Chunky homestyle carrot cake with pineapple, candied pecans, coconut and lots of carrots! Frosted with tangy classic cream cheese frosting. My favorite cake to bake for my family!
This carrot cake with pineapple has made lovers of carrot cake who have previously said they hated carrot cake. There are two kinds of carrot cake people out there. Those that like a nice spice cake with some teeny tiny carrots in it and those who like a teeny tiny bit of cake with their carrots. I fall in the second category.
I love making this carrot cake because it comes together in one bowl and is pretty much impossible to mess up!
Carrot Cake Ingredients
It might seem like there are a lot of ingredients in this cake that you don't fully understand why they are necessary but let me explain!
- Pineapple - Adds amazing flavor and moisture to your carrot cake as well as texture
- Candied Pecans - Sweet, salty and crunchy. Candied pecans add a delicious crunch and texture to the carrot cake.
- Toasted Coconut - Adds another dimension of earthy flavor and texture to the cake
- AP Flour - You might be surprised to see me using All-Purpose flour instead of cake flour but because there is so little flour in this carrot cake, we need the extra gluten to hold everything together.
- Mashed Banana - So once upon a time I wanted to make my carrot cake and didn't have any applesauce but I did have a frozen banana so I used that instead. Honestly, I liked it better than the applesauce for that added moisture! You can use either banana or ½ cup applesauce.
Why do you put pineapple in carrot cake?
It might sound crazy but pineapple tastes amazing in carrot cake! Not only do the flavors compliment each other perfectly but the pineapple keeps the cake extra moist! The pineapple in carrot cake also holds onto moisture for longer so the carrot cake is less prone to drying out.
This carrot cake with pineapple actually gets better with age. In my opinion, it actually tastes better the second day! I wrap my cakes in plastic wrap and leave them on the countertop to frost the next day. This gives the flavors time to meld together and the cake actually gets even moister. It's truly magical!
How do you grate carrots for carrot cake?
I like my carrots to be nice and chunky. To prepare my carrots, I chop off the tops of the carrot and then peel them. If you don't peel your carrots, they can turn green while baking.
To speed things up, you can use a food processor. To get 2 ¼ cups of carrots, I needed about 5 medium-sized carrots. Thankfully this carrot cake doesn't require exact amounts of carrot.
How do you make a carrot cake?
The best thing about this carrot cake with pineapple is that it all comes together so easily in one bowl.
- Sift together your flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices
- Combine together your eggs, oil, melted butter, and vanilla
- Pour your egg mixture into your flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Fold in candied pecans, toasted coconut, carrots, pineapple and banana, and stir until just combined.
- Divide into pans and bake! I have baked my carrot cake in two or three 8" pans. Two pans will have thicker layers but take longer to bake. Three pans will make thinner layers but bake in about 30 minutes.
Let your cake layers cool before frosting
How to make a carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting
This carrot cake with pineapple and cream cheese frosting comes together in ten minutes flat!
- Place your first layer of carrot cake on your cake cardboard or on your cake plate.
- Spread a thick layer of cream cheese frosting onto the cake layer.
- Place your second layer of cake on top of the frosting. Repeat if you have more layers.
- Cover the whole cake in another thick layer of frosting. I like to keep my frosting rustic looking.
- Pipe some cute buttercream carrots on top (see video for instructions)
BONUS: Want step-by-step instructions on how to make your first cake? Watch my how to make a cake video tutorial!
I love how my brown butter cream cheese frosting tastes with this carrot cake. If you need a sturdier frosting, try my crusting cream cheese frosting
My easy buttercream is delicious too if you need to cover the cake with fondant (fondant and cream cheese don't mesh well together). You can replace some or all of the butter in my easy buttercream with brown butter if you want to keep that flavor.
For more spring and Easter desserts, you have to try my Carrot Cake Bars! They're perfect if you want something easy to slice and serve. My Speckled Easter Cake adds a soft pastel look that still feels simple and understated. For something a little more playful, this Bunny Butt Cake makes a cute and festive centerpiece.
Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 9 ounces All Purpose flour
- 7 ounces granulated sugar
- 7 ounces brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger powdered
- 5 ounces vegetable oil
- 3 ounces butter melted
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 ounces candied pecans chopped
- 3 ounces shredded coconut toasted
- 8 ounces carrots grated (about 4-5 medium carrots)
- 8 ounces pineapple drained and crushed
- 1 whole ripe banana mashed or 4 oz unsweetened applesauce
Browned Butter
- 12 ounces unsalted butter (after browning it should weigh about 10 ounces)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 6 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 10 ounces brown butter softened butter consistency
- 32 ounces powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon orange extract (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Brown Butter
- (It's best to do this the day before you bake) Place butter into a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.
- Whisk constantly (butter will foam up) and cook until the butter is a deep golden color
- Pour the browned butter (do not strain) into a heat-proof container and let cool at room temperature overnight (or you can put it in the fridge to help speed up the process but stir every 20 minutes to prevent it from getting too hard. The butter needs to be soft but not melted.
Cake Instructions
- IMPORTANT: Make sure all your ingredients are at room temp and you're using a scale to measure. Substituting ingredients may cause this recipe to fail. (see notes at the bottom of the recipe)
- Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and all the spices.
- Mix together oil, melted butter, eggs and vanilla and blend into dry ingredients.
- Add remaining ingredients and fold until combined.
