Charlie's Bday Cake

Every year I bake Charlie a birthday cake and I always give him the choice of any cake he wants. He never fails to challenge me and this year was no different. he asked for a carrot cake, which i had never made before. Specifically, he asked for a carrot cake injected with some sort of cream cheese icing. I pictured a giant carrot Twinkie (it turns out he was thinking jelly doughnut).

While I hate to disappoint, and I'm all for creative vision, I ultimately decided on a traditional layer cake. I couldn't imagine un-iced single layer cake with icing on the inside that wouldn't be dry. The thought of an iced layer cake that was also injected with icing seemed a little intense. So, sadly, the carrot twinkie was never to be.

Instead, I found this non vegan recipe online:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-Cake-with-Maple-Cream-Cheese-Icing-102155

I skipped the maple frosting and used my own cream cheese frosting recipe:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3-4 cups confectioners' sugar (approx - I don't measure)
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 of a brick of philly cream cheese

Blend with hand blender and scale up or down in volume depending on preferences!

The cake was a big success and I will definitely make this again and again. I'm a carrot cake maker now!