Without raisins. Double the allspice. If the recipe doesn't call for allspice, add it. I like crushed pineapple too.

nuts are the only surprise i like (where's patrick when you need him?). raisins are a total deal breaker. heavy amounts of cream cheese frosting make it even better. my SO's mother makes the best carrot cake. EVER.

Love carrot cake! Raisins, walnuts, and sometimes I'll sub applesauce for half the oil.
NO cream cheese icing - vanilla ice cream instead! It's my husband's favorite birthday cake.

Walnuts: yes, definitely a must. I love that photo, by the way! Raisins: absolutely not. Pineapple!??!?! HELL no. The cream cheese frosting should be excellent. I would consider maple cream cheese frosting, sure!

There is such a thing as too sweet. A too-sweet carrot cake is just not right. The sugar shouldn't overwhelm the other flavors. However, the opposite extreme, the attempted-health-food-cake, is an abomination. It's CAKE. It should be sweet and scrumptious and luscious and moist and make you want to brew the best cup of coffee ever to go with it.

The carrot cake recipe I use has a buttermilk glaze you apply to the cake while it's warm, and then you frost it with the cream cheese frosting. It is out-of-this-world delish! Oo, that's really making me want some carrot cake now!

i won't knock pineapple till i've tried it. walnuts, raisins and a crushed walnuts on the frosting, please.

I'll eat carrot cake in pretty much any form but the absolute deal breaker is the frosting. Canned frosting? No. Just... No. Seriously, people, (and yes I realize I'm preaching to the choir here) it's butter, sugar, cream cheese and a little milk for texture. How hard is that?

Of course, good frosting usually has a good cake under it so I can afford to not be picky about the cake. Then again, I'm not above peeling the frosting off, eating it and leaving the cake.

Rats. Now I want carrot cake.

No raisins. No pineapple.
Pecans in the cake batter & finely chopped pecans to dust the cream cheese frosted three layer carrot cake.

i put all of it in: golden raisins, walnuts, and pineapple. it's the best if i do say so myself.

Raisins are a total deal-breaker. It's funny how many commenters have said the same thing, yet I can't tell you how many times I've choked down raisin-filled carrot cake (out of politeness). What's up with that? I enjoy nuts of the walnut variety in my cake, and not TOO too much sweetness, although we are talking about carrot cake...

I don't really like carrot cake - it's one of the few desserts I can pass on. And I don't like cream cheese frosting. Carrot cake always seems too sickly sweet for me. And that's from someone who LOVEs sweets. Maybe I've never had a really good carrot cake, although I've tried them many, many times. Now, pineapple in carrot cake sounds intriguing.

The recipe I use has nuts (walnuts or pecans), crushed pineapple AND raisins - it's a heavy cake with lots of bits. Cream cheese frosting is a must.

Nuts are the dealbreaker for me.

Raisins are fine, I'll even deal with pineapple as long as the cake isn't too sweet, but I won't touch carrot cake with walnuts.

Sadly, most carrot cakes have walnuts or, down South, pecans.

I like carrot cake with walnuts, but since our daughter is allergic to nuts (most allergic to walnuts), they're out, and we have to stick with plain (the kids like the raisins, btw).

But the very best carrot cake I ever had, the one that I used to make until my daughter's allergy, was a Swiss Carrot Torte. It's made with ground almonds and very little flour, and is made of large, thin layers, or just a single layer. Very elegant, and not too heavy or dense (as carrot cake tends to be), yet still moist.

The best carrot cake I ever had I made following Alton Brown's carrot cake recipe. Yes to walnuts, lot of walnuts. No to raisins. I'm hit or miss with cream cheese frosting. I think I liked Alton's carrot cake so much, because it wasn't that sweet, and I could modify the sweetness level with the cream cheese frosting.

Seriously amazing. I couldn't stop eating it, no one could. The whole thing was gone the next day.

Carrot cake was my favorite for a long time. I still love it. I'm a minimalist, too--just carrots, and a thin layer of cheese cream frosting.

No raisins, no nuts, just glorious carrots, an extra teaspoon of cinnamon and cream cheese frosting Add one fork and a glass of milk.

Life is good.

Walnuts or pecans - yes! Crushed pineapple - for sure! Raisins - that's fine by me too. My mom makes it with walnuts and crushed pineapples... mmm.

Top it off with a thin layer of gooey orange glaze! You can even drop some carrot shavings and orange zest on top.

nuts and pineapple and lots of cream cheese frosting. I was actually planning on making one this weekend. and my favorite thing about carrot cake is that it is perfect all day long :)

I agree wholeheartedly with cmcinnyc.

I have fond memories of carrot cake. My mom baked one every year for my dad's birthday every year in a 13 x 9 pan. He took it to work and brought the leftovers home. YUM. We always stored it in the fridge so I love it cold. Good cream cheese icing is a must and so good cold. Carrots of course, raisins - yes, pineapple - no, walnut - oh yes.

Raisins make carrot cake inedible. Pineapple would make it unappealing, but edible. Nuts are fine, but I think I prefer it without. And it's just not proper carrot cake without cream cheese frosting. Just my humble opinion.