Happy Birthday Grandma! (Carrot Cake)

Last Saturday was my grandmother's birthday which was spent at our lake house in Montgomery, Texas. It was a lovely time for my mother's cousin, Susann, was in town visiting from Switzerland. My grandma is probably one of the best cooks I know of and when she asked me to make her birthday cake I was more than delighted to do so. However, I have to admit I was a bit nervous and made sure the cake turned out absolutely perfect, because I could not risk making a mistake on my grandmother's cake, let alone on a cake that is her very own recipe. (For she knows exactly how the cake should taste.) Luckily the cake turned out beautifully and I was more than satisfied with the first one, thankfully, because I was not about to hand grate another three large carrots!

I really do think my grandma liked the carrot cake, as I am sure anyone biting into a slice of creamy, crunchy carrot cake glazed over with a lemon frost would. The cake is moist from the carrots, yet the taste is indistinguishable. It has a slight crunch that allows each bite to be savored, and the lemon glaze adds a nice comparison to the carrot cake its self. It is the perfect balance between sweetly original and richly authentic. My grandmother's carrot cake rates up to my seventeenth birthday cake, the tiramisu cake, and it is simply just irresistible.

Ingredients:
1 ½ c grated almonds
1 ½ c grated carrots
1 ¼ c sugar
5 egg yolks
1 c flour
½ tsp baking powder
Juice of one lemon
1 cup powdered sugar
5 beaten egg white
LETS COOK!
Prepare nuts and carrots, Beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy. Fold in dry ingredients. Last fold in beaten egg whites (beat them with electric mixer). Bake between 350 and 325 f (depending on heat of oven) for 45-60 minutes. (check occasionally)
Glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar and lemon juice stirred together just enough to make icing after it cooled. Serve and enjoy!