A friend of mine was helping with an auction at the Lakewood Cooperative Preschool where the were doing a cakewalk and she asked if I would donate a cake. I love making cakes, so of course I volunteered.

Lately, I have been slacking on the recipe sharing for the blog so I figured it would be a perfect time to create a new cake. I wasn’t sure what type of cake to make, but knew that our friends on Facebook would have some good ideas. Many people mentioned carrot cake, which I have already made. Then Irene mentioned carrot cake with pineapple and that led to this idea. Thanks for the help Irene!

For this recipe I made a frosting I could decorate with. I prefer the taste of the frosting I made with either my original carrot cake or pineapple cake, but they are too soft if you are looking to decorate with.

Ingredients:
2 cans 20 oz pineapples
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tbsp Ener-g Egg Replacer
2 cups + 3 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup vanilla coconut milk
1/4 cup pineapple juice (reserved from cans)
1 cup sunflower or olive oil
1 cup applesauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
3/4 lbs carrots shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain pineapple reserving juice.

Grease three 9″ cake pans, cover with parchment paper, grease parchment paper and  sprinkle 1 tablespoon of brown sugar over each pan. Arrange pineapple (6 around the outside, one in the center) over sugar. I ended up with one pan having one less pineapple ring. Set pans aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend ingredients flour to Ener-g. In a separate bowl mix the ingredients from 2 cups sugar to carrots. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix well. Once blended, pour equally in the three pans, covering the pineapple. Gently tap the bottom of each pan to get the air bubbles to the top. Place in oven on middle rack, making sure pans do not touch. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. When a toothpick comes out clean they are done.

Put pans on cooling rack. Remove from pan once they are cool enough to touch by hand. Once they are completely cooled they may be frosted.

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
12 oz vegan cream cheese
7 tsp pineapple juice
1 1/2 lbs sifted powdered sugar

Cream shortening, cream cheese, and pineapple juice. Add powdered sugar slowly, and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are blended. Mix a few more minutes, until creamy.

Putting cake together:
Place first layer on cake dish, pineapple side up. Spread a generous amount of frosting to  cover layer staying 1/4″ away from the edge. Repeat on second layer. Place third layer on top and decorate as you wish. If interested I made the flowers in picture with a 2D tip. The centers and carrot decorations were candied. Directions below.

Candied Carrot:
1 small carrot
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Use a potato peeler or pairing knife to make thin strips of carrot. Heat oil, syrup and spice over medium heat in a small pan. Once coconut oil is melted saute carrot strips until they are soft enough to work with, about five minutes.