Carrot Cake with Pineapple and Coconut

4.69 from 16 votes

This deliciously moist carrot cake is loaded with chunks of pineapple and toasted coconut. It's sure to be a new favorite!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: people

Calories: 891kcal

Author: Hilda Sterner

Toast walnuts for approximately 10 minutes. Toast shredded coconut on a separate tray for the last 5 minutes.
Allow walnuts to cool, then grind in a small food processor, or chop by hand.
Whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in raisings, ground walnuts (set aside ¼ cup to decorate the frosted cake), and half of the toated coconut.
Pour oil into the bowl of a stand mixer, followed by applesauce, and both sugars; mix to combine. Add vanilla extract and eggs and beat to incorporate. Finally, stir in grated carrots, 1 cup drained pineapple, and 1 tablespoon pineapple juice.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then mix on low speed to blend.
To make a 2 layer cake, divide the cake batter between two 9-inch round cake pans sprayed with oil and lined with parchment paper. (see notes on how to cut the parchment paper to fit the pan).
Place both cakes on the center rack and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool the cakes for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack. Slowly peel off the parchment paper. Allow them to come to room temperature before frosting.

Beat softened cream cheese and butter until combined. Add pineapple juice and strained crushed pineapple and mix until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, 1 to 2 cups at a time, and mix until fluffy.
Spread frosting between, on top, and on the sides of the cooled round cakes. I like to sprinkle some of the coconut flakes in between the two layers as well. Using a revolving cake stand is very helpful! Sprinkle the frosted cake with the remaining toasted coconut.

Carrot cake is pretty high in calories. To cut down on some of the calories, you can use unsweetened applesauce to replace some of the oil with equal parts of applesauce. Another idea is to use unsweetened shredded coconut and low-fat cream cheese.
You can use this recipe to make carrot cake cupcakes instead. Simply pour the cake batter into greased or lined cupcake pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Mixing in the raisins, walnuts, and coconut with the dry ingredients first coats them with flour which keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
I like to use a measuring cup to divide the batter between the two pans so that it's equally divided, however, you can eyeball it too.
An easy way to fit the parchment paper in the round pans is to trace the bottom of the pans onto the parchment paper. Next, fold the parchment paper in half and cut around the drawn lines to make a half-circle. Now you have a perfectly sized piece of parchment paper to go on the bottom of the round pans.
Using a revolving cake stand is very helpful when frosting the cake!