Happiest Food on Earth

We're back from a really wonderful week at Disney World. My family literally ate our way around the world in several trips to Epcot. But the food item that is sticking in my mind is a carrot cake cookie sandwich I had at this marvelous cafe called the Writer's Stop in Hollywood Studios. It had two large carrot cake cookies with cream cheese sandwiched in between. Even the baby liked it!

A few months ago a coworker wanted an easy carrot cake recipe. So I put out a Tweet for help. (I have a Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/AmyAlessio ) Two friends wrote back with recipes, and I'll ask them to post them here soon, but I also hit my cookbook collection. Surprisingly, I so far found no carrot cake cookies, and only a few cakes. That picture is just one I pulled off the Internet. Here is Farm Journal's Cooking for Company version of 14-Carat Cake:

2 c. sifted flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. salad oil

4 eggs

2 c. finely grated carrots

1 (8 1/2 oz.) can crusted pineapple, drained

1/2 c. chopped nuts

1 (3 1/2 oz.) can flaked coconut (can, really?)

Cream Cheese frosting

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add sugar, salad oil and eggs; mix well. Add carrots, pineapple, nuts and coconut; blend thoroughly.

Pour into 3 (9") round layer cake pans that have been greased floured.

Bake in moderate oven (350) 35 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven; cool in a few minutes in pans. Turn out on wire racks and cool thoroughly. Fill layers and frost top and sides of cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

On the same page is Prune Topping and Harvest Prune Cake, but I'll save those for another time...

Tomorrow I will be at Centuries and Sleuths - a fabulous bookshop in Forest Park, IL - signing copies of the Missing anthology with several of the authors. At 11:00 AM we will have a few activities, sign some books, talk about our favorites. Sales of the Missing Anthology (pictured left here on the blog) benefit missing children's organizations.