Carrot cake next?

There was a time, not too long ago, when I baked a cake every Saturday afternoon. I'm not that creative when it comes to baking. I only use what I can find in my fridge. After making several apple and pear cakes, I got quite bored.

Then suddenly my sis-in-law said something about my delicious cakes spiked with ginger and spice. I got down to work quickly and produced another pear / ginger cake that weekend. I must have done something right because the house smelled wonderful that day, so much so that YK (who doesn't like cakes) asked for a slice.

The cake was lighter and tasted more buttery this time. Somehow the ginger smell didn't come through. I should have added more grated ginger. I had also cut back too much on the sugar, even the generous shower of icing sugar failed to sweeten it very much.

I'm on a roll again. This Saturday, I'm thinking of baking a cake for Patricia's birthday. She likes cheesecake while our friend Beverly likes carrot cake. I wonder if I'm too ambitious if I say I'm going to bake a carrot cake with cheese frosting?

I'm on the lookout for a recipe that I can handle. By that, I mean just whisk, fold and bake. If I don't have to drag my mixer out, that would be great. And if I don't have to trawl the supermarket for whole load of ingredients (cream of tartar etc) , that's even better. I would be very happy if you could share your recipe.