tropical carrot cakew/ coconut cream cheese frosting

By foodiva

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour**
• 1 teaspoons baking powder *
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups peeled, shredded carrots, (6 to 7 medium)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar*
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup melted Earth Balance Coconut Spread or vegetable oil
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance Coconut Spread, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from barbarabakes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350º. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan or 2 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
Shred carrots in food processor fitted with large shredding disk; transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor bowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer.
Pour mixture into large bowl. Stir in carrots, coconut, nuts, and pineapple. Mix in dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.
Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours. For 9-inch rounds Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.
*I reduced the amount of baking powder and sugar for high altitude baking. Original recipe calls for 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder and 1 1/2 cups sugar.
**How to Measure Flour
Note: Substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves for 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
When cake is cool, beat together cream cheese, coconut spread, sour cream, and vanilla until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.
Frost cake and sprinkle toasted coconut on top. Store in the fridge.