Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese and Coconut Frosting
When you take the time to make a homemade cake like this the recipient can taste all the love and time you spent making this special for them. The sweet tang of the pineapple paired with the hearty walnuts makes this carrot cake more than your average carrot cake.
I decided to make these into individual dishes so that my Mom wouldn’t have to share. The entire decadent dessert was just for her. The woman who taught me how to cook deserves nothing less.
I decided not to put any walnuts into the icing today because I wanted to be able to pipe it on.
Cake:
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 2/3 cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 box (1 cup) powdered sugar
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
Combine sugar, room temperature eggs, vanilla and oil and mix until well incorporated. Add in carrots and pineapple and mix until combined. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nuts until combined. Do not over mix once you add the dry ingredients.
Bake cake in a prepared 13X9 pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Cool cake and mix frosting. Spread on cake when it is cool. Chill cake in fridge until you are ready to serve.
For the individual cakes cut up pieces of the cake to put into the individual trifle dishes. Pipe the frosting onto the top and chill until you are ready to serve.
