This carrot cake with pineapple is chunky, homestyle, and loaded with carrots, pineapple, candied pecans, and toasted coconut, then frosted with my tangy brown butter cream cheese frosting. It's my favorite cake to bake for my family!
This carrot cake with pineapple has made lovers of carrot cake out of people who 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!
Quick Glance at the Recipe: Carrot Cake With Pineapple
- Recipe Name: Carrot Cake With Pineapple
- Why You'll Love It: Super moist, loaded with chunky carrots, pineapple, and candied pecans, and it all comes together in one bowl.
- Time and Difficulty: About 1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling. Easy.
- Main Ingredients: Carrots, crushed pineapple, candied pecans, toasted coconut, banana, and brown butter cream cheese frosting
- Method: A one-bowl batter baked in three 8" layers, filled and frosted with brown butter cream cheese frosting
- Texture and Flavor: Moist, chunky, and warmly spiced with a tangy, nutty frosting
- Quick Tip: Wrap your layers and frost the cake the next day. It tastes even better!
Jump to:
- Quick Glance at the Recipe: Carrot Cake With Pineapple
- What Makes This Carrot Cake With Pineapple Different⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Carrot Cake Ingredients
- Why Do You Put Pineapple in Carrot Cake?
- How Do You Grate Carrots for Carrot Cake?
- How To Make Carrot Cake With Pineapple Step-By-Step
- Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
- Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
- Cups of Batter Needed
- Cups of Frosting Needed
- Common Carrot Cake Problems To Avoid
- Make This Recipe Your Own
- Carrot Cake FAQs
- More Cake Recipes To Try
- Ready To Master Cake Decorating?
- Leave Me A Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recipe
What Makes This Carrot Cake With Pineapple Different
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This isn't a spice cake with a few carrots sprinkled in. Every bite is packed with carrots, pineapple, and crunch, and here's why it's so good.
- LOTS of chunky carrots. This is the homestyle kind of carrot cake, with big chunks of carrot in every slice.
- Candied pecans and toasted coconut. Sweet, salty crunch plus a toasty, nutty flavor that you won't get from plain nuts.
- Banana for extra moisture. Mashed banana keeps the cake super moist and adds a little sweetness.
- Brown butter cream cheese frosting. Browning the butter gives the frosting a nutty, toasty flavor that's amazing with all those warm spices.
Carrot Cake Ingredients
It might seem like there are a lot of ingredients in this cake that you don't fully understand, so let me explain! I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale for the most accurate results.
- Carrots. The star of the show! I like a LOT of carrots in my carrot cake, and the chunkier the better.
- Crushed Pineapple. Adds amazing flavor, moisture, and texture to your carrot cake. Drain it well so the extra juice doesn't make your cake soggy.
- Candied Pecans. Sweet, salty, and crunchy. Candied pecans add a delicious crunch and texture to the cake.
- Toasted Coconut. Adds another dimension of earthy flavor and texture. Not a coconut fan? Replace it with the same weight of extra grated carrots.
- All-Purpose 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.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar. Brown sugar adds moisture and a little molasses flavor, and granulated sugar keeps the cake from getting too heavy.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Ginger. These warm spices give the cake that cozy carrot cake flavor.
- Mashed Banana. 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! (If you have extra applesauce, put it to work in my applesauce cake recipe.) You can use either banana or unsweetened applesauce (my homemade unsweetened applesauce works great).
- Vegetable Oil and Melted Butter. Oil keeps the cake moist, and butter adds flavor.
- Eggs. Make sure they're at room temperature so your batter mixes together smoothly.
- Brown Butter. The secret to the nutty, toasty flavor in the frosting (here's how to brown butter).
- Cream Cheese. Use full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature, for a smooth, tangy frosting.
Why Do You Put Pineapple in Carrot Cake?
It might sound crazy, but pineapple tastes amazing in carrot cake! Not only do the flavors complement each other perfectly, but the pineapple keeps the cake extra moist. The pineapple also holds onto moisture longer, so your carrot cake is less likely to dry out.
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 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. For 12 ounces of grated carrots, you'll need about 6 to 7 medium carrots. Thankfully this carrot cake doesn't require an exact amount of carrots.
How To Make Carrot Cake With Pineapple Step-By-Step
Bring all your ingredients to room temperature, preheat your oven to 350º F, and coat three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop.
- Brown the butter the day before. Cook it until it's a deep golden color, then let it cool until it's soft but not melted.
- Sift together your dry ingredients: the flour, both sugars, salt, baking soda, and all the spices.
- Mix your wet ingredients (the oil, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla), then blend them into the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the carrots, pineapple, pecans, coconut, and banana until everything is just combined.
