Best carrot cake, seriously

My current favorite carrot cake recipe (from Smitten Kitchen). No need to modify anything - it's perfect as it stands. As Deb suggests, do use the box grater rather than the food processor to do the carrots, even if it is tedious. I've made these as cupcakes and they were wonderful but I had quite a bit of batter left over. They will rise, so don't overfill the cups (like I did). This time around I wanted a cake and the recipe perfectly filled two 9 inch rounds.

{carrot cake, vintage stand}

I topped it with crushed walnuts, the national sign for carrot cake. You can free hand the circle, of course. But that always makes me nervous, so I take a rather more obsessive route. 

{pattern}

Cut out a stencil, lay it lightly on your (refrigerated*) frosted cake, top with walnuts.

{carrot cake topping}

Remove the stencil gently and fill in the two little bars by hand. It's like cake decorating for pre-schoolers!

{carrot cake top}

P.S. I get that sort of rustic frosting finish by using an offset spatula. A million times easier than trying to use a regular knife, truly.

* If the frosting is chilled, then your stencil is less likely to stick to it and cause a mess. Of course, the walnuts are also less likely to adhere, but you can press them down gently with your fingers after you take off the stencil.