Carrot cake a favorite for Halloween entertaining

So many sweets are on display around Halloween that it can be difficult to pick a favorite. When hosting a gathering of trick-or-treaters or the adults waiting for their hordes of candy mongers to return, it's handy to have plenty of desserts available to tempt various palates.

Carrot cake boasts an antioxidant-rich main ingredient and offers some semblance of nutrition amid the sugar rush of other offerings. Plus, its orange hue fits in perfectly with the season. This recipe for Carrot Cake from "Throw a Great Party: Inspired by Evenings in Paris with Jim Haynes" (iUniverse) by Mary Bartlett, Antonia Hoogewerf and Catherine Monnet yields two cakes, perfect for feeding a crowd.