Chronicle Pick: CARROT CAKE

Carrot cake is such a cliché on local dessert menus that it's easy to be put off by all the leaden, saccharine versions, some of them still chilly from the fridge. Such sins do not afflict the monumental carrot cake served by Mama Jordana Putnik, the self-taught Croatian chef whose two homey BYOB Italian cafes - in Pearland and in a newer Friendswood edition - are such spirited fun. You can taste the carrots and nuts in this model cake, and the cream-cheese icing has that savory note that is devoutly to be wished. Just be sure to call ahead, because it's not always available, and (boo-hoo) you might instead have to settle for Putnik's stupendous home-style tiramisu.