This pineapple carrot cake recipe is perfectly moist, sweet and spiced with lots of crushed pineapple, dates, raisins, pecans and coconut! A luscious cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping to tie the cake together.
My whole life, I’d been pretty indifferent to carrot cake–until last summer, when my neighbor introduced me to the best carrot cake recipe ever. Made by her childhood neighbors, the Pappas family, the cake was unlike any carrot cake I’d had before!
Each slice was a thick, textured, cinnamon-forward tangle of carrot and coconut infused with chunks of dates and the occasional raisin, just barely bound together by cake. It was moist without being greasy, and rich from crushed pineapple.* My favorite part? The frosting recipe was a sugary buttercream-esque cream cheese icing with the slightest tang to offset the pure sugary sweetness.
*No, the pineapple does not make this a hummingbird cake because hummingbird cakes have banana and no carrot! When using crushed pineapple, it melts into the cake texture, providing extra moisture and sweetness without explicit pineapple flavor.
When it came time to do the carrot cake bake off, I had to include this recipe! This recipe is proportionally similar to the Silver Palate recipe except it uses grated carrots and slightly less sugar and oil. It also adds raisins and dates. The cake itself is less sweet, but the addition of fruit adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
As for the origin of the original recipe, Mrs. Pappas got this from a girl from South America in college when she lived in a coop. When asking for the recipe, I received the recipe card below. There are no instructions because you can really: “mix it any way you want or just all together at once.” While Mrs. Pappas typically makes this as a bundt cake, it can also be baked as a layer cake (my preference).
In the below recipe, I outline the steps I use to make this cake. But I’ve also tried mixing everything together at once and it worked well! It’s truly one of the easiest carrot cake recipes I’ve ever made.
Huge thanks to the Pappas Family for this amazing homemade carrot cake recipe!
Ingredients
- Shredded carrots: Always use fresh carrots if possible! Pre-shredded carrots tend to be dry and lack the moisture that freshly grated carrots bring to the batter. While I typically use the large holes box grater to shred carrots, this recipe requires a whole pound of carrots, so I love using my food processor grating attachment.
- Vegetable oil: Any neutral oil like canola, grapeseed, sunflower or safflower will also work.
- Crushed pineapple with juice: Don’t drain the juice from the can–you’ll use some of it in the batter for a juicy pineapple flavor! I would not recommend using fresh pineapple instead of canned.
- Dates: My favorite are medjool dates because they’re plump and sweet. Make sure to pit them before chopping and adding them to the batter.
- Raisins: I’ve only ever used regular raisins, but golden raisins could also work well in this cake.
- Shredded coconut: Make sure to buy sweetened shredded coconut. Coconut flakes may also work, but expect a chunkier texture.
How to make this pineapple carrot cake
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 and grease 3 8 or 9″ cake pans and line with parchment paper.
Step 2: Mix the batter. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, white sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt). Whisk in the wet ingredients (eggs, oil and vanilla extract) until smooth. Then fold in the carrots, then the coconut, dates, pecans, raisins and crushed pineapple (with juice!) until evenly incorporated in a slightly lumpy cake batter. No electric mixer needed!
Step 3: Bake the layers. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake layers are fragrant and springs back when poked. You can also bake the entire batch of batter in a standard bundt pan for 1 hour or until done!
Step 4: Make an easy cream cheese frosting by beating the cold cream cheese in a stand mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the butter, vanilla, salt and beat until creamy. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until all the sugar is incorporated, then beat on high for 3-4 minutes until you have a billowy, creamy frosting. Let cake cool to room temperature (or even better, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze the layers until cold and firm) before frosting.
BAKING TIPS
- Don’t forget the juice! Make sure to include the juice when adding the canned pineapple for the ultimate moist texture
- For frosting, cold is king: Using cold cream cheese may seem unusual, but it will guarantee a smooth icing that won’t turn grainy.
- The perfect texture: If frosting isn’t thick enough, add more powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency
Yes, the texture will still be fine without these mix-ins. Though as someone who generally doesn’t prefer nuts or raisins in my cake, I really enjoyed the way they add to the texture and flavor of this cake. I encourage you to try them!
No, the pineapple does not make this a hummingbird cake because hummingbird cakes have banana and no carrot! When using crushed pineapple, it melts into the cake texture, providing extra moisture and sweetness without explicit pineapple flavor.
The best way to measure the proper amount of carrots is to weigh them out. One cup of carrots is 99 grams or 3.5 oz (about 1 medium carrot). The amount of carrot in this recipe is listed by weight since this is the most accurate way! If you don’t have a scale, I would first grate the carrots, then gently pack them into a measuring cup until you reach 4.5 cups. (16 oz = approximately 4.5 cups of carrots
Since a carrot cake crumb can be quite moist and dense, a toothpick test can sometimes be hard to gauge. Make sure that your toothpick is clean or has only a few crumbs stuck to it. It should smell fragrant, and the center should spring back when pressed gently with a fingertip.
Yes! If you frost your cake while hot or warm, the frosting will simply melt and slip off the cake. I highly recommend letting the cake layers cool until barely warm at room temperature, then refrigerating or freezing them (wrapped well in plastic wrap) until ready to assemble.
Due to the cream cheese frosting, I tend to store any leftover cake in a Tupperware in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Yes, I’ve successfully frozen and defrosted entire carrot cake slices many times! I recommend wrapping individual slices in plastic wrap before placing in a freezer-safe bag and freezing for up to 1 month. Defrost the slices for an hour or so at room temperature or in the fridge overnight before enjoying.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
- Grammy’s Texas sheet cake
- Number cookie cake
- Milk Bar-style banana s’mores cake
- Milk Bar-style strawberry lemon cake
If you try this cake and love it, please make sure to leave a star rating and a review!
Pappas Family Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 360g
- 2.5 cups sugar 500g
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 large eggs 200g
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable or canola oil 266g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 16 oz carrots, shredded (around 4.5 cups) 452g
- 1 1/3 cups sweetened, shredded coconut 113g
- 1 cup dates, chopped 149g
- 1 cup pecans, chopped 100g
- 8 oz crushed pineapple with juice
- 1/2 cup raisins 75g
Cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, cold 227g
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 113g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar 454g
Instructions
Make the carrot cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a bundt pan or 3 8 or 9" round cake pans.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the carrots, then the coconut, dates, pecans, crushed pineapple with juice and raisins until evenly incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 1 hour (bundt pan) or ~30-45 minutes in the 8 or 9" pans (9" pans may cook slightly faster), or until the cake is fragrant, an inserted tester comes out clean, and the cake springs back after being poked. Let cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack or cutting board. Cool cakes completely before icing.
Make the cream cheese frosting
- Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, beat the cold cream cheese until softened and creamy. (If you use softened cream cheese, the cream cheese can break down and become grainy.)Add the butter, vanilla and salt and mix on medium until smooth and creamy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until all the sugar is incorporated, then beat on medium-high for another 3-4 minutes until white and billowy. Don't skip this step–it'll make your frosting so aerated and smooth!
Tess
Hi there! Can I make this cake in a 9×13 inch metal baking dish? And if so, would it stand up to torting? Thank you so much!!
erika
Yes definitely! (The original recipe is made in a bundt pan so a 9×13 will be easier to handle.) This cake is a bit moist and crumbly so I’d recommend freezing it and torte-ing it either straight from the freezer or slightly defrosted if it’s too hard.
Tess
That sounds great! Thank you again!