Carrot Pineapple Cake

I usually make pie for Christmas dinner, but this year I wanted to start a new tradition of baking a cake for Jesus's birthday. My husband's favorite cake is carrot cake, but honestly I've tried different recipes over the years, and they came out dense, not very moist, and we ate some but never even finished them. But not this cake!! No sir-ee. I first heard about this cake from my friend Kathy. This cake comes from Ina Garten of the Food Network and upon reading the reviews--all 5 stars--where people talked about fights at family reunions to get a piece, I decided to attempt 1 more carrot cake. Boy was my family glad I did! This cake is amazing.

Carrot Pineapple Cake~recipe from Ina Garten

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Ingredients

For the cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 extra-large eggs, at **room temperature** This is very important!
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pound carrots, grated
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple (I forgot fresh pineapple at the store and substituted 1 8 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained, with great results.)


For the frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, I love vanilla:)
1 pound confectioners' sugar

Optional: Decorate with 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper**, then butter and flour the pans. This cake is very heavy and parchment paper is a must!


For the cake:
Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (if you have one, regular beaters work too) 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 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Depending on how your oven cooks, I actually recommend checking your cakes at 45 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.


For the frosting:
Beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until just combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Place 1 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.