This Pineapple Carrot Coconut Cake is deliciously moist. Cake layers loaded with fresh pineapple, carrot and coconut are sandwiched between cream cheese frosting. Now if you need an indication of how good this cake is, my husband LOVED it and he hates carrots, pineapple and coconut.
I was in the mood for cake.
It has been far too long since I posted a “sweet” recipe, and I couldn’t go another day without… cake.
I’m not sure where I got this recipe from, it was one of those in a stack of a million I have printed off of the internet, but it was begging to be made so I had no problem obliging.
Since it has been in the 60’s this week and in celebration of the warm weather I give to you this pineapple carrot coconut cake. Totally to die for! The original recipe called for a can of crushed pineapple and if you follow this blog regularly you know I’m just not a fan of canned pineapple. Nothing beats the real thing and to me super fresh pineapple is the way to go… so I made my own!
To Make this Pineapple Coconut Carrot Cake You Will Need:
- unbleached all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon
- grated fresh nutmeg
- unsalted butter, softened
- granulated sugar
- large eggs
- whole milk
- grated carrots
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, crushed
- 1 recipe for cream cheese frosting
Get your ingredients ready and preheat your oven to 350°.
First things first, get your pans ready. I dread this part the most, because I don’t use spray you really need to make sure you don’t miss a spot! I also trace and cut out wax paper to fit the bottom of the pans so the bottom of the cake won’t stick. But I still butter the whole cake pan!
Click HERE to learn how to line cake pans!
In a medium bowl add 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 2-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg.
Whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl add 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) softened butter.
Add 1-1/2 cups sugar to the butter and mix on medium speed.
Stop when the butter is light and fluffy.
I crack my 3 eggs in a separate bowl so I can add them gradually, and to pick out any shells if any.
Add one egg at a time and mix thoroughly after each additional egg.
Look how pretty!! The farm fresh eggs made this batter a bright yellow!
Now you want to alternate adding the flour mixture and milk. Start with some flour and mix…
Alternate adding a couple of tablespoons of the 1/2 cup of whole milk and the dry ingredients until all of both are added in.
You should probably scrape down the sides of the bowl in between each step!
Now add all 2 cups grated carrot and mix.
I used a box grater to grate mine but fee free to use your food processor because I’m lazy and didn’t want to lug out my food processor. It did it take me forever to grate two cups of carrots and there was carrot shrapnel on the floor, counter and me… ugh. You might want to save yourself the misery and just get out your food processor.
Unless you don’t have one, then GOOD LUCK and happy grating!!
Good thing Seamus the floor cleaner is nearby to get the falling pieces! Look he got something, his whiskers are crumbed!!
When we got him as a puppy, the breeders called him Sad Eyes. He uses those on me all the time to get treats… and they work all too well!
Add pineapple to your mini or regular food processor and puree until it measures 1 cup, adding more if needed. This is when having a mini food processor comes in handy!
Now you can add the 1 cup fresh crushed pineapple and mix until incorporated.
Lastly, measure a heaping cup of flaked coconut.
Then add it to the batter.
Mix just until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to insure all ingredients are mixed well.
Divide evenly into the two greased 9-inch cake pans. Tap on the counter to settle the batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. In my oven it only took 35 minutes. But we all have different ovens, so watch it carefully.
Let the cakes cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan before trying to remove them from the pan. Set your timer and go check your facebook, wash some dishes or do another load of laundry!
Run a knife along the edges of the cake to loosen.
Once the cakes are removed from the pan, let them cool completely before frosting.
Oh-my-goodness! Looks and smells incredible!
The time has come to frost.
I have already made the Classic Cream Cheese Frosting. So now I just cut some small strips of wax paper and placed them on the cake stand. The reason I do this is so that when I frost I don’t get frosting all over the cake plate. I’ll remove the strips before slicing and serving the cake.
Place one of the cake layers upside down and remove the wax paper liner.
Add a generous dollop of the cream cheese frosting onto the top of the first cake layer.
Spread evenly leaving an “over hang” of frosting.
Carefully place the next layer (bottom side facing up) on top of the frosting.
Place the remaining cream cheese frosting on top of the second layer and spread evenly on the top and the sides of the cake.
Remove the wax paper strips and ta-dah! Now pat yourself on the back!
This cake is super moist. My husband hates carrots, pineapple and coconut, but he loved this cake. He even made sure that I put that in this post!
