A Carrot Cake for Easter

This Easter presented its first-ever dessert dilemma.

After two Christmases with Perfect Endings' perfectly chocolatey buche de Noel, I was determined to make a vanilla, lemon, and raspberry log for Easter. I wanted to flex my baking muscles by attempting such a complicated dessert, and it was easy enough to make a spring equivalent to the wintry treat by using citrus and berry flavors. However, I had forgotten that I would be making our traditional lemon cake for Easter breakfast...and the family decided that two lemon baked goods would be too much for one holiday. So, I had to find a replacement dessert...quickly.

I checked Perfect Endings' site on a whim, and instantly fell in love with the appearance of their carrot-shaped carrot cake. Their product description did not go into detail - for example, I had no idea whether the item would harbor copious amounts of undesirable nuts and raisins - but I decided to fly blindly and take the risk, since (1) PE had already proved their mettle with the aforementioned buches de Noel, (2) I have met more carrot cakes I've liked than disliked, and (3) seriously, a carrot-shaped carrot cake for Easter - how much cuter could you get?!

Well, the risk was beyond worth it. Behold the newly-cut dessert, plated with jellybeans for effect.

Carrot, as the anthropomorphized cake was named, was perfect in every way, and was one of the finest desserts I have ever consumed. It had two layers of cake, plenty of cream cheese frosting, and festive fondant.

• The cake itself was light yet moist, and positively bursting with flavor. Sugars, spices, and finely-shredded carrot bits, along with the daintiest-possible pieces of nuts and tiny flakes of semisweet chocolate, all blended together to create a baked item of incredible depth and complexity. No single flavor overpowered another; instead, the wealth of savory and sweet bakery flavors were all represented equally...and perfectly. I knew before I had swallowed my first crumb that this was the best carrot cake I had ever had.
• Cream cheese frosting filled the space between the cake's two layers, as well as coated the assembled cake. This frosting was neither heavy nor overpoweringly creamy. It was light, fluffy, and sweet, with just a hint of tang.
• The smooth orange coating and decorative green leaves were made of a smooth, sugary, faintly almond-flavored fondant. The fondant was rather dense and heavy, even in thin coating form, and I was surprised that the cream cheese frosting could support it! For all the conceptual fanciness of a carrot-shaped and -decorated cake, I love that this simple, tasty coating concealed a wonder within.

Perfect Endings has really raised the bar for bakery desserts! In fact, I would say that Carrot was more impressive than Buche. I would order it again, without entertaining the Buche-style folly of attempting to recreate it at home. Some things are best left to the professionals - and, in this particular case, I am more than happy to do just that.

Clearly, the dessert dilemma was resolved in the best possible way. I hope your Easter dessert(s) were similarly memorable and delicious!