Thanks for the update! The cake sounds spectacular. You can’t share photos in the comments sections, but you can share it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraBakes. I’d love to see it.

I just wanted to let you know that I made the cake for the annual tennis tournament (two 9 by 13 layers stacked). It was an enormous hit. I used fresh pineapple puree (6 ounce strained plus 1/4 cup juice) per cake and ground toasted pecans in lieu of macadamia nuts (since the bulk raw macadamia nuts are not big sellers and tend to be stale ). I also used a blender to create the emulsion (I do not have a big food processor). I have a pic to send you, but I can’t seem to figure out how to post it here in the comments. Oh, well, it was lovely with a tennis net, cake topper tennis players (Big Bird versus Kool Aid Man), and nuts all around the sides.
Thanks again. Your blog is wonderful. Your responses to my questions were helpful. Still loving the USA Pan.
Chris

Hi Chris – so glad you’re enjoying the pan and my blog! Yes, I think this cake is sturdy enough to stack two 13 x 9 inch cakes. Yes, the macadamia nuts are raw nuts. No the coconut in the cake is not pronounced. You could even roughly chop your coconut so it hides in the cake even more. I hope your crowd enjoys the cake as much as we did.

I plan to make this cake for a large gathering. My plan is to make two 13 by 9 inch cakes and stack them. Do you foresee any problems with cracking as I transfer one cake on top of the other? Some cakes are very fragile and do not tolerate transfer very well. One other question I have is whether you used salted and roasted macadamia nuts or raw nuts. And still one more question is whether the coconut is a pronounced texture in the cake. My husband does not care for the texture of coconut, for example, in a Mounds Bar. My prediction is that the coconut will be no more of a texture element than the carrots, but I’d love to hear your views. Thanks for your blog. It’s wonderful.

PS: I did buy the USA sheet pan that you recommended in the comments section of a different post. Thanks for that recommendation. Wonderful pan with straight sides.

Hi Sheri – I would recommend substituting canola or vegetable oil in the cake and butter in the frosting. You could try melted butter in the cake, but since butter has less fat and I haven’t tried it with butter, I can’t recommend it. Let me know if you try it. Thanks!

Thanks Mary Jane! Hope you like it as much as we did.

i’ll let you know how they like this carrot cake recipe compared to theirs.