The flavors meld so well they become one in a sense. I love this cake and you will too! Just think it has all the food groups in it so its GOTTA be healthy, right?
When you have a cake with cream cheese frosting, make sure you store it in the refrigerator!
Enjoy! And if you give this recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Pineapple Carrot Coconut Cake
This Pineapple Carrot Coconut Cake is deliciously moist. Cake layers loaded with fresh pineapple, carrot and coconut are sandwiched between cream cheese frosting. Now if you need an indication of how good this cake is, my husband LOVED it and he hates carrots, pineapple and coconut.
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, crushed
- 1 recipe for cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and butter and line two 9 inch cake pans with wax or parchment paper.
- Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended; set aside.
- Add a cup of fresh pineapple to a mini food processor with any juices and puree until it measures 1 cup, adding more if needed. Pineapple should be slightly chunky and resemble "canned" crushed pineapple. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until well blended. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating until well blended after each addition. Add carrots, coconut, and pineapple {walnuts too if you're using them}; mix well. Pour evenly into 2 greased 9-inch round cake pans.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Place 1 of the cake layers on serving plate upside down, remove wax paper and spread with Cream Cheese Frosting. Cover with remaining cake layer {upside down} remove wax paper again and spread top and side of cake with remaining frosting. Cut a huge piece for yourself and enjoy!
Notes
Like any cream cheese frosted goodie, make sure you store this cake in refrigerator.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 383Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 240mgCarbohydrates: 75gFiber: 3gSugar: 47gProtein: 7g
All information presented on this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information shared on SimplyScratch.com should only be used as a general guideline.
Buy the Cookbook: Simply Scratch : 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy Now available on Amazon »
THANK YOU in advance for your support!
YUM! This looks amazing. Carrot cake is one of my favorites, but I've never tried it with coconut before! Love your cake plate too…I have the same one!
This is the BEST carrot cake EVER! My mom has made this for years and my family loves it and devours it…yea, it's that good! Great post!
Oh my! This looks amazing! I can definitely smell that pineapple! 🙂
OMG, what a beauty
My guy doesn't like coconut or pineapple so there is hope with you stating that your husband loved it. Your food photography is incredible!
i've been staring at this post for the past 7 minutes…it looks so amazing, i can't stop looking! yummmm.
Looks wonderful. I've been craving a carrot cake.
"Simply The Best". Thank u for sharing….Karen
I love carrot cake, pineapple, and coconut. The texture of this looks wonderful. Nice photos too! Can't wait to try this one.
So pretty, I love the addition of pineapple.
This looks amazing, and now I realize you weren't just eating that cream cheese icing off a spoon! I love carrot cake, but I forgot about the version with pineapple. My grandmother used to make it. I agree that fresh pineapple is light years better than canned, but have you ever tried this with fresh coconut? I did that for a cake last year and the texture was amazing.
Oh my goodness. This looks like heaven. I absolutely LOVE any and all baked goods with pineapple in them…if you've never tried adding crushed pineapple to your favorite banana bread recipe, I highly suggest it.
Beautiful photos! Consider this bookmarked.
This carrot cake looks soooo yummy! I love that it has coconut in it! Mmmmm…
Carrot cake is hands-down one of my favorite desserts, and yours looks divine! Coconut and pineapple are great additions.
Cute pup, by the way :).
I love how moist that looks and the beautiful golden color.
Just finished making your cake! Our friends are coming over for the weekend from Vancouver to Vancouver island and I am surprising one of them with a birthday cake (its his brithday today!) smells great, the dough was really good, im sure the rest will be even better. thanks!
I just put the cake in the oven and I realized that I forgot to put the nutmeg in! In your step by step recipe, you say to add the nutmeg, but in the regular recipe, you forgot to put nutmeg when you said to add the cinnamon!!! It's ok, I am sure that it will still taste great!
THANKS MARIA! Sometime you can proof read so much that the mistakes just don't stand out anymore! I made the correction and I'm positive the cake will still be delicious! XO
…and sometimes your finger can accidently miss the s on sometimes! LOL
Made this cake a few days ago. My husband says this is the best carrot cake he's had AND he usually hates coconut. I love the cake, too – yum, yum! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this cake back in Jan but just realized that I hadn't posted a comment on here yet. For some reason my cake turned out super dense. I'm not sure where I went wrong. I wrote about it here. Any ideas where I might have gone astray?
