Carrot Cake

My all time favorite dessert is carrot cake and yet I don't think I had ever made one from scratch before. I searched allrecipes.com and found a highly rated carrot cake; it did not disappoint! The only change I wish I would've made was to substitute applesauce for the oil, I didn't have any applesauce on hand. Good thing I plan on making this again!

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.