"Peas & Carrot" Cake

I made my first fondant covered cake.  They make it look so easy on the Ace of Cakes, The Cake Boss and The Food Network Challenge.  If only I had Duff's talent, Buddy's vision and half the experience of a cake decorator, I would have fared much better.  I started off with the lofty goal of making a small two-tiered round cake. Being that I only needed 4 servings, I pulled out my smallest cake pans and got to work.  My dear friend Sandy said she would like to have carrot cake.  I used the always tasty Triple-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from Epicurious.com.  Draping the cake with the fondant was almost a complete disaster.  There was a lot of bunching and cracking which is why I put a white band of fondant around to cover the ugly parts.  The flowers and leaves were used to patch up unsightly cracks and tears.  I had imagined all the horrible things the judge from The Food Network Challenge would say about my cake.  I couldn't make the second tier - I needed sleep and knew I would be asking for trouble.  All in all, the result was neither a masterpiece or a failure...just a good first attempt.

Triple-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Cake
1 batch of Marshmallow Fondant mixed with your choice of food colorings
2 cups sugar
1  cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce) (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins.
Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)
For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.
Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.