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Carrot Cake with Coconut and Pecans and a Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

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This is definitely one of my favourite cakes ever! Moist and bursting with flavours from spices, carrots, pecan nuts, coconut and vanilla, this foolproof cake can be eaten as is or enhanced with a deliciously, smooth and creamy Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.

Delicious made as cupcakes

Based on my Spicy Cake with Vegetable/Fruit and Nuts – Core Recipe, the cake batter is not overly sweet so I often make both a cake and also bake some of the mixture into muffin cases which are fabulous for breakfast or a mid-morning snack. Adding the Cream Cheese Frosting adds a silky, smooth, creamy layer and you end up with a richer and sweeter cake ideal for afternoon tea, dessert or a special treat.

Please do not be put off by the length of this post – it really is very easy.

Please do not be put off by the long post – I have given lots of very specific guidance for cakes, cupcakes and freezing options.

How to make Carrot Cake with Coconut and Pecans

Collect all your ingredients for the cake together:

For the carrot and nut mix:

  • pecan nuts or walnuts, plus 12 – 16 extra for topping the cake
  • carrots, washed, peeled and sliced into thick chunks

Wet ingredients:

  • sunflower or vegetable oil
  • natural yoghurt
  • eggs
  • vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:

  • whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour
  • bicarbonate of /baking soda
  • baking powder
  • cardamom powder
  • cinnamon powder
  • fine salt
  • light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • desiccated coconut

Softening Brown Sugar:

Have you ever gone into your kitchen cupboard for brown or muscovado sugar to find it is rock solid? There is a really simple solution to this, and it doesn’t involve a hammer and chisel! See here.

NB – The pictures here show cake quantities for 3 layers, each baked in 20 cm/8 inch round cake tins. Alternative quantities are also given in the Recipe Notes. Please allow the 1 egg quantity per 18cm/7 inch layer or it will make 7 – 8 cupcakes. The recipe below is for a 2 egg version which is sufficient for 2 x 18 cm/7 inch round cakes or 14 – 16 cupcakes/muffins.

Make the cake:

  1. Roast the pecan nuts in the oven for 10 minutes.
  2. Whilst they are cooking, collect together the rest of the ingredients.
  3. Take the nuts out of the oven. Remove the whole pecan halves for the topping of the cake and place ⅔ of the rest in the food processor. Blitz until the they are the texture of ground almonds.
  4. Add the carrots and blitz until broken down.
  5. Add the wet ingredients – the oil, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla and blitz until thoroughly mixed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  6. Add the dry ingredients – the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, sugar and coconut. Pulse until nearly mixed in.
  7. Add the remaining ⅓ of the pecans. Pulse briefly to mix in and slightly chop. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Alternatively, fold into the batter by hand.
  8. Transfer the batter equally into lined and greased baking tins. Cook in the centre of the oven.
  9. When cooked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

NB I doubled the ingredients in the recipe below and made 3 x 20cm/8inch round cakes.

How to make Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Collect all your ingredients for the Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting together:

  • unsalted butter
  • cream cheese
  • icing sugar
  • vanilla extract
  • fine salt

When the cakes have cooled, make the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  1. Put the butter into the bowl of your electric whisk and beat until light and fluffy.
  2. Gradually add the icing sugar whisking well in between each addition. (NB You may wish to first fold the icing sugar in with a spoon before whisking – this will help to stop the icing sugar clouding up and making a mess of your kitchen!)
  3. Beat until very light and fluffy – this can take up to 5 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla extract with the final addition of sugar.
  5. Finally beat in the cream cheese. Taste and add more vanilla, if necessary.

Single layer, double layer or triple?

This cake freezes extremely well so I always make a 3 or 4 egg version and freeze one or two layers of the cake as well as the extra frosting for future use. I freeze the cake and the frosting separately and then assemble the cake when it has defrosted. Feeding a crowd? Then make a triple layered cake.

Muffins/Cupcakes

If you would like to make cupcakes, follow the recipe below. The 2-egg quantity will make 16 cupcakes.

  1. Line a muffin tin with 16 paper cases and fill each paper case until around ⅔ full or roughly 60g of cake batter per cupcake. You should get 15-16 cupcakes
  2. Cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 20 – 25 minutes.
Delicious cupcakes

Frost the cakes

When the cakes are cold, you can ice them with this delicious frosting.

Ice the cakes generously with the Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with the pecans or walnuts – see below.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Carrot Cake with Coconut and Pecans and a Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist and bursting with flavours from spices, carrots, nuts and vanilla, this foolproof cake can be eaten as is or enhanced with a deliciously, smooth and creamy Cream Cheese Frosting.

Course afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert, Morning Coffee, Snack, treat
Keyword cake, carrot, coconut, cream cheese frosting, pecan nuts
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Author Susan

Ingredients

THE CAKE – for the carrot and nut mix: 

  • 80g pecan nuts or walnuts plus 16 complete pecan halves for the topping
  • 180g carrots, washed, trimmed and roughly sliced. (No need to peel)

Wet ingredients:

  • 140g sunflower or vegetable oil
  • 80g natural yoghurt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Dry ingredients:

  • 150g whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of /baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 140g light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • 40g desiccated coconut

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

(See Recipe Notes for Frosting quantity for 16 cupcakes. Make in the same way)

  • 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 250g icing sugar
  • 100g cream cheese
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the cake:

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4

  3. Roast the pecan nuts in the oven for 10 minutes.

  4. Whilst they are cooking, collect together the rest of the ingredients.

  5. Take the nuts out of the oven. Remove the whole pecan halves for the topping of the cake and place ⅔ of the rest in the food processor. Blitz until the they are the texture of ground almonds.

