When I think of carrot cake, I picture trips to my grandparents' in Texas. There was always a cake waiting for us. The raisins aggravated me, and the cream cheese frosting intrigued me. Took a while for me to realize that she never made these cakes by hand; they were from the grocery store bakery. I guess it didn't take much to please me back then. (She also made the best blueberry nutri-grain waffles and Little Debbie star-crunches...) These days, I devote an entire Saturday morning to a Martha Stewart version, and there is luke-warm interest in the results. I will admit that the frosting is over-whipped, and the cake is somewhat spongy in texture. And drawing a heart on a crumbly foundation of pecans is no easy feat. Oh, well. There will be other cakes.