Carrot Cake with Pineapple
Its Carrot Cake time! Or almost. Or can we just pretend its Spring already so you can make this fluffy Carrot Cake every single week until Easter? Because you are going to WANT to make this easy Carrot Cake recipe every single week until Easter – and every week after along with my Carrot Cake Cookies and Carrot Cake Crepes. This moist Carrot Cake Recipe is not only easy to make but irresistibly delicious and full of flavor. Once you make this carrot cake from scratch, you’ll be bursting at the seams with pride because everyone will be begging you for the recipe. I based this layered Carrot Cake recipe after my wildly popular Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake with Orange Glaze but increased the recipe to make a triple layer cake so we not only enjoy three layers of moist, spice infused brown sugar carrot cake, but multiple layers of the heavenly, lightly sweetened Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting. The homemade Carrot Cake itself is infused with brown sugar, cinnamon, hints of allspice and nutmeg, vanilla extract, vanilla yogurt, crushed pineapple, finely ground pecans and of course, carrots! The harmonious medley of ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the cake and are not overly discernible yet each ingredient adds to the overall perfection, flavor and moistness. So if you have never added crushed pineapple to your carrot cake or are hesitant about adding carrots to cake – don’t shy away, they make all the difference in creating an obsessive worthy cake.
LOOKING FOR MORE EASTER CAKE RECIPES?
Coconut Cake (Triple Coconut!) Lemon Poke Pound Cake Lemon Poke Cake Strawberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pound Cake Strawberry Shortcakes Chocolate Raspberry Cake
What Makes this the best Carrot Cake Recipe?
To turn this airy, moist, classic carrot cake into the Best Ever Carrot cake, it has to have the Best Ever Cream Cheese Frosting. By simply adding vanilla yogurt and pineapple preserves to our luscious Cream Cheese Frosting, we’ve done just that. The vanilla yogurt adds a depth of silkiness and flavor while the pineapple preserves add a light, bright, pineapple tang all sweetened by powdered sugar.
Carrot Cake Ingredients
Carrots: Finely grated carrots are the key to tender, moist carrot cake because they release moisture as they bake. Don’t use pre-packaged carrots, as they are too thick and bone dry. To ensure accuracy, measure the carrots by weight instead of by volume. Flour: To avoid baking a super dense cake, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level (as opposed to scooping the flour up with a measuring cup). I use all-purpose flour, but it will also work with gluten-free 1 Sugars: Brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture and warm molasses undertones and granulated sugar rounds out the sweetness. Baking soda + baking powder: These work together to tenderize the cake and provide the perfect amount of lift. Make sure your leaveners are fresh so they work! Spices: Warm, fragrant spices of ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt make the cake. They infuse the recipe with nutty, earthy, slightly sweet, and spicy notes. Oil: Use vegetable or melted coconut oil. Oil is used rather than butter because it creates moister carrot cake. Butter is traditionally used for its flavor, but this recipe is already chock full of flavor thanks to the spices, pineapple, and pecans, so you won’t even miss it. Eggs: These provide structure and moisture. Use room-temperature eggs because they blend with the other ingredients more easily, so you don’t mistakenly overmix the batter. Crushed pineapple: Use crushed pineapple packed in juice instead of syrup because syrup makes the pineapple too sweet. Drain the pineapple well in a fine mesh sieve before using it. I like to freeze the extra juice for smoothies or acai bowls. Nuts: These are optional but highly recommended! I typically use raw pecans in my carrot cake, but walnuts will also work. Buy them raw and chop them up in your food processor so they are finely ground (takes seconds!), so they evenly disperse throughout the batter for a subtle, savory, nutty flavor to contrast the sweetness. Vanilla Greek yogurt: You can use regular or low-fat yogurt with excellent results. The yogurt adds extra moisture and flavor, so our cake is extra tender without being oily. If necessary, you can substitute additional vegetable oil. Vanilla extract: All desserts need a little oomph of vanilla. The better the quality, the better it tastes, so go with your best quality.
How to make Carrot Cake with Pineapple
Tips for this Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake is wonderfully delicious and pretty straightforward but I’ve included some tips and tricks to make your life easier and to ensure you end up with the Best Carrot Cake of your life.
Prevent Sticking: To prevent any sticking issues, be sure to generously grease and flour your pans. By using parchment paper in the bottom of our pans we eliminate much of that issue. I personally am a big fan of cooking spray WITH flour and use this instead of buttering and flouring my pans and I’ve never had a problem with cakes sticking. Drain Pineapple: Add crushed pineapple to a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and push down on pineapple with a spoon to eliminate excess moisture. This ensures that you and I both have roughly the same moisture content in our cakes because otherwise pineapple moisture can vary from can to can. Mix dry ingredients separately. In a large bowl, mix all of the Dry Ingredients together which consist of flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pecans, baking soda, baking powder and our spices. If you’ve ever wondered why we mix the Dry Ingredients separately from the wet ingredients, it’s to ensure the baking soda/powder/salt get evenly distributed throughout the flour. Spoon and level flour. When measuring flour, it’s best to use the spoon and level method. This simply means spooning the flour into the measuring cup rather than scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour container. When you directly scoop from the flour container, the flour can become packed/too much flour which is not what we want. Season your Carrot Cake: One of the elements that set’s this Carrot Cake apart is the glorious spices. It’s seasoned with ground cinnamon, allspice and a hint of nutmeg which add to the overall flavor without being overpowering. Don’t Overmix! We stir the Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients just until moistened, then stir in 2 ½ cups grated carrots until evenly combined, being careful not to overmix. When you overmix cake batter, the gluten in the flour can form elastic gluten strands which results in a more dense, tough texture as opposed to a light, fluffy cake. Get rid of air bubbles. Next, we divide our batter between prepared pans and drop on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Don’t open oven door. You will know your cakes are done when they have started to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Don’t be tempted to open the door while baking as this can cause your cakes to fall in the center. And one l last tip – DON’T microwave butter or cream cheese for frosting! The frosting is pretty straight forward but one word of caution – use room temperature – NEVER MICROWAVED butter and cream cheese! I used to wonder why my frostings were runny and then I read that you should never microwave butter or cream cheese for frosting – and it has made all the difference! If your frosting is runny for whatever reason, then you can stick it in the refrigerator to thicken up. You can also mix in additional powdered sugar (and a dash of salt to balance it) but I would be very cautious about doing this as this can make the frosting overly sweet.
How to Grate Carrots for Carrot Cake
This might seem like a silly question, but it is really important! After all, it’s the carrots that put the carrot in CARROT CAKE. This recipe calls for 2 ½ cups or 9.5 oz. of peeled and finely grated carrots.
CAN YOU FREEZE CARROT CAKE?
Yes! Don’t you love a dessert you can make beforehand and freeze and simply pull it out a few hours before it’s time to dig in? This method makes dessert time stress free for everyone – especially during the holidays. To freeze your finished Carrot Cake: I am sooo excited for you to make this fluffy, moist Carrot Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting! Make it for Easter, make it for Spring celebrations – baby showers, Mother’s Day, birthdays, etc., or just make it. and eat it. and smile.
Looking for more spring dessert recipes?
Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake with Orange Glaze Strawberry Cheesecake Pie Brown Sugar Carrot Cake Crepes Chocolate Covered Strawberries Blueberry Cheesecake Pie Mini Strawberry Pies with Sugar Cookie Crust Key Lime Cheesecake Fruit Dip
Want to try this Layered Carrot Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting?
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