Carrot Cake with Pineapple and Coconut
This deliciously moist carrot cake is loaded with chunks of pineapple and toasted coconut. It's sure to be a new favorite!
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 891kcal
Equipment
- 2 9″ round cake pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup toasted walnuts (divided)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (divided)
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 4 oz apple sauce (unsweetened)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups shredded carrots (½ lb)
- 1 cup canned crushed pineapple (drained)
- 1 tablespoon pineapple juice
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- 2 teaspoon pineapple juice (or vanilla extract)
- ¼ cup crushed pineapple (drained)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325℉
- Toast walnuts for approximately 10 minutes. Toast shredded coconut on a separate tray for the last 5 minutes.
- Allow walnuts to cool, then grind using a small food processor.
- Whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in chopped walnuts (minus ¼ cup for decorating the frosted cake), and half of the toasted coconut.
- Next, add vegetable oil, apple sauce, both sugars, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. Beat in eggs, then stir in grated carrots, crushed pineapple, and 2 teaspoons pineapple juice.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
- To make a 2-layer cake, divide the cake batter between two 9-inch round cake pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and lined with parchment paper. (see tips in post on how to cut the parchment paper to fit the pan).
- Place in the middle rack of a preheated oven 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.
Prepare Frosting
- Beat softened cream cheese and butter until combined.
- Add 2 teaspoons pineapple juice or vanilla extract, strained crushed pineapple, and continue to mix. Gradually add powdered sugar in batches and mix until fluffy.
- Spread frosting between, on top, and on the sides of the cooled cakes. Sprinkle some of the toasted coconut and walnuts in between the two layers, then sprinkle the rest over the frosted cake.
Video
Notes
- 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!
Nutrition
Serving: 12servings | Calories: 891kcal | Carbohydrates: 111g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 422mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 38g
