Pink Birthday Treats (and Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting)

My birthday was a whole month ago! But I just transferred photos from the camera to the computer....

My father and stepmother always send me a bouquet of flowers. I love this tradition. 

On my visit to the antiques store, I bought this apron.  The hanger doesn't do it justice: it's the cutest thing ever.  I love cleaning house in all these polka dots!

My carrot cake was delicious. I had been thinking about it since I made one for my friend MB's birthday in May 2014.  Yes, I thought about carrot cake for a long time!

*Gluten-Free Carrot Cake*
No pineapple, no nuts in the batter, no raisins!

2 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (make your own, or buy one! I bought one for the first time ever!)

a couple hearty shakes of cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sucanat

1/2 c. brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

4 eggs

6 carrots, peeled and finely grated on a box grater

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 9-inch cake pans, I also line mine with parchment paper.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  

Beat sugars, oil and buttermilk until well-combined, then beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in the carrots, then add flour mixture a little at a time.  Pour into the pans and bake until done. (I usually don't time my baking, so I can't say how long! My guesstimate: 25 minutes-ish.)

Cool cake completely before frosting. 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

8-oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 stick of softened butter

8 ounces confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T. buttermilk

a few shakes of cinnamon

Combine cream cheese and butter and beat 3 minutes.  Add the sugar slowly and beat until combined, then add the vanilla, buttermilk and cinnamon and beat until fluffy.  

I sprinkled cinnamon on top of my icing, too, just because it looked good. When I made it for MB I put crushed pecans all around the sides, but I skipped that this time due to a nut allergy among our guests.

 Enjoy!