Carrot Sheet Cake, Part 2

Last time, I laid out the recipe for the carrot sheet cake. (If you didn't see it, it's here.) Now let's ice the thing.

But first, a word about indulgences. Yes. You should have indulgences. But let them be indulgences. A frosted cake like this is not for every day, or even every other day. It's for a celebration, a party, a work, church, or synagogue event.

I guess I feel compelled to say this because Bruce and I do a fair amount of work inside the "wellness" industry. It's work we believe in. Our monthly column at weightwatchers.com ("Sundays in the Kitchen with Bruce and Mark") reflects the way we cook on a daily basis. And frankly, there aren't too many desserts in the weekly routine. We usually finish off dinner with a piece of fruit--or now, in the dead of winter, when even the citrus is getting dodgy, with some incredibly juicy dates from Oasis Date Gardens. (Check them out here.) But once in a while, we go for the carrot cake. Because it's so darn delicious.

So on to it.

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Carrot Sheet Cake, Part 1

I thought about calling this recipe a "simplified carrot cake," since it's not the more traditional layer cake but is instead a sheet cake, baked in a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking pan. It's certainly easier--but just as moist and irresistible.

Last week, I needed to make a dessert to take to the book group I lead at the Norfolk, Connecticut, library. (It was the first discussion of four over two months on George Eliot's MIDDLEMARCH. We're nothing if not serious!) I thought about this recipe from a long time ago, back when Bruce created it for THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK. I dug it out and voilà, the American classic, reinvented as a somewhat simpler sheet cake.

We'll do take this recipe in two parts: in this post, the cake; then the frosting, a cream cheese wonder (which you can find here). As you know, carrot cake is a ridiculous indulgence. No, you shouldn't eat it every week. Or even every month. But once in a while, it's nice to dig out an old stand-by and have at it. I hope you'll try this one--and it'll become one of your favorites, too.

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