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1
Preheat the oven to 350u00b0F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper (to ensure that the cake will not stick), or place liners in 2 muffin pans for 24 cupcakes. Set aside.
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2
Place the dried coconut in a cup of warm water to soften and set it aside for 15 minutes.
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3
Place the carrots in a food processor and pulse on and off for 1 minute. Then add the pineapple and pulse until the carrots are cut into very small pieces and the pineapple is pureed, 1 to 2 minutes.
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4
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the brown sugar and use a whisk to break up any lumps.
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5
Drain the coconut and place it in a medium bowl. Add the oil, vanilla extract, eggs, and carrot-pineapple mixture, and whisk to combine.
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6
Add the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing with a rubber spatula to incorporate but not overmix. When the batter is almost mixed, stir in the additions, if using. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
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7
Bake for 55 minutes, or until the tops are a very golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (It may look as if the cake is too well done, but it takes a while to bake because it's so dense.) For cupcakes, the baking time is 35 to 40 minutes.
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8
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Then invert them onto a wire rack and let them cool completely.
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9
Fill and frost the cake with the
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10
(for added oomph, add 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger to the frosting).
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11
Fill and frost the cake with cream cheese frosting and let chill. Tint 1/2 cup frosting lemon yellow, and use the 10 tip to pipe 5 dots in a circle to create simple buttercup flowers. Then combine any remaining yellow frosting with some additional cream cheese frosting and tint it leaf green. I use tip #67, which pipes small fern stems. Pipe the center stamen with cream cheese frosting and chill to set.
