Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

How to improve on carrot cake? Add coconut and pineapple to it! This tropical tasting Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake with a coconut cream cheese frosting is easy to make and utterly delicious. Perfect for celebrations…or just when you fancy a bit of a treat!

I’ll admit it, I have a huge weakness for carrot cake…it’s definitely up there as one of my all-time favourites…along with chocolate cake, of course…and coffee and walnut cake…and lemon drizzle…and, well, quite a few others too now I come to think of it…

Actually, this cake was originally supposed to be a chocolate cake…with mini eggs or cream eggs or maybe even both on top. It came about because I wanted to create a really good dessert for Easter lunch. But when I started researching ideas for Easter cakes, I noticed that carrot cake was a really big thing at Easter time too and it started my brain ticking over…I mean chocolate cake is nice, but what if you wanted to make something a bit different for Easter? Especially as by Easter lunchtime everyone might be feeling a little bit chocolated out!!

I’m not quite sure why carrot cake seems to be such a big thing Easter…do you? I can only guess that it goes something along the lines of… Easter is when the Easter bunny comes to visit…rabbits like carrots – therefore we should all eat carrot cake… Whatever the reason, I think it sounds like a jolly good idea!

Anyway, I discovered lots of different versions of carrot cake in my Easter dessert research (I have a really tough job, I know!!) but the variation that really caught my eye was Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake!! I mean carrot cake is lovely, but adding pineapple and coconut into the mix sounded just too awesome not to try!

So I experimented by adapting my tried and tested carrot cake that I have been baking for years, adding desiccated coconut and pineapple to the mix and I am so pleased with the result. This Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake is that rare combination of light AND moist, and the not-too-sweet coconut cream cheese frosting just compliments it beautifully.

Now I’m not suggesting for a moment this Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake is a health food – it is definitely an indulgence! But it contains a little less sugar than comparable cakes, especially the frosting, and it does contain lots of healthy ingredients, such as carrots, coconut, walnuts and pineapple…meaning you can feel a little less guilty about going for that second slice 😉

This Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake also a very easy cake to make. Just combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another, then mix the two together – simples! No creaming, no folding, no need for fancy equipment, no worries about ingredients being the correct temperature. Just a bit of measuring and stirring…now that’s my kind of cake!

I have also kept my decoration very simple. It’s starts with a layer of coconut cream cheese frosting in the middle and another on top of the cake and then just a sprinkling of coconut, walnuts and orange zest on top and it’s done – effective, but simple…and pretty much fool proof (hey, if I can do it…you definitely can!)

If you decide to serve this cake as part of your Easter celebrations and wanted to make this cake a little more ‘Eastery’, you could replace the coconut/walnut/orange zest topping with a scattering of mini eggs instead. You could also very easily adapt this recipe and make little Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes instead – topped either with mini eggs or walnuts or just extra coconut and/or dried pineapple pieces.

Of course, being as this cake does not scream ‘Easter’, you could absolutely make it for any other occasions you wanted…or indeed just when you fancy a little treat! It’s so simple to make (and so yummy), it really would be a shame to save it just for celebrations!!

5 from 7 votes

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Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

How to improve on carrot cake? Add coconut and pineapple to it! This tropical tasting Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake with a coconut cream cheese frosting is easy to make and utterly delicious. Perfect for celebrations…or just when you fancy a bit of a treat! 

Recipe Type Cake, Dessert, Pudding

Cuisine American, British

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Serves 24 slices

Calories 421 kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

• 350 g self raising flour (or all-purpose flour plus 4tsp baking powder)
• 325 g dark soft brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 75 g unsweetened desiccated coconut
• 50 g walnuts chopped into small chunks
• 250 g carrots grated
• 4 medium eggs
• 200 ml mild olive oil (or melted and cooled coconut oil)
• 150 g pineapple (fresh or from a tin) finely chopped or blended

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

• 500 g full fat cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
• 100 g butter softened
• 250 g icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 100 g unsweetened desiccated coconut (optional)

For decoration (all optional)

• 25 g unsweetened desiccated coconut
• 50 g walnuts chopped into small pieces
• Zest of one orange
• Other options could include fresh coconut and dried pineapple pieces, mini eggs or creme eggs, edible flowers, or anything else you fancy!!

Metric - US Customary

Method

Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 170C / 150 fan / gas mark 2 / 300F.
2. Grease and line the base of two 18cm/7inch cake tins.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, coconut, walnuts and carrots.
4. In a smaller bowl or jug, beat together the eggs and oil
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, then add the pineapple and stir again to distribute the pineapple evenly.

6. Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins and cook in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.

7. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling wire and ensure the cakes are completely cold before covering with the frosting.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until completely combined and light and fluffy, either by hand or using a hand mixer. Do not overmix!

Decoration

1. Assess which is the flattest cake and if necessary trim to make flatter. Spread a generous amount of frosting on this cake then top with the second cake and cover with a generous amount of frosting.
2. You could also cover the side with frosting too if you wish.
3. Decorate using desiccated coconut, crushed walnuts and orange peel, fresh coconut and dried pineapple pieces, edible flowers, creme eggs or mini eggs (or use your imagination and have fun with it!!)

Notes

This can easily be made into cupcakes instead – it should make around 24 cupcakes and they will cook in more like 15-20 minutes – but do check with a skewer before removing from the oven.

The frosting actually makes enough for a generous covering on the top, middle AND sides. If you wish to have a less voluptuous amount of frosting, or if you are making cupcakes, I suggest halving the frosting recipe.

Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition Facts

Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 421 Calories from Fat 243

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 27g 42%

Saturated Fat 12g 60%

Cholesterol 59mg 20%

Sodium 121mg 5%

Potassium 176mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 39g 13%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 26g

Protein 5g 10%

Vitamin A 43.3%

Vitamin C 1.6%

Calcium 5.1%

Iron 5.2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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