- Divide the batter between your three pans and bake at 350º F for 35 to 45 minutes, until the center is set.
- Cool and wrap your layers. Let them cool in the pans for 15 minutes, turn them out to cool completely, then wrap them in plastic wrap and partially freeze them before frosting. Cold cakes are so much easier to handle!
PRO TIP: This carrot cake actually tastes better the second day! I wrap my layers in plastic wrap and leave them on the counter overnight, then frost the next day. The flavors meld together and the cake gets even moister.
- Cream the brown butter and unsalted butter together until smooth.
- Add the softened cream cheese and whip until smooth with no lumps.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, orange extract, and salt and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Fill and stack your layers with a thick layer of frosting between each one. New to layer cakes? Check out my how to make a cake tutorial.
- Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting to lock in the crumbs (here's how to crumb coat a cake).
- Frost the outside with another thick layer of frosting. I like to keep mine rustic looking.
PRO TIP: If you need a sturdier frosting, try my crusting cream cheese frosting. It holds up better for stacked or decorated cakes.
- Tint some frosting orange and green for the little carrots on top.
- Pipe buttercream carrots around the top of the cake (see the video for how I pipe them).
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
This recipe makes enough batter for three 8"x2" carrot cake layers (or about 36 cupcakes) and enough brown butter cream cheese frosting to fill, frost, and decorate the cake. Use the calculator below for other pan sizes.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
Choose a pan type
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Cupcake Tin Size
Choose number of pans
Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Common Carrot Cake Problems To Avoid
- A soggy cake. Extra pineapple juice is the usual culprit. Drain your crushed pineapple really well before you fold it in.
- Green carrots. Unpeeled carrots can turn green while baking, so peel them before you grate them.
- An underbaked center. This is a heavy, moist batter, so check the middle with a toothpick. It should come out with just a few crumbs stuck to it.
- Runny frosting. If your brown butter is still warm or melted, the frosting will be soft and runny. Let it firm back up to a soft butter consistency first.
Make This Recipe Your Own
- Add raisins. Fold in about ½ to ¾ cup of raisins with the carrots. I prefer golden raisins.
- Make it gluten-free. A 1:1 gluten-free baking flour works in this recipe.
- Make cupcakes. This recipe makes about 36 cupcakes. Fill the liners about two-thirds full and bake at 350º F for 18 to 22 minutes.
- Cover it in fondant. Fondant and cream cheese frosting don't mesh well, so use my easy buttercream instead. You can replace some or all of the butter with brown butter to keep that nutty flavor.
- Make carrot cake bars. Want something easy to slice and serve? Try my carrot cake bars.
Carrot Cake FAQs
Can I make carrot cake ahead of time and freeze it?
Yes! Bake the layers, let them cool, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and freeze them. When you're ready to use them, thaw the layers in the fridge for at least 24 hours, or they will sweat very badly.
How do I store carrot cake?
Unfrosted layers can stay wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Don't put plain, unfrosted cake in the fridge, because it dries it out. Once it's frosted, store the cake in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Can I travel with this carrot cake?
Yes, and you don't need to freeze it. Just keep it in a cooler with an ice pack and it will be fine.
Can I measure this carrot cake recipe in cups?
I really recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Weighing your ingredients is much more accurate than cups, and the recipe card has both ounces and grams so you can use whichever your scale reads.
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Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 14 ounces all-purpose flour
- 10 ounces granulated sugar
- 11 ounces brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- 8 ounces vegetable oil
- 4 ounces unsalted butter melted
- 7 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces candied pecans chopped
- 5 ounces shredded coconut toasted (or replace with 5 ounces more grated carrots)
- 12 ounces carrots peeled and grated (about 6 to 7 medium carrots)
- 12 ounces crushed pineapple drained well
- 6 ounces ripe banana mashed (about 1 ½ bananas) or 6 ounces 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
- Before you begin: Bring all your ingredients to room temperature, weigh them with a scale, preheat your oven to 350º F, and coat three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop.
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
- Sift together the flour, sugars, 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.
- Divide the batter evenly between three 8"x2" cake pans coated in cake goop (pan release). Weigh the pans so your layers are even.
- Bake at 350º F for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the center is set. Test for doneness in multiple areas near the center with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes up dry with a few crumbs stuck to it, the cake is done. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. Wrap them in plastic wrap.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream the browned butter and the unsalted 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.
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
Irene says
Ok so does that mean that it's not supposed to have baking powder? It just came out of the oven and it didn't rise as much as the recipe said either so I am wondering now. ?? Thank you
Liz Marek says
No baking powder in this one, just baking soda! It's always been that way. This is a dense, moist, chunky carrot cake, so it won't rise as tall as a fluffy layer cake.
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 🙂