The last time I was in New York City many years ago for an SCBWI conference, I was in search of carrot cake because the winter conference happened during my birthday. I typically ask for carrot cake for my birthday. Here I was in the land of awesome bakeries so I decided to treat myself. I walked downstairs in the hotel and lo-and-behold! There was a 3-layer carrot cake in the bakery display! I forked the moist cake and cream cheese frosting down my belly, and my-oh-my was I happy! With this fantastical experience still tucked away in my memory bank, I returned to NYC this past October with my friend, Teresa, whose daughter now lives there. One of my New York things to do was to find carrot cake.

The first place we tried (because I try to eat mostly gluten-free and Teresa is totally GF) was Posh Pop. Lydia said that for a GF bakery you'd never know their sweets were GF. They are THAT good.

I got my first piece of Posh Pop carrot cake and I agreed. It was good. The cake didn't fall apart, but one of my biggest complaints about bakeries is that they never layer on enough frosting as if the decorator just swiped the knife across the cake and hoped it stuck. It was delicious, don't get me wrong. There just wasn't enough. Even though there was some between the layers as well. Okay, that's a super picky thing.

The next place we tried was Lloyds. I had looked up "best carrot cake in New York City" and Lloyd's came up many times. And since my father-in-law's name was Lloyd, I thought I should try it. Gluten be damned. 

I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The cake crumbled and wasn't as moist as the GF slice. The frosting was good, but still, NOT ENOUGH. And only one layer? Come on. 

We were only in NYC for 4 days so it was a short search. But I have to say, I think the carrot cake I made from the recipe in my upcoming book, The Legend of Lop-eared Larry, is so much better than either of the pieces I tried. It's moist, plus I add on extra frosting, and when I tested it out on friends before including it in the book they had that heavenly look on their faces. So if you don't want to travel to NYC, but instead want a fabulous carrot cake, check out the recipe in my new book. You can pre-order it here.

Do you have a favorite carrot cake bakery in your town that you highly recommend?