It's a perfect for Easter or everyday dessert. The holiday would not be "right" without it. Sure, carrot cake is great year round but Easter without carrot cake would just be plain crazy.

~Ingredients:

-Carrot Cake:

4 Large Eggs.

2 Cups Granulated Sugar.

1 Cup Vegetable Oil.

2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract.

20 oz Crushed Pineapple, drained well. (Reserve the juice).*

3 Cups Grated Carrots.**

2 Cups All Purpose Flour.

2 Teaspoon Cinnamon. 

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg.

2 Teaspoon Baking Powder.

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda.

1 Teaspoon Salt.

1/2 Cup Raisins. 

1 Cup Coconut Flakes.***

1/2 Cup Walnuts, chopped.

-Frosting: 

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened.

1/2 Cup Butter, softened.

4 Tablespoon Pineapple Juice (reserved from the crushed pineapples).****

6 Cups Powdered Sugar.

Green Food Coloring.

Orange Food Coloring.*****

~Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2: Lightly grease a 9 inch baking pan. Dust with flour, set aside.

-Making the Cake:

Step 3: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nut meg. Set aside.

Step 4: In a large mixing bowl beat together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until blended.

Step 5: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Step 6: Stir in the drained pineapple, carrots, raisins, coconut and walnuts. 

Step 7: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. 

Step 8: Cool completely before frosting.

-Making the Frosting: 

Step 9: Beat together the cream cheese, the butter and the pineapple juice until well blended.

Step 10: Slowly beat in powdered sugar.

Step 11: Reserve 1/8 cup of frosting in a separate bowl, add green food coloring and stir until the color is mixed in well with the frosting.

Step 12: Reserve 1/4 cup of the original frosting in a separate bowl, add orange food coloring and stir until the color is mixed in well with the frosting.

Step 13: Transfer each color into two different zippered ziploc bag.

Step 14: Cut off a small corner to pipe frosting on the cake.

Step 15: Spread the original white frosting over top of cake.

Step 16: Make green carrot tops and orange carrot bodies around top of cake.

Step 17: Refrigerate when not serving.

Step 18: Eat and Enjoy!

~Recipe Notes:

*You can use crushed pineapple that is in either syrup or with juice. We like to use the heavy syrup version for the extra added sweetness. 

**Use fresh carrots for this recipe. They add the additional moisture needed for you to have a moist carrot cake. We used a food processor with the shredding disk but you can use a hand held grater / shredder to shred the carrots. Be careful to not shred you fingers when using the hand held grater / shredder!

***You can use either the sweetened or the unsweetened coconut flakes. But keep in mind when using the sweetened coconut flakes that the batter is already sweet with the other additions. It is up to you and your taste.

****When you drain your pineapple, you will want to reserve some of the juice or syrup to add to your cream cheese frosting. The juice gives it a bit of extra flavor that pairs well with the carrot cake.

*****You can use as little or as much red food coloring you want. It depends on your taste and what kind of food coloring you are using (gel, liquid, powder etc...) Also if you don't have orange food coloring you can use red and yellow food colors combined to make orange.

1) Be sure to wash your fresh carrots. Give them a good scrub and rinse with cold water. We do peel them before shredding finely. We usually need about 4 large fat sized carrots to gain the 3 cups needed for this recipe.

2) If you are not a fan of the added nuts, raisins, or coconut, they can be omitted.

Enjoy!

Please leave us a picture in the comments below if you make it or have any questions!

XoXo Hailey and Hannah :)