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Carrot Cake recipe can include everything from A to Z Lori Gysel & Gerry Kentner Oops! Had a little problem with the photo again this week. Namely, some sneaky family members started eating the subject before the photo was taken-- goes to show you it's a really good recipe (and yes, I was one of the sneaky family members)! This has been such a festive week, what with the decorations all going up in the stores and the Santa Claus parade on Sunday, I thought we'd better get started with some holiday recipes! By, the way-- a great big thank you to the Lions Club and all the corporate sponsors that put on the parade. I've seen almost all of them since I was little and that had to be the best one yet! The carrot cake recipe you see today can be changed in a couple of different ways if you like. First of all, you can use three cups of carrots or you can use some kind of a carrot, apple, zucchini, pineapple combo. If you are using carrot, apple or zucchini, it doesn't matter how much of each one you use, as long as the total comes to three cups. If you are going to add pineapple, make sure to chop the pineapple in small pieces and drain well on paper towels before adding to the recipe. Don't use more than 1 cup of pineapple. If you are frightened off by the fairly large amount of oil required in the recipe, substitute some pureed apple sauce. Try using three quarters of a cup of the pureed apple sauce and three quarters of a cup of oil. The oil is important in order to have a moist, not dry cake-- so you cannot take all of it out. You can also add dates, dried cherries, chocolate chips or raisins if you like to the mix. Try adding any one or two of these--just a half cup of each should be fine. Don't add more than 1 cup of the dried fruit or there will not be enough batter to sustain the cake. Best of all, carrot cakes freeze really well because they are so dense. So, bake a couple of these up and pop one in the freezer to get ready for the holiday season, then you can simply take it out, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and ice it just before serving. Have fun and keep cooking! (Lori and Gerry can be reached at whatscookin@independentfreepress.com) Carrot Cake Ingredients · 2 cups sugar · 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil · 3 cups grated carrot · 4 eggs · 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans · 3 cups all purpose flour · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp ground cinnamon · 2 tsp baking soda · 1/4 tsp salt Icing · 6 tbsp cream cheese · 4 tbsp butter · 2 cups icing sugar · 1 tsp lemon juice · 1/3 tsp vanilla Method Thoroughly mix sugar into oil. Blend in carrots. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Fold in the chopped nuts. In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture and blend well-- but do not beat-- you don't want to overmix. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for approximately one hour. Cake is done when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the cake before frosting.