Varsågoda

In Sweden, it is traditional to bake a cake oneself on one's birthday, and to treat all of one's friends and relations who drop by, announced or not, during the day. It's my birthday today. Varsågoda, which means be my guests, and have a bit of cake. You'll have to bake it yourselves, but I assure you it's worth it.

Crystal's Carrot Cake 150¤ C, 300¤ F

4 eggs
1 3/4 (american) cups/3,5 dl. sugar (the plain white kind)
1 cup/2 dl oil, preferably sunflower or canola
2 cups/4 dl. flour (the plain white kind)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinamon
1/2 cup/1 dl. crushed pineapple, drained but not pressed
1/2 cup/1 dl. shredded (flaked?) coconut
3 cups/6 dl. grated carrot (well packed)
1 cup/2 dl. chopped walnuts (good, but not necessary)
(Sometimes I put in about 1/4 teaspoon of salt, too.)

Mix the eggs and sugar, add the oil, then the flour and other powders, and finally the rest. Pour into 2 greased and floured round cake pans, and bake in the bottom of the oven for 1 hour. Let it cool before you take it out of the pans, or you'll end up with carrot pudding, as Johan did on his last birthday. I was the one responsible for that mess, but I don't want to think about it until my cake's safely out of the pans.

Frosting:
1 1/2-2 200 gr./8 oz. packages of cream cheese, depending on how much you like, mixed with about 2-4 cups/4-8 dl. of powdered sugar (even less is good, too), and a bit of vanilla. Put this between the layers and over the entire cake. I do this frosting by taste, and sometimes I like it sweeter and sometimes less sweet. It's good whatever you do.

I should have posted the recipe last night, because this cake is even better the next day. But it's all right, because there's usually some left over.

I hope you enjoy it.