- Pour into three 8" cake pans that have been coated in cake goop (pan release). The layers will bake to about 1 ½" tall.
- Bake at 350º F about 30 minutes. Test for doneness in multiple areas near the center with a tooth pick. If the tooth pick comes up dry with a few crumbs stuck to it, the cake is done. Let cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. Cover with plastic wrap and chill before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream the browned butter with the whisk attachment until smooth
- Add in your softened cream cheese and whip together until smooth and no lumps are present
- Slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time while mixing on medium until smooth
- Add in your vanilla and orange extract and salt and mix until smooth.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
traci c says
I am going to make the carrot cake recipe. This recipe is for 3 layer cake i think. I only want to make 2 layers. New baker here! How do i figure this out?
Elizabeth Marek says
You can use the cake batter calculator directly above the recipe to calculate how much batter you need by selecting the pans you want to bake with. Then adjust the recipe servings on the recipe card by using the slider to match what the calculator says to make.
LaTesha Johnson says
Can I add raisins in this recipe? If so about how much would you suggest
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can, I would add about 1/3 cup of raisins
Leena says
I plan to mak it this week and was ordering the ingredients. What is brown butter? When I googled it came up with melting butter on stove, but your recipe calls for softened butter consistency. Could you please clarify this as well as where I can purchase it. Thanks
Elizabeth Marek says
I link to the brown butter recipe in the blog post. Its not just melting butter. https://sugargeekshow.com/brown-butter/
Emily S says
Can you make the cake ahead of time and freeze it (before icing) like other cakes? I have several grad cakes due all around the same time. LOVE this cake btw!! I made it for Mother’s Day (for myself 😂) and it was incredible!
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can but a frozen cake needs to be defrosted in the fridge for a least 24 hours or it will sweat very badly
Stacey says
Can I leave out the crushed pineapple?
Elizabeth Marek says
You can but it adds a lot of flavor and moisture to the cake and doesn't taste like pineapple
Becca says
Any chance I can half this recipe? I’m dying to make it but don’t need such a huge cake or I’ll eat it! 🤦🏼♀️
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can half it
Rene says
Would there be any problem baking in 6” pans? I want to make smaller cakes to drop off for my family members during quarantine.
Elizabeth Marek says
No problem at all
Maria Gracia says
Omg such an amazing recipe!! my husband and I can’t stop eating it. This cake is so so good!!! Thank you!!!
I didn’t have pecans or the shredded coconut so I went ahead and added more carrots. This cake is so yummy, moist and full of flavor! I will definitely make it again!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you so much!
Nedra says
Hi love your recipes. I totally goofed at the store and only have 1 brick of cream cheese is that enough to make the cream cheese listed for the carrot cake? I have everything else but didn’t know if I should adjust anything if I only have 8 oz of cream cheese. Also, will the carrot cake recipe make 2 9 in cakes fine? Thanks.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You probably wont have very much cream cheese frosting with only one brick but you could just make regular easy buttercream. Yes this will make two 9" cakes
Dara says
Just wanted everyone to know that I made this cake exactly (with bananas) into cupcakes. I filled the cupcake liners 3/4 full, and it made exactly 33 beautiful cupcakes.
Liz I absolutely love your page! Thank you so much for posting such gold!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Thank you for letting me know! I rarely make cupcakes haha
Dara says
If I’m using this to make cupcakes, how full should I fill the liners? I have a size 20 scooper..
The Sugar Geek Show says
I haven't tried this recipe as cupcakes but the recipe does not rise much so I would say 3/4 of the way full
Emmy says
Hi Liz. I made this on Monday and cut it yesterday for my hubs bday. It tasted really good and I loved it. The only thing I really want to figure out is to why it was dense. It wasn't as fluffy when you cut yours on the video. After cutting I couldbt see a cake texture but it was dense looking. Please can you tell my how to make this into a light and fluffy carrot cake that melts in the mouth with the frosting. I once ate a carrot cake which just melt in your mouth with three layer of cream cheese frosting. It had all the nuts a bits like this recipe in it but still was light .It was so nice . Please advise me .thank you so much
The Sugar Geek Show says
Hi Emmy, this is a dense and chunky carrot cake, not fluffy so what you made was most likely the way it's meant to come out
Andrea Crawford says
hey Liz, I've been baking my way through your beginner cake recipes and loving them. I caught a sale on butter and I have two pounds of salted butter. Would this kill the recipe if I used that?
The Sugar Geek Show says
It might taste a little too salty
Sara says
Hi Liz! once again thanks for everything. I have a teeny tiny problem! I used up all my last 3 bananas and have no applesauce!!! Will the recipe turn out okay?
The Sugar Geek Show says
It might be a little dry
Davine says
Thanks for a lovely recipe. I made it using the metric version it came out very sweet. After investigating I realised that the granulated sugar was 200g more than required in your us version. Was good otherwise. Will definately try again.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Thanks for letting me know, it appears the automatic metric conversion is not very accurate so now I will have to go through and update all my recipes cards manually to make sure they are accurate.
Karina says
Hi Liz, I have made your recipe and it was a success! I was wondering if I can replace the AP flour with gluten free flour same quantity? Will it work or I need to look for a specific gluten free recipe? Thanks in advance
The Sugar Geek Show says
I have used bobs red mill 1:1 baking mix successfully in all my recipes as a gluten-free substitute 🙂