Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

It is Spring! Most think of January as the time for new beginnings.  For me it is Spring.  I just love this time of year.  I love the new flowers that are springing up. I love to open the windows and get a breeze going through the house.  I even like Spring Cleaning… it’s a time to start fresh! Spring smells like  Carrot Pineapple Cake with cream cheese frosting to me.

This time of year also makes me reminisce my childhood.  What wonderful memories I have growing up in Kearny, NJ.  If you have ever had the pleasure of driving through Hudson County, you know your neighbors practically live with you.  I couldn’t wait to open the windows in the Spring Time because I would smell all the amazing meals my neighbors were making.  Mrs. Viscuso who lived upstairs from us owned the local Italian Market.  Let me tell you, this woman could cook.  I could be in my room and know exactly what was going on in her kitchen.  The aroma of her fresh made Meatballs would have me drooling.  And on the days that Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting was in the oven… oh my!

Sally next door, was a true baker.  I would be laying in my bed and hear her mixer going and I just couldn’t wait to get the first whiff of aroma.  I would lay there trying to guess what was coming out of the oven.  I would get a smile on my face, knowing that I would be sitting on her porch that evening eating this delicacy and playing with Willy, her dog.   As I lay there, I secretly hoped that she was baking Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  I honestly don’t know what I loved more, the Carrot Cake or the Cream Cheese Frosting.

When I look back at my childhood, I realize I was always a foodie at heart.  I spent many afternoons daydreaming about what I would make when I had a family of my own.

One of my favorite cakes was one that Sally made for Special Occasions or Sunday Supper Dessert.  It’s no ordinary Carrot Cake, her addition of pineapples made it extra moist and sweet.  The combination of the carrots and pineapple and the crunch of the nuts is heavenly and made this carrot cake oh so special.

Sally was a funny one though, she never gave out her recipes. I would try to get it out of her, but there was no point.  Finally, when she came to visit me after I graduated college, I was rewarded with her recipe. She gave me a set of TV trays, her infamous Carrot Cake and at the bottom of the dish was her recipe.  Every time I looked at those TV trays, it brought back memories of sitting on her front porch in the evening eating Carrot Cake on TV trays.

I can honestly tell you, this is one of the most memorable gifts I have ever received. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most memorable!

[print_this]Sally’s Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe 

• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 cups grated Carrots
• 2 cups of Pineapple (fresh or canned)
• 1/2 cup chopped Walnuts