  6. Add the carrots and blitz until broken down.

  7. Add the wet ingredients – the oil, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla and blitz until thoroughly mixed.

  8. Add the dry ingredients – the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, sugar and coconut. Pulse until nearly mixed in.

  9. Add the remaining ⅓/25g of the pecans. Pulse briefly to mix in and slightly chop. Alternatively, fold into the batter by hand. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage.

  10. Transfer the batter equally into lined and greased baking tins or cupcake holders.

  11. For the cakes, bake in the centre of the oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until the cake is cooked.

    For the cupcakes, bake in the centre of the oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until the cake is cooked.

    It is cooked when:

    – the centre feels slightly springy when lightly touched

    – a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean

    – the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin.

  12. Take out of the oven but leave in the tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

  13. Leave to cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Put the butter into the bowl of your electric whisk and beat until light and fluffy.

  3. Gradually add the icing sugar whisking well in between each addition. (NB You may wish to first fold the icing sugar in with a spoon before whisking – this will help to stop the icing sugar clouding up and making a mess of your kitchen!)

  4. Beat until very light and fluffy – this can take up to 5 minutes.

  5. Add the vanilla extract with the final addition of sugar.

  6. Finally beat in the cream cheese. Taste and add more vanilla, if necessary.

  7. When the cakes are cold either:

    A) use one third of the frosting to top one of the cakes and then freeze the remaining frosting and cakes for later use, OR

    B) use two thirds of the frosting to make a 2 layered cake and then freeze the remaining third of the frosting and the remaining cake, OR

    C) use all three cakes and all of the frosting to make a three layered cake

    D) Decorate the top of the cakes with the complete pecan or walnut halves.

  8. When the cupcakes are cold:

    Decorate the cupcakes either using a piping bag or swirl on by hand.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • Baking tray
  • Chopping board and knife
  • Kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • Food processor
  • 7 inch round cakes tins greased and lined with baking parchment
  • electric whisk and mixing bowl

Balancing the cake tins:

  • It is important that the tins have as equal amount of batter as possible. You can do it by eye but this is a really simple way to be accurate. To do this, I:
  • put a cake tin on the scales and zero the scales
  • add half or one third of the batter. Take off the scales
  • place another empty tin on the scales and press to ensure the scales have gone back to zero
  • add the remaining or another one third of the batter and check it is the same weight. If not adjust. 

Cream Cheese Frosting for 16 cupcakes:

  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 150g cream cheese 
  • 390g icing sugar 
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ plus  ⅛ teaspoon salt 

No food processor?

If you do not have a food processor, I recommend you use ground almonds instead of the pecan nuts and you can grate the carrots using a box grater. Combine the nuts, carrots and wet ingredients with a whisk or beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Fold in the dry ingredients. 

If you only have a small food processor, you can blitz the pecan nuts and either blitz or grate the carrots and make up the cake as explained above. 

4 EGG VERSION FOR 3 X 20 cm/8 inch LAYERS; 4 X 18 cm/7 inch LAYERS OR 28 – 32 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS

For the carrot and nut mix: 

  • 140g pecan nuts or walnuts, plus 16 extra for topping the cake
  • 360g carrots, washed, trimmed and roughly sliced. No need to peel

Wet ingredients:

  • 280g sunflower or vegetable oil 
  • 160g natural yoghurt
  • 4 large eggs 
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Dry ingredients:

  • 300g whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour 
  • 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of /baking soda 
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons cardamom powder
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 280g light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • 80g desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 150g cream cheese 
  • 390g icing sugar 
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ plus  ⅛ teaspoon salt 

 

3 EGG VERSION FOR 3 X 18 cm/7 inch LAYERS OR 21 – 24 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS

For the carrot and nut mix: 

  • 105g pecan nuts or walnuts, plus 16 extra for topping the cake
  • 270g carrots, washed, trimmed and roughly sliced. No need to peel

Wet ingredients:

  • 210g sunflower or vegetable oil 
  • 120g natural yoghurt
  • 3 large eggs 
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract 

Dry ingredients:

  • 225g whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour 
  • 1½ teaspoons bicarbonate of /baking soda 
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoons cardamom powder
  • 1½ teaspoons cinnamon powder
  • ¾ teaspoon fine salt
  • 210g light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • 60g desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 125g cream cheese 
  • 325g icing sugar 
  • 1¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ plus 1/16 teaspoon salt 

2 EGG VERSION FOR 2 X 18 cm/7 inch LAYERS OR 14 – 16 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS

For the carrot and nut mix: 

  • 70g pecan nuts or walnuts, plus 16 extra for topping the cake
  • 180g carrots, washed, trimmed and roughly sliced. No need to peel

Wet ingredients:

  • 140g sunflower or vegetable oil 
  • 80g natural yoghurt
  • 2 large eggs 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Dry ingredients:

  • 150g whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour 
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of /baking soda 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 140g light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • 40g desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g cream cheese 
  • 250g icing sugar 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt 

1 EGG VERSION FOR 1 X 18 cm/7 inch LAYER OR 7 – 8 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS

For the carrot and nut mix: 

  • 35g pecan nuts or walnuts, plus 16 extra for topping the cake
  • 90g carrots, washed, trimmed and roughly sliced. No need to peel

Wet ingredients:

  • 70g sunflower or vegetable oil 
  • 40g natural yoghurt
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

Dry ingredients:

  • 75g whole wheat or plain/all-purpose flour 
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of /baking soda 
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 70g light muscovado or light brown sugar
  • 20g desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 50g cream cheese
  • 130g icing sugar 
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt 

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