Carrot Cake

I made a carrot cake today for my sister-in-law Janenne's birthday get-together. I think it was really very good, and a little different than any I have ever had. Really moist and dense, but not oily or heavy at all. I think the coconut and pineapple and the buttermilk really did something special.

Carrot Cake

2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used lowfat buttermilk)

2 cups finely grated carrots (about 5 or 6)
1 cup flaked coconut
2/3 of a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained

2 teaspoons baking SODA
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 by 13 baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add carrots, coconut, and pineapple.
In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, then stir into carrot mixture in the large bowl.
Pour batter into pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. I would check it at 30 minutes though, I used a very dark metal pan and I only cooked it for 30 minutes and it was perfect. Take out of oven, and wait for it to cool before frosting with:

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese till smooth and blended. Slowly add sugar and beat until smooth and spreadable. I put my cake in the freezer for a little while to cool it down before frosting it. I would also recommend putting it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
Normally I would only put half this amount of sugar in my cream cheese frosting, but the cake was not as sweet as carrot cake can be sometimes, so this extra sweet frosting was perfect.