Pumpkin and Spice

There comes a time in every foodie's life when they summon their courage and go to their local patissier and ask the age old question... "Where do cakes come from?"

Well, make yourself comfy, 'cause Pumpkin's gonna explain the ol' birds and the bees of carrot cake to you. First, when a baker loves a carrot very much, she can't bear to see it boiled for a side dish, or cut into sticks or chopped for a salad. She wants to help it be more...

So, she takes that carrot, and 24 pounds worth of his friends and shreds them. (Okay, maybe she doesn't shred them, maybe she gets them in pre-shredded.)

Then she weighs out 18lbs of sugar...

And cracks a gallon and a half (94) of eggs...

Then, she mixes some oil, flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a giant (60 quart) mixer.

She adds her eggs and sugar, plus all of the carrots, and some walnuts for good measure. She rolls up her sleeves, and lovingly scapes the bottom of the bowl to ensure complete mixing of all the ingredients.

Then, she measures out a gallon of batter each into nine different sheet pans and bakes them until they are golden and lovely.

Once the cakes are cool, she freezes them to make them easier to de-pan without breaking or tearing the sheets. When they're frozen solid (the next day) she loosens the cake from its pan and flips it out. Then she weighs out 4 3/4lbs of cream cheese icing and spreads it evenly on the cake.

Then, she takes another sheet of carrot cake, and carefully and quickly, flips it onto the iced first layer. She weighs out another portion of icing, and ices the top of the cake. Finally, she marks the icing to deliniate servings... And a carrot cake is born.

And the exhausted baker goes home, takes an Advil PM and gets some much needed rest.