Carrot cake with pineapple, big chunks of carrots, toasted pecans and cream cheese frosting is the ultimate homestyle carrot cake!
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.
Want more? Try these recipes!
Pumpkin Spice Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Applesauce Spice Cake With Brown Butter Frosting
Banana Cake With Classic Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
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Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
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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.
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
Bec says
Carrot cake isn’t a cake I make often...actually ever! but some friends asked me to make one for their sons first birthday. This recipe is sooooo good! I smothered in your easy buttercream - replacing some of the butter with burnt butter because it was to go under fondant. The whole cake disappeared at lightning speed! Soooo delicious!! Thank you 😊
Nikki says
Best carrot cake Ive ever eaten! You are a cake master. Thanks for the great recipe. My nanny and family loved the cake.
Jamie says
This has got to be the best Carrot Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting recipes I’ve ever had! Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese frosting are both mine and my mother’s favorite cake combinations and we both agree it’s absolutely out of this world amazing! I will never make another kind, heck I probably won’t even eat another carrots cake again.