Carrot Cake With Pineapple Recipe
Carrot cake with pineapple, big chunks of carrots, candied pecans and brown butter cream cheese frosting is the ultimate homestyle carrot cake!
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 765kcal
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.
Video
Notes
Important Things To Note Before You Start
1. Bring all your ingredients to room temperature or even a little warm (eggs, butter, etc) to ensure your batter does not break or curdle.
2. Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe.
3. Practice Mise en Place (everything in it's place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
4. Wrap your cake layers in plastic wrap and partially freeze them before filling and frosting. Cold cakes are much easier to handle. You can cover a frosted and chilled cake in fondant if you wish. This cake is also great for stacking. I always keep my cakes chilled in the refrigerator before delivery for easy transporting.
5. If the recipe calls for specific ingredients like cake flour, replacing it with all-purpose flour and cornstarch is not recommended unless specified in the recipe that it’s ok. Substituting ingredients may cause this recipe to fail.
6. Brown your butter the day before baking and leave it at room temperature so that it's the right consistency for making buttercream the next day.
Cupcakes: This recipe makes about 36 cupcakes. Fill the liners about two-thirds full and bake at 350º F for 18 to 22 minutes.
No coconut? Replace the toasted coconut with the same weight of extra grated carrots.
Video note: The video shows the original smaller batch. The recipe card has been scaled up to make three full 8"x2" layers.
Nutrition: Calculated per slice (1/24 of the frosted cake), made with banana and toasted coconut.
Nutrition
Serving: 8ounces | Calories: 765kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 155mg | Sodium: 484mg | Potassium: 202mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 72g | Vitamin A: 3658IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2mg
