A few weeks before mother’s day my mom started talking about a cake she had not made in years. It was a pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I asked her where I could find the recipe, and then I made it for her as part of her mother’s day gift.

The recipe was originally from one of her coworkers who passed away in a plane crash 15+ years ago. I made huge changes to it since it was way too unhealthy for my liking (even though cake is meant to be unhealthy, it took unhealthy to a place I didn’t want to go).

I was a bit skeptical of putting crushed pineapple in the dough with out pureeing it (I puree almost all fruits and vegetables in my baking except berries), but since it was part of the original recipe I did it, and I was amazed at the result. The crushed pineapple took the carrot cake to a whole new level that I didn’t know carrot cake could go to. Delicious would be an understatement. It was heavenly. I also added some coconut to the recipe since coconut and pineapple where made to be together. The cream cheese icing was a bit sweet for my liking even though I reduced the amount of icing sugar in it.

My mom loved the cake.

Here is the recipe.

Marlene’s Carrot Cake (adapted by Lisa)
Makes one 9X13 cake

1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple
3 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup pineapple juice
¾ cup skim milk
2 tsp rum extract
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Cream cheese icing

8 oz light cream cheese
1 ½ cups icing sugar
¼ cup salted butter
¼ cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Prepare 9X13 pan (grease or spray). In a large bowl add the: fours, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and white sugar. Mix well. Add the coconut and pineapple and stir until well combined. In a blender add the: chopped carrots, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, rum extract, milk, and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth. Add pureed mixture to the dry mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the cake batter into 9X13 pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool. Ice.

To make the icing

In a medium sized bowl add the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and pineapple juice and blend with electric beaters until a smooth soft icing forms. Ice the cake once the cake has cooled.  Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.