Pineapple Carrot Banana Cake

If you've been following along, you know I have quite a few banana bread recipes on my blog.  I LOVE banana bread and am also a huge fan of carrot cake.  This is an amazing combination of the two!  Add in some pineapple and pecans and you get this sort of tropical version of banana bread!  

Similar to carrot cake, this cake gets topped with a cream cheese icing - you'll have enough leftover that you can ice the entire cake (rather than just drizzling) or use the extra to slather on the individual slices you're serving.  Because you'll want more.  It's so good!!   

This cake can be a dessert or if you're like me, who eats cake for breakfast all the time, you can eat it with your morning cup of coffee!  Would be great at a brunch too, because it's so pretty. 

Super moist, and so flavorful.  Greek yogurt, mashed bananas and crushed pineapple (along with a little of the pineapple juice from the can) make this cake so scrumptious.  The original recipe called for pineapple flavored greek yogurt, but I had plain on hand so that's what I used.  There is so much flavor from the other ingredients that I didn't miss the extra pineapple taste.

I also forgot to mention raisins!  I love raisins in anything.  There is so much texture in this bread - the chewy raisins, crunchy carrot bits, pecans.  It's so hearty!  You'll love it.  You can also make this in 2 loaf pans, just adjust your time accordingly (you'll need to add extra time - maybe about 15 minutes, but don't quote me on that!).

Pineapple Carrot Banana Cake

Serves 12-14

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 light brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 ounces plain Greek yogurt

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/3 cup crushed pineapple, plus juice

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the cream cheese icing

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

4 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, grease and flour bundt pan.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and stir.  Add yogurt, bananas, carrots, pineapple, raisins and pecans.  Mix slowly until everything is incorporated.  

Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.  Start checking around 40 minutes - if the top is getting too dark, cover with foil until middle is done.

Allow bread to cool for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Meanwhile, make the icing. 

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract.  Use an electric hand mixer to mix everything together.  Add the tablespoon of milk (and possibly more) to make the icing more spreadable and to the consistency you desire. 

(Source:  Adapted from Averie Cooks)