Tropical Carrot Cake With Silky Citrus Frosting

I found this recipe many years ago in a newspaper. It has become a favorite springtime treat and it's a great cake to share. The recipe makes 3 layers or it allows me to bake a nice 13x9 inch cake to take to someone and there is enough batter to bake a small cake to share at home.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 3 layers

Ingredients

• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1  cup mayonnaise
• 1  cup brown sugar
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 4  eggs
• 1  lb carrots, shredded or 4  cups  shredded carrots
• 1  cup golden raisin
• 1  cup  coarsely chopped walnuts or 1  cup pecans
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3  cups all-purpose flour
• 2  teaspoons baking soda
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

• Frosting

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄2 cup butter or 1⁄2 cup margarine, softened
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  grated lemon peel
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  grated  orange peel
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  orange juice
• 2  cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan or three 8 inch cake pans for a three layer cake. Drain pineapple well, pressing out excess juice.
2. In large bowl, beat mayonnaise and sugars until well-blended. Beat in eggs until blended. Stir in pineapple, carrots, raisins, nuts, and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, ginger cinnamon and salt. Mix dry ingredients into pineapple mixture until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
4. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if using 8 inch pans, bake 30 - 35 minutes). Cool completely before frosting.
5. For frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients until blended and smooth. If using the 8 inch layers for a three layer cake, double frosting ingredients to spread between layers and ice the top and sides.