large eggs
2 c	flour
2 tsp	baking soda
1 Tbsp	cinnamon
1 tsp	salt
3 c	grated carrots
1 c	chopped walnuts
FROSTING
12 oz	powdered sugar
2	3 oz. cream cheese room temp
1 tsp	vanilla extract
2 Tbsp	butter
2 Tbsp	milk

Directions

In large bowl, beat sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat well.

I warmed up the coconut oil for easier mixing - and you could maybe reduce it a tiny bit.

Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt into egg mixture; mix well; fold in carrots and nuts.

I added a pinch of nutmeg too. Mostly because I was excited to try my new nutmeg grater.

Place batter in greased 9x13 pan; bake for 45 minutes in a 350 oven. (Check once because of oven variances.)

I baked in cupcake tins for about 15 min? Give or take. You know how well I use timers.

FROSTING: Beat together powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, butter and milk; (and add red food coloring to desired PINKNESS!) spread on cooled carrot cake.

obviously cream cheese frosting tastes better pink, right?