Holiday Cake With Kiwi

This is the anti-fruitcake holiday cake! It blends the flavors of carrots, raisins, pecans, dates, cherries and kiwi beneath a delightful, easy cream cheese frosting. Blah to Grandma’s fruitcake! Recipe is from www.louana.com

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 10
• Yields: 12 slices

Ingredients

• Cake

•  cooking spray
• 1  cup  louana  vegetable oil
• 1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup light brown sugar
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4  large eggs
• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
• 3  cups  grated carrots
• 1⁄2 cup  chopped toasted pecans

• Frosting

• 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3  cups powdered sugar
• 3  tablespoons  chopped pecan halves, toasted
• 3  tablespoons  chopped pitted dates
• 3  tablespoons  coarsely chopped raisins

• Garnish

• 2  kiwi fruits, peeled and sliced long-ways
•  pecan halves
•  maraschino cherry

Directions

1. • Preheat oven to 350°.
2. • Line bottoms of 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with waxed paper; coat with cooking spray. Combine and stir oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and eggs in a large bowl. Stir flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in separate bowl. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; stir just until combined. Stir in carrot and pecans. Divide batter between pans. Bake for 45 minutes. If you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, it’s ready. Cool pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes; cool completely on racks.
3. • For frosting, combine and beat butter and cream cheese. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Remove 1 1/4 cups frosting and add pecans, dates and raisins; set remaining frosting aside.
4. • Place one cake layer on a plate; top with nut and fruit mixture. Place second cake layer on top. Spread very thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake, which eases the main frosting process. Chill cake and remaining frosting 1 hour. Spread remaining frosting over entire cake.
5. • Garnish with kiwi, pecans and cherries.