Carrot-Top Cake

This is carrot cake the way your mama made it. Three layers, cream cheese icing, no frills, no fuss.

The batter mixes together in one bowl. Sugar, oil, beaten eggs, self-rising flour, cinnamon, vanilla, grated carrots, and chopped nuts. That’s the whole lineup. Pour it into three pans and bake low and slow until each layer is tender and moist all the way through.

The icing is cream cheese and margarine whipped with a full pound of powdered sugar and vanilla. Thick, tangy, sweet, and spreadable. If it needs loosening, a splash of milk does the trick.

Stack those layers, slather the icing between each one and all over the outside, and try not to eat a slice before it sets.

Chef Tips

• Self-rising flour already has leavening and salt built in, so don’t add extra baking powder or salt
• Baking low and slow keeps the layers flat and even, which makes stacking much easier
• Let the cake layers cool completely before icing. Warm cake will melt the cream cheese frosting right off.
• Refrigerate the assembled cake for an hour before serving. The icing firms up and the slices cut clean.