Carrot Cake with Light Cream Cheese Topping

I love carrot cake, but it has to be rich, decadent, moist and loaded with goodies.  This carrot cake is just that because it is loaded with lots of rich flavors and textures.  I baked it for my father's birthday and everyone enjoyed because I did not ice the cake with a very sweet frosting.  Rather, I made a cream cheese whip topping to dollop over each piece of cake.  The topping was slightly sweet, tangy and very fluffy so it  perfectly complimented the sweet rich cake. 

To make the cake:

For the wet ingredients gather:
2 cups of grated carrots
1 cup of drained canned crushed pineapple (from 20oz can)
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of applesauce
Stir together and set aside for a few minutes to allow the raisins to soak up some of the moisture and plump up.          

Add 4 large eggs
1/4 cup of oil canola oil
1 3/4 cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
Stir well with  the carrot/pineapple mixture and set aside while you gather the dry ingredients.

For the dry ingredients gather:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp of cinnamon
Blend dry ingredients together well.

Finally add 1 cup of chopped walnuts and one cup of sweetened coconut and stir into the carrot/pineapple mixture.  Then add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients.  Stir gently and mix well until it forms rich cake batter.  

I baked the cake for 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees in a large bundt pan that was sprayed well with cooking spray (or you can butter it).  Prick to see if it done and allow to cool before serving. 

For the cream cheese whipped topping: 
Blend together 1 brick of cream cheese (at room temperature) with 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Once well incorporated and smooth, gently fold in one tub of cool whip topping. Allow to chill for a few hours before serving.  Dollop on cake slices as desired.

 

Serves 8-12 people.   Enjoy. 

Copyright: All content, photos and text are property of Curry and Comfort and cannot be used without permission