Carrot and Pineapple Cake

The birthday cake that I made for my mother yesterday was absolutely fabulous! It's not something you want to eat on a weekly basis, I'm sure, but for a special occasion, I know no better recipe for Carrot Cake.

One change I made was leaving out raisins out of the batter. And I used canned pineapple. I could not find any fresh pineapple already cut up in the produce section of my grocery store, and I wasn't ready to risk losing a finger while hacking up a fresh one. I can only imagne that fresh pineapple would only make the cake even better. I used the food processor to chop the walnuts, chop the pineapple rings, and to grate the carrots. Assembly of the batter went rather quickly. I used Pam with Flour spray, skipped the parchment paper, and the cakes came out cleanly and neatly.

The cake itself was not overly sweet, and had it not had the cream cheese icing, I probably could have eaten it without any problems. But it was a nice balance for the sweet adn tangy cream cheese icing. I had one bite, and I can't imagine a 2nd or 3rd bite would have tasted any better! I've C&P (copied & pasted) the recipe below. Do give it a shot when you need a special occasion cake, or even a routine dessert.

Carrot and Pineapple Cake

For the cake:

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

3 extra-large eggs, room temp

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2½ cups plus

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1½ tsp kosher salt

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 pound carrots, grated

½ cup diced fresh pineapple

For the frosting:

3/4 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

½ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

For the decoration:

½ cup diced fresh pineapple

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. For the cake: Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light yellow. Add the vanilla.

In another bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Toss the raisins and walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well. Divide the batter equally between the 2 pans.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.

For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Place 1 cooled cake layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with diced pineapple.

--Ina Garten, "Barefoot Contessa At Home" cookbook