Pyramid Apricot Ale Carrot Cake with Pineapple Beer Cream Cheese Frosting

There is nothing as good as a carrot cake that balances the perfect amount of spices, delicious cream cheese frosting, and a bouncy, moist crumb. Everyone remembers their favorite carrot cake and now, with this perfect recipe, all your friends will ask you to make it for special holidays, birthdays, and celebrations.

There are a few secret ingredients in this recipe. The first is the pineapple in the frosting, which makes for an unexpected and how-have-I-never-thought-of-that moment. The other secret ingredient is the inclusion of a fruity beer like Apricot Ale. The beer helps keep the cake moist, but also gives it a nice boost of stone fruit flavor that complements all the other goodies.

A slice of homemade carrot cake served with a glass of apricot ale, the dessert served in front of the whole carrot cake, tastefully decorated with a cream cheese pineapple frosting, two bottles of pyramid apricot ale linger to the side of the photo paying homage to the cake's signature ingredient - Pyramid Apricot Ale

Ingredients

For the Cake:

4 medium sized carrots
¾ cups granulated white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup Pyramid Apricot Ale
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large dried apricots, chopped
⅓ cup raisins

For the Frosting:

1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened

8 oz (3 packages) cream cheese, softened

¼ cup chopped pineapple (if using canned, make sure to drain well!)

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons Pyramid Apricot Ale

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Finely grate the carrots and place on a stack of paper towels and top with another stack, press to remove moisture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the white sugar, brown sugar and butter, beat until well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, mixing well and scraping the bottom of the bowl between additions.
Add the oil and beer mix until well combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure the batter is fully combined.
Stir in the raisins, pecans and shredded carrots.
In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, whisk until well combined.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir gently until just combined.
Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Divide the batter evenly between pans.
Bake until the top of the cake springs back when touched, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the softened butter, beat on high until light and soft. Add cream cheese, beating until well combined. Add the pineapple, beating to incorporate. Add the powdered sugar and apricot ale, mix until well combined.
Spread the cream cheese on the top of one layer of cake, top with the remaining layer.
Frost cake with remaining frosting.
Chill until ready to serve.

Closeup shot of a homemade, 4 layer apricot-ale carrot cake made with Pyramid's apricot ale and a pineapple creamcheese frosting.