deez carrot cake 

adapted from the frog commissary cookbook while working at a caterer,
where i have made carrot cake to serve more than 300 guests at a time!
it's extremely moist and rich with spices.  the real secret is using
the food processor to combine the raisins and walnuts.

you will need:

3 bowls, one very large, one medium and one smaller
grater
sifter
8x12 baking pan
food processor 

1 1/4 c.  corn oil
1 1/4 c.  granulated sugar
  1/4 c.  brown sugar
2     c.  flour
  3/4 tsp. cinnamon
  1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  1/2 tsp. mace
     dash  powdered ginger
    2 tsp. baking powder
    1 tsp. baking soda
    1 tsp. salt
	4  eggs
    4 c.   grated carrots (about 4-5 LARGE carrots)
  3/4 c.   walnuts
  1/4 c. almonds
    1 c. raisins 
  zest from a 2" piece of orange peel
  zest from a 2" piece of lemon peel
  a few teaspoons of orange and lemon juice  


1. preheat your oven to 350F.

2. grease and flour your baking pan.

3. grate your carrots (use a food processor or this part will take like 30 minutes.)

4. put the raisins and nuts into the food processor and whirr until
   its a gooey mess.  add the fruit zest and drops of fresh juice to
   the raisin mess.  this should all be in the smaller bowl. 

5. sift the dry ingredients BUT NOT THE SUGAR together. this should be
   in the medium bowl.

6. mix the sugars and the corn oil together in the large bowl.

7. add half of the dry ingredients to the sugar/oil mix.

8. now alternate an egg with some dry ingredients until its all mixed
   together.  the batter should be really silky now.

9. now add the raisin/nut gunk.  you have to use your hands to break
   it up so that its evenly distributed in the dough.

10. now add the carrots.

11. do not sample too much raw dough, even though its really fucking
    good at this pooint.

12. pour into your prepared pan.

13. bake in preheated over for 70 (yes, seventy) minutes.  watch for
    burning of the corners near. the end of the baking time.  (shorten
    the cooking time for smaller pans, i made the mistake of making 2
    heart sized cakes instead of one and was really disappointed
    because it had dried out too much.)

14. cool for a good long time before attempting to ice it. (recipe
    follows) 


the famous cream cheese icing

one stick unsalted butter (at room temperature)
8 oz plain cream cheese (softened)
some powdered sugar (sifted)
vanilla extract
(optional decorations, marzipan and food coloring)

i think i usually double this, i can't remember.  just to be sure, i'd
double it if this is the first time you are making this cake.  can
never have too much of this stuff anyway.

1. cream the butter and the cream cheese together. (a wooden spoon
   works just fine.)

2. add the powdered sugar a little at a time until the icing is of the
   right consistancy.

3. add the vanilla to taste (generally not very much.)

4. (optional) make little carrots with green tops from the marzipan
   and food coloring.  since you probably won't even attempt this
   unless you are already familiar with working with marzipan, i'm
   just gonna leave these instructions as they are.


to put it all together!

you need:
a long serrated knife
an icing knife (or a large butter knife or big spoon)
a nice serving plate for the finished cake

1. the cake MUST be cooled completely.

2. cut the cake in half shortways, so you have 2 squares.
    these will be two layers.  one layer will have to be trimmed so
    that it makes a flat surface for the other layer.  

3. fit the two halves together with icing inbetween the layers.

4. begin with the crumbing.  (i don't know what you really call this)
   take a small amount of icing and put it into a separate small bowl.
   apply a THIN layer of this icing to the whole cake.  the point is
   to seal in the crumbs so they don't mess up your final
   presentation.  you will get crumbs in this icing, and in the little bowl.

5. now apply a nice smooth beautiful layer of the non-crummy icing all around.

6. if you are really a freak like i am, you will now have about 12
   little marzipan carrots.  just before presentation i usually put a
   few in a bunch in the center and spread the rest out randomly
   around the top of the cake.  careful, cause they do melt into the
   cake if you leave the cake out for several hours at room
   temperature.