I just got a tasting....and she wanted either spice or carrot cake?? I have never made one...what is your favorite recipes...and should I start with a mix?? I have never ever made carrot cake....any advice??

My absolute fave is the 24 karot carrot cake in the Cake Book by Tish Boyle. It has spices and ginger so it gives it great flavor.

I recently made the WASC with a DH spice cake mix. I used vanilla extract, no almond and 6 whole eggs. It was wonderful and everyone loved it. I like more spice, so next time I will probably add more cinnamon and cloves and ginger. this cake also holds up extremely well and I loved it with a cream cheese filling. You could use a cream cheese flavored oil in buttercream. HTH
Melissa

I've been using Sheila Lukens' Silver Palate Carrot Cake for years and very happy with it. Just did a Google search and it comes up several times. This way you won't have to buy a cookbook! (Though it is a classic). Here's the first link, but there are many more.

http://www.relishmag.com/recipes/view/31242/the-silver-palates-carrot.html

HTH - Good Luck

I love Keonicakes carrot cake recipe here on CC. the only things i changed were i reduced the amount of oil to 1 cup, and i added a bit more cinnamon and i also added some allspice and nutmeg.
here is the url: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-4303-Keonicakes-carrot-cake.html

i have found out the hard way that the key to a delicious carrot cake is to let it set for at least a day. if you serve it the same day you make it, it tends to taste not as yummy as it should be. this is my experience. i always thought i couldn't make a carrot cake, but it was because it wasn't sitting until the next day. now its one of my most requested cakes!

My picks

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2175-Awesome-carrot-cake.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipes_id-add_box-6827.html

With this cream cheese frosting

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6817-Wedding---Crusting-Cream-Cheese-Frosting.html

These all sound yum! For my Birthday last year my Mum made me a box mix with this stuff added.

I 8oz can crushed pineapple,
1/2 cup chopped nuts.
1/2 cup of raisins.
1/2 cup of shredded coconut.
Add this to the box mix and the eggs, etc..

It was very yum!