Today is Sunday, a perfect day to enjoy a lovely carrot cake from my new Dorie Greenspan Baking book.  I was really craving this carrot cake, so I started making it, I got about halfway thru when I realized, I was making the wrong cake.  The trouble was I really wanted that carrot cake, so I improvised and ended up with a very tasty cake... 

CARROT CAKE

2 1/4 cups flour

1 TBSP baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups sugar

zest of one orange

1 stick butter

1/2 cup canola oil

4 large eggs

Whsk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  In another bowl, stir together the carrots and coconut.  In another bowl, mix the sugar and orange zest

with your fingers until moist and 

fragrant.

Beat the sugar mixture and butter 

and oil together on medium speed until 

smooth.  Add the eggs one by one, and

continue to beat until the batter is even

smoother.  Reduce the speed to low and 

add the flour mixture, mixing only until 

the dry ingredients disappear.  Gently

 mix in the chunky ingredients. Divide 

the batter among the baking pans.  Bake 

for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans 

from top to bottom and front to back at 

the midway point, until a thin knife 

inserted into the centers comes out clean;

the cakes will have just started to come 

away from the sides of the pans. I baked

it in one 9 x 13 pan for 45 minutes at 325. Transfer 

the cakes to cooling racks and cool for

about 5 minutes, then run a knife around 

the sids of the cakes and unmold them. 

Invert and cool to room to room temp-

erature right side up. (The cakes can be 

wrapped airtight and kept at room temp-

erature overnight for up to 2 months.)

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temp.

1 stick butter

3 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

2-3 TBSP orange juice

Beat all ingredients together until 

smooth spread over cooled cake.