I love carrot cake (who doesn't?) and I have a recipe that I am generally pretty happy with - but I thought I would try experimenting with a different recipe this weekend. The result is a bit moister and denser than my normal recipe and tastes pretty good.

• 4 C grated carrots (about 7 carrots)
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C melted butter
• 1 C chopped walnuts
• 1 C raisins

Mix together the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and raisins in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the brown sugar and the melted butter. Set aside.

• 3 eggs
• 1.5 C sugar
• 1/2 C butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained well - save the juice
• 1/2 C applesauce
• 3 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Mix all of the above ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Once well mixed then add in the carrot mix from the first step above, again mixing well. Pour the mix in to two greased 9" cake pans and bake in the oven at 350° F for about 50-60 minutes, making sure to test the center of the cake before removing.

While that is baking mix the following together to make a frosting to spread between the two layers of the cake and on top of it:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 3 C powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pineapple juice to taste - I used about 2 Tbsp
• Lemon rind to taste - I used 1 lemon's worth

Once the cake has finished baking, pop the individual cake layers out of the cake pans and let them cool before putting the icing on and serving.

Enjoy.