I know it's hard to believe for some of you that I didn't just make a pie, but also a cake!  And the cake was 100% from scratch!  I made a carrot cake from scratch!!!  Does repeating it make it more real? 

This cake has a little bit of history in our household.  It's the cake I made Alex for his birthday when we had just started dating.  He requested a carrot cake, and I very reluctantly agreed to make it.  I had NEVER made one before.  I even bought a box mix just in case this didn't turn out.But it did!I've made this cake about 4 times now.  I know... that's not a lot of times, but I feel like a bit of an expert already.  So, if you love carrot cake (and cream cheese icing) get ready for the following array of pictures as I take you step by step through this process.  It's a bit of a long one!By the way, this recipe is Canada's Best Carrot Cake as tested in The Canadian Living Test Kitchen.  I take NO credit for coming up with this amazing recipe![yumprint-recipe id='2']

Carrot cake from scratch: the making in pictures!

That's it!  That's how I made carrot cake from scratch.  All by myself.  Looks pretty easy, right?Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can!  I did sprinkle some walnuts and coconut on top of the iced cake as well, just to add a bit of texture and make it a little prettier.I really wish I hadn't made this cake for Thanksgiving because I could totally go for a piece of it right now!Any suggestions on how to make Canada's Best Carrot Cake better?P.S. The smell of this baking was oh-so-yummy and made my house smell super duper homey and amazing. 

Now I'm off to dream about cream cheese icing...