My Grandmother was an extraordinary baker. She came from an era where she grew and made everything from scratch. After coming into town from the farm, she managed to feed a family with the most basic ingredients. One of her defining characteristics was her love of celebration. She would make every occasion special by preparing delicious food and presenting it in creative ways. We continue her tradition to celebrate the return of spring every year. I've altered her recipe only in substituting wesson oil with a healthier sunflower seed oil. Because we live at high altitude, I've also included my mom's notes on how to adjust in parenthesis.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sunflower seed oil (increase 2-3 Tbs)
2 cups sugar (decrease 1-2 Tbs for each cup)
4 eggs well beaten

2 cups + 4 tsp sifted white flour
1 tsp baking soda (reduce to 3/4 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (Bonnie would shred the carrots in a blender after grating them so that they would come out very fine)
1 tsp vanilla

Cream Cheese Icing (recipe below)
Jellybeans & chopped pecans for decorating.

Method
Preheat oven to 350. Grease & flour 2 round cake pans.

Combine sunflower oil, sugar & eggs and beat for 2 minutes. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt & cinnamon and add to the egg mixture. Fold in carrots & vanilla.

Bake 45-55 minutes until cake is springy in the middle and toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a rack.

To make a Bunny Cake:
Use one round for the head, and one round to cut out ears & a bow tie. Cut out the ears by cutting an arc on either side of the round cake, leaving enough space in the middle for the bow tie. Construct the bunny, frost & decorate.

Cream Cheese Icing
1 - 8oz cream cheese
1/2 stick butter at room temperature
1 box powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
milk as needed

Beat together (add a tablespoon of milk if needed) add sugar gradually, then vanilla

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