Carrot Pineapple Applesauce Cake

Remember my cravings for carrot cake?  Well, after a bit of searching through some of my rather neglected but loved cookbooks I found a nice enough recipe that with a little bit of tweaking and spicing turned into a rather delicious little something.  While not the prettiest thing I’ve ever created it was a winner and a do-over.

See?  Not too pretty, but add a little of this:

And you get….this!!

Next time I make it, I’m thinking that I’ll add in a bit more spice because really carrot cake should be super spicy to work with the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting.  Here’s my recipe, adapted from Betty Crocker.

1.5 c. sugar

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. applesauce (if you want you could go all applesauce and no oil but I wanted a bit of spongeyness)

2 c. flour

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 cups shredded carrots

10 oz crushed pineapple (next time I’m thinking of tidbits)

1.  Heat oven to 350 and spray 13X9 pan (if using only applesauce and no oil, I’d flour your pan too)

2.  Beat sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs until just incorporated.  Add remaining ingredients except for the carrots and pineapple.  Once everything is mixed, add the carrots and pineapple and stir with a spoon.

3.  Pour into your prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until top springs back slightly to the touch or a tooth pick comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting. (if desired, but why wouldn’t you? 🙂

If you do decide to frost I used a regular cream cheese frosting but instead of milk I used pineapple juice and dropped in about 3 heaping tablespoons of crushed pineapple.

1 8oz package cream chese

1/4 c. butter

3 or 4 tsp. pineapple juice

4 c. powdered sugar

crushed pineapple to taste.

Enjoy it!

Hugs,

Jenn