You might try 1/2 stick butter and 2/3 cup applesauce in lieu of 1-1/2 sticks butter.
You also have to adjust your oven temperature if you have a convection oven 325 vs a regular oven 350.
The ingredients had so much potential, but alas, it was the heaviest, most dense (seemingly undercooked) cake of all time. What did I do wrong? I saw someone else posted a similar comment…
Jennie~ So many things can go wrong when it comes to baking. Unfortunately unless I could have watched you in the process I have no idea. Usually over mixing, inaccurate oven temps and/or expired ingredients can be the culprits to baked goods gone bad. Sorry to hear your cake didn't turn out 🙁
Saw this on foodgawker and tried it out yesterday… it turned out so yummy and moist! i'll be making this for my hubby's bday party next week. thank you!
Pingback: Flórsykur og innkaupalistinn « Eygló eldarEygló eldar
Pingback: Hvað á ég að baka? « Eygló eldarEygló eldar
Is it sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
I believe it was sweetened 🙂
Is 2.5 teaspoons of baking powder accurate? It sounds like a lot? I guess I’ve just never seen that much on any recipe before. Thanks!
I just baked this cake for my husband’s significant birthday. Fifteen years ago for his 50th birthday he requested a carrot cake from our local bakery in Doylestown, PA that he loved. We are now 3,000 miles away so I had to hit the pans. Sadly, I didn’t have all the ingredients so here are my changes. First, I had to use whole wheat flour so I separated the eggs and whipped the whites to a soft peak so the cake wouldn’t be too heavy. I folded the egg whites into the batter at the end like a chiffon cake. Next I ran out of butter so I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil. Third, I don’t keep white sugar in the house normally so I was lucky to have some powdered sugar left over from Christmas baking. Fourth I added 2 tsp of almond extract. Finally, we are a nutty family so I used 1 cup of crushed walnuts coated in 1T of flour and stirred them into the batter. Despite all the substitutions the cake is tasty and is still light enough with a unique but moist texture. I do have cream cheese so I will make the frosting but I will add the almond extract and cover the cake with leftover coconut and crushed walnuts. Hope these changes help others especially those of us who bake after midnight.
Pingback: Carrot Coconut Cake | What2Cook
Thank you for the recipe and the step by step instructions.I am going to make this today 🙂
Awesome! Enjoy!
How do you think this would work as cupcakes? Really want to make, thanks for sharing.
This cake did not turn out for me. Like the other posts above, it turned out super dense and tasted undercooked. I did everything right. I will stick with the traditional types that use oil.
Pingback: Carrot Coconut Cake by Simply Scratch | Food and Everything Else
Your blog is darling. This post about the carrot cake is so cute…I especially got a kick out of your sweet pooch in the middle. My dogs park at my feet in my kitchen whenever I am baking. Thank you for this recipe. I look forward to trying it sometime.
God bless you!
Pingback: Ciasto marchewkowe z kremem twarożkowym - Wypieki Beaty - przepisy i zdjęcia
Hello!
1. I know you said the secret ingredient was pineapple, but I don’t like it. Any comments on leaving it out completely?
2. I used 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder in selfraising flour but I don’t like the results? Any help??
my sister loves my version of carrot cake, I ‘ve never used coconut in it,but this looks so yummy,her birthday is coming up I’m going to surprise her with this. Thanks for the recipe. The photographs are delish.
This is the best carrot cake ever. The cream cheese frosting on it is to die for. My kids made this for Mother’s Day/Birthday. Thank you for making the step-by-step instructions easy for goofy teenagers to follow too.
Beating the eggs before adding them will help immensely with the problem of it being too dense. Just a fork or wisk for a minute or two. I made this with a few minor alterations and the texture was fantastic. Pre-beaten eggs is one of the best ways to incorporate an aerated micro bubble structure to your baked goods.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Can I use canned pineapple
I don’t see why not 🙂
This looks yummy. Would it work if I replaced the flour with coconut flour as well as the milk with coconut milk.
I love using this recipe for cake pops!
Great idea!
U did not mentioned the tempreature for baking in recipie
Hi Huma, you can find it at the bottom of the post in the recipe printable.:)
This cake was the worst! Such a waste of materials!
I baked it for almost 2hrs and it would not dry out….came out wet and started to spoil next day.
Super disappointing!
Hi Rhea! I’m sorry to hear this cake didn’t work out for you. I definitely plan to remake this cake recipe and see what could’ve went wrong.