This traditional carrot cake contains more carrots than spices. Walnuts can be switched out for pecans.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 55 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 15 |
| Yield: | 1 (9×13-inch) cake |
Ingredients
- 2 cups white sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish; set aside.
- Mix together sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in carrots, pineapple, and coconut. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl; gently stir into carrot mixture. Mix in nuts until incorporated. Spread batter into the prepared dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Beat together confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, butter, and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Frost cooled cake while still in the dish.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 604 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 80 g |
| Cholesterol | 69 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 541 mg |
| Sugars | 64 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Best carrot cake ever! Only thing I added were 1/2 raisins masserated in the pineapple juice. Cut back to 3 cups of confectionary sugar in the frosting. This cake ROCKS!!!
Accidentally added almond extract to cake mix. But it was a great accidental change. Also wish we used olive oil instead of vegetable oil as a healthier oil option.
Best carrot cake I’ve ever tried.
I made it exactly like the recipe and it turned out delicious
Loving this cake! It’s dense and flavorful. YUM!
This is my family’s favorite recipe.
Made it for Valentine’s Day. Very good.
Very good and moist! Added 1/2 c white raisins, reduced the salt to 1 tsp and omitted the nuts (not a fan of them in my cake). I will make this again.
Yum!
I made this cake for a birthday lunch and it was very flavorful and moist. I did not change anything in the recipe and was pleased with the results. The next time I make it, though, I will probably modify the frosting a bit and cut back on the confectioners sugar and add more cream cheese, but that is the only thing I would change. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
My daughter made this cake as a 2 layer for Easter. This was the most fabulous carrot cake I’ve ever tasted. So moist and delicious with the perfect amount of spice. The addition of the pineapple and coconut makes an average cake an extraordinary one!
I love Carrot Cake, and I’ll have to admit that this was my first ever attempt to make a cake without a box that I could dig out of the garbage and reread the instructions.. it didn’t go without any issues, but.. I didn’t account for the extra liquid in the pineapple and carrots so I had to add extra flour to get the consistency I knew that I needed from those box cakes that I learned on. So with that being said, I love Carrot Cake, and this was a fantastic recipe and made an excellent cake. One of the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had quite a few..
I made this recipe into cupcakes for Easter. Really moist and delicious. Here are my adjustments: added 1 tsp of ginger powder, 1 tsp allspice and 1 tsp nutmeg to make it more flavorful. The reason I’m giving this a 4 start rating, is because I can taste the baking soda. I would have to replace it with another leavening agent. Not sure what yet. I reduced the baking time to around 30 minutes for the cupcakes instead of the suggested time for an actual cake.
Delicious, moist cake that is easy to prepare.
Yes will make it again
EXCELLENT!!! Did not change anything and everyone raved about it! Was truly delicious!
I did not like this cake. It is very oily and tastes like oil. Also, it didn’t rise well, i thought it was odd that there isn’t any baking powder in it but alot of salt. You can taste the salt. I don’t recommend it.
Yummy
In my previous review, I forgot to mention that because you are frosting only the top of a 9×13 cake, half the icing would be enough.
This recipe, even without the pineapple was so wet and soggy after 2hrs!! of baking. At 1hour and 30 minutes, I even turned up the heat to 375°. I am an experienced baker and my oven works on my own recipes just fine. Unless you want to waste out a bunch of food, DON’T BOTHER.
Turned out great – just like my Grandma’s!