Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

An old family favorite. So rich, so sweet, so fruity and so creamy. (And I think it's suitable for breakfast. Think of all the beta-carotene and vitamin C!)

Carrot Cake
Cake:
4 eggs
1C vegetable oil
1t vanilla
2C flour
1C sugar
2t baking powder
2t baking soda
2t cinnamon
1t salt
1/2C golden raisins
3C grated carrots
1/2C chopped pecans
1 large can crushed pineapple, do not drain!

Frosting:
8oz cream cheese
1/2C butter
1t vanilla
2C powdered sugar
1/4t salt

For the cake:
Beat the eggs, oil and vanilla together.

Stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Mix in the raisins, carrots, pecans and pineapple (the entire contents of the can).

Pour batter into greased and floured round cake pans. Bake at 300 F for 45 - 60 minutes. Cake will brown and pull away from the edges. While the cake is baking, set out the cream cheese and butter to soften for the frosting.

It is helpful to freeze the cake rounds for a few hours after they have been removed from the pans to prepare them for frosting.

For the frosting:
Whip the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together. Mix in the powdered sugar and salt until the frosting is completely smooth.

Spread frosting over cake. This is enough to frost a double layer round cake, but since the cake is so rich, you might want to frost the rounds separately and serve as single-layer portions. Garnish with more chopped pecans if desired.

This cake freezes beautifully and thaws quickly. Freeze the frosted rounds for a few hours to make it easier to slice them. Then you can pull just the number of slices you need from the freezer when unexpected company stops by. Also makes great cupcakes.