My spin on carrot cake removes the raisins, nuts and pineapple, instead favoring toasty coconut and loads of flavor from brown sugar and freshly grated carrots. Traditional cream cheese frosting layers the naked cake with a shower of extra coconut to top it off. Delish!
Carrot cake is often a source of heated debate in the culinary world. People have strong opinions and sincerely defend their stance on what goes into the cake, and how they like it. I skew off the norm on this one, skipping over many of the traditional ingredients, including nuts, raisins, and pineapple. In place of this, I use a ton of shredded coconut. Using only brown sugar deepens the hint of spice that balances the sweetness of the rich cream cheese frosting. Having tested the recipe on some devout carrot cake fans in our family, I think we have a winner!
Ingredients above on the left are for the cake, and on the right is the frosting. I’ve made loads of carrot cakes, and had some fails, almost always due to the fact that the carrots sank and deflated the cake. It is crucial to freshly grate your own carrots (never buy pre-shredded for baking) using a small grate size, and toss them in cornstarch before incorporating into the batter.
Naked Coconut Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups AP flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice or ground cloves
- 1 tsp kosher salt I use Morton's
- 1.5 cups Canola Oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk any fat content works, but I prefer full
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups grated carrots use a small to medium grate size
- 1 tbsp cornstarch to toss with the carrots before stirring
- 1.5 cups shredded coconut
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese in blocks, not tubs - room temp
- 1/2 cup butter room temp
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 8 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream or full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut for topping the cake
Instructions
Coconut Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three cake pans with butter and parchment paper to line the bottom.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt), whisking thoroughly and using a sifter if needed.
- Using a stand mixer, combine the oil, buttermilk, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to make the batter. Toss the grated carrots with the cornstarch (to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pans in the batter), and fold into the mixed batter. Add the coconut at the end, and pour evenly into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 25 mins for 3 cake pans, slightly longer for 2. The cakes should be set in the middle, but be careful to not overbake. Remove from the pans soon to stop the cooking process - cool on a wire rack until ready to frost.
Cream Cheese Frosting, and finishing that cake!
- Combine the cream cheese and butter with vanilla, then slowly add the confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, until well blended. Add the cream, and whip until desired consistency is reached.
- Place one cake piece down on the cake platter, and top with a generous amount of frosting - this is a "naked cake" with no frosting on the sides, so go heavy on the layers. Add the next cake piece, and repeat until you have three layers with lots of frosting on the top - a little can overhang. Top the cake with the shredded coconut and leave at room temp or chill until ready to DIG IN!
Notes
