Carrot Cake Mess Up Turned Around!

I am not the greatest of bakers.  I usually buy my cakes from Deborah at "Your Day."  My attempts at cakes taste good....they just lack in the looks department.  I don't know what it is that I do....but they are always whop sided or crumbly.  The last one I made was so bad I could have cried.  I needed it for a dinner I was giving....and I did not have time to go get one somewhere else.  What was I going to do.....when I remembered a wedding shower I had been to....the hostess had dropped a red velvet cake....and still made it come out looking fabo.  I grabbed all the wine glasses I had in the house, scooped carrot cake into each one, topped with a dab of cool-whip and drizzled some caramel ice cream sauce over it.  My dessert was the hit of the party.

I have since done this with key lime cake, chocolate cake, and a red velvet cake someone had given to me.  Want a pie?  I am your girl....want a cake?  It would behoove you to find someone who knows what they are doing.  Obviously I don't!  I love carrot cake and my recipe was my Little Grandmother's so since I shared my Grandmother Sasser's pound cake with you yesterday I thought it would be terrible to leave my other grandmother out.  Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

 4 eggs

 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

 2 cups white sugar

 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 2 teaspoons baking soda

 2 teaspoons baking powder

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 3 cups grated carrots

 1 cup chopped pecans(optional)

Frosting:

 1/2 cup butter, softened

 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

 4 cups confectioners' sugar

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1 cup chopped pecans (optional  - if you don’t like pecans)

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Enjoy the hint and the cake! Carrot cake is a definite fall cake for me.  Happy Tuesday!