Beedles' Carrot Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (and Marilyn's Frosting-Free Carrot Cake)

When we were in college, my sister Sandra and I dog-sat Reuben the Irish Setter at his home in Forest Hill Village, while his owner was on holiday. B. Beedles had written out this recipe and tacked it to the kitchen bulletin board, with "fabulous!" scrawled on the corner, so I copied it and gave it to my mom.

This is supposed to be made as a layer cake with cream cheese frosting, as written below.

If, like my mother, you prefer a plain cake, try her version, that follows.

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon

Sift the above dry ingredients together. Then, in your mixer, combine:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 beaten eggs

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sugar/oil/egg mixture and mix well. Then fold in:

• 2 cups grated carrots (about 4 large carrots)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we use walnuts)
• 8-1/2 oz can crushed pineapple, drained.

Turn the cake batter into 3 greased and floured 8 inch layer pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Turn layers out onto wire racks to cool.

Frost the cake with Bee-Bee's Cream Cheese Icing:

Cream:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 tsp. real vanilla
• 1 lb. icing sugar

Marilyn's Plain Carrot Cake

How could you eat so much icing? Why frost it? Carrot Cake is good enough all by itself!

My mom made Bill B's carrot  cake, but without the cream cheese icing, which she doesn't like.

She also doesn't make the cake in layers; instead, she bakes it in a greased and floured bundt or tube pan for 1-1/2 hours at 300 degrees.