Its Sunday....We celebrated my good friend Veronica Castillo's birthday last night.  Great food, great music and dancing, and most of all, great friends!  On that note, birthdays make me think of cake, so today I am baking!  Its Sunday, which in my house, means family dinner.  Of course, being Italian, my family's favorite is sauce and meatballs.  And yes, it is SAUCE, not GRAVY!!!  Gravy is brown and goes on a roast.  (although my Mother in law will argue with me on this subject.)

I thought that I would make my carrot cake for dessert.  Carrot cake is not complete unless it has cream cheese frosting.  My cake is light and delicious!  Heres a trick if you don't have buttermilk.  Measure 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice and put it into a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add milk to the cup to the top.  Let sit 5 minutes and use whatever you need from the cup.  Easy, and much cheaper than buying buttermilk!  Some people use applesauce instead of oil.  I use 1/2 and 1/2 and it really works.  This is an easy cake to make and I guarantee you will get compliments from all!  Happy Sunday, enjoy!

Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray 2 round cake pans with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple.
5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared pans, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 12 ounces softened cream cheese
• 6 tbs. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

   2.  After the cakes are cool, invert 1 cake onto a cake plate.  Frost completely.  Invert second cake onto the 

        first and frost.  You can decorate with chopped walnuts if desired.