I use to have a wonderful recipe from my grandmother. Its been lost.. Would anyone have one that would like to share along with the cream cheese frosting. Thanks!!!!

This is by far my husband's favorite among all the cakes I make...
It is from Allrecipes.com Carrot Cake lll

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Carrot-Cake-III/Detail.aspx

Sounds yummy!!!!!!!!!!

the most DELICIOUS cream cheese frosting on the planet! very light, and not too sweet http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-901-Whipped-Cream-Frosting.html

and a carrot cake that wins over even those that hate carrot cake: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Carrot-Cake-Ever/Detail.aspx i omit the raisins, toast and crush the walnuts and finely grate the carrots. the pineapple adds a nice subtle flavor.

9/19/2000

Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake

2 C AP flour
2 t soda
1/2 t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
3 eggs, well-beaten
3/4 C vegetable oil
3/4 C buttermilk
2 C sugar
2 t vanilla
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 C grated carrots
3.5 oz. flaked coconut
1 C chopped walnuts (pecans)
Buttermilk glaze
Cream cheese icing/filling

Combine flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon, set aside. Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla; beat till smooth. Stir in flour mixture, pineapple, carrots, coconut and nuts. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9" pans. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately spread Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers. Cool in pan 15 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely. Ice and fill w/ cream cheese frosting.

Buttermilk Glaze

1 C sugar
1/2 t soda
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 C butter
1 T light corn syrup
1 t vanilla

Combine sugar, soda, buttermilk, butter, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, cook 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Kathy F's Cream Cheese Icing/Filling

KathyF's cream cheese icing (*this is a wonderful icing/filling! I've been able to pipe borders and also smooth the icing without any problems. It makes a lot, but it freezes very well This is my standard cream cheese icing since Kathy shared it on the board.

16 oz. cream cheese
1C butter
1/2 C Crisco
1 T vanilla
1/2 t salt
3 1/2 lbs confectioner's sugar

Cream the cream cheese, butter, and Crisco together till fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and salt. Gradually add the sugar. Takes a while to incorporate it all.

You have a lot of good suggestions and I have one as well. I've made this many times to great reviews, it's also from Allrecipes.com. I think the secret for this is the carrot baby food, the cake is so moist! The link is: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Carrot-Cake-V/Detail.aspx

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Another suggestion, which was used in a lot of old-fashioned carrot-cake recipes or oatmeal cookies, is to heat the raisins for a few mintues (if you use them) with about 2 T of water over low heat. You can put them in the microwave on LOW for about 20 seconds, too.

What happens: the raisins warm and plump up, and don't "draw" moisture from your cake or sink to the bottom. Add the liquid left from heating the raisins to the cake, it adds a delicious flavor -- like a fruit-flavored extract (and it's all natural).

That trick was shown me by my grandmother, which I why I thought of it when I read your inital request. Hope this helps!