Moist and lightly spiced coconut carrot cake layered with a brown butter orange cream cheese frosting and coated in shredded coconut.
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coconut carrot cake
Hello hello! Today I have the perfect carrot cake recipe for my fellow coconut lovers. It starts out with a super moist and lightly spiced carrot cake that’s loaded with coconut flakes, and it’s layered with a brown butter cream cheese frosting that’s brightened up with a hint of orange zest, aaand the whole thing is coated in more coconut flakes.
The only thing special you’ll need is a 7″ springform pan – you can find the one I used here. But other than that, this cake is super easy to make. So let’s get into it! 🙂
why you’ll love this mini coconut carrot cake
- It’s perfectly spiced: a mixture of cinnamon, ginger and cloves brings the perfect amount of spice to these cupcakes.
- It’s super moist: Sour cream and the moisture from the carrots helps to make this carrot cake super moist and delicious.
- Coconut: in the cake and all along the outside of the cake for maximum deliciousness, no artificial coconut flavor here.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Be careful when mixing the cake batter:
When you over-mix your batter, you create more gluten in the batter which will make your cake go from light and moist to dense and chewy. When you mix in the wet ingredients, be sure to only mix just until that last streak of flour disappears.
Use room temperature ingredients:
This is super important for allowing the batter to come together smoothly. You’ll want to take your ingredients out of the fridge about an hour before baking to allow them enough time to come to room temperature.
Keep a close eye on the cake while it bakes:
Cakes and cupcakes like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. I’d recommend that you start checking on the cake around 45 minutes.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for coconut carrot cake
carrot cake:
- All purpose flour: for structure.
- Baking powder & baking soda: for making the cake rise.
- Ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves: for flavoring. I recommend adding in all of the spices but I know it can be uncommon to have ginger and cloves. If that’s the case for you then you can definitely replace the ginger and cloves with more cinnamon.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the cupcakes. We will add a touch of salt to both the cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting
- Vegetable oil: for making the cupcakes moist and tender. You can use any other neutral oil, such as canola if that is what you have on hand.
- Light brown sugar: for sweetening the cupcakes, adding moisture, and adding depth of flavor thanks to the molasses in brown sugar. (Note: I’ve also successfully made this with a 50/50 mix of brown sugar & granulated sugar when I ran out of brown sugar!)
- Eggs: for binding the batter, adding moisture, and leavening.
- Sour cream: for moisture. I recommend full-fat sour cream for the best texture.
- Carrot: the star of the show of course! Make sure you are using fresh carrots and not pre-shredded carrots.
- Sweetened coconut flakes: for flavor and texture
cream cheese frosting:
- Cream cheese: the base of any good cream cheese frosting.
- Unsalted butter: for thickening up the cream cheese frosting and for a tonnn of toasty flavor as we’ll be browning the butter for this. You can also use salted butter here, just omit the extra salt from the frosting.
- Salt: to bring out the sweetness & flavor of the frosting.
- Powdered sugar: for sweetening and thickening up the cream cheese frosting.
- Orange: a whole fresh orange, for the zest to brighten up the frosting.
- Sweetened coconut flakes: for flavor and texture
how to make coconut carrot cake
Below are some images of what the cake looks like at various points of the process. You can find the full recipe at the end of the blog post!
- Whisk together all of the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Then, mix in the dry ingredients, pour the batter into your cake pan and bake.
- Make the brown butter cream cheese frosting.
- Slice the cake into 3 layers, layer and coat with frosting and coconut, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
mini coconut carrot cake recipe q&a
Help! My cake is dry / over-baked
If your cake turned out a tad dry, you can brush some milk on to the layers to help make it a bit more moist again.
Can I bake this cake in a different sized pan?
You could bake this in a 8″ springform. Just note that the cake and cream layer will be a tad thinner.
can I make this cake ahead of time?
Definitely! You can bake the cake a day in advance and keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also make the honey praline 1-2 days before and keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I’d recommend waiting to assemble the cake until you want to serve it, to avoid needing to keep it all in the fridge, where the cake will dry out faster.
What is brown butter?
Brown butter is super simple to make so don’t worry! It’s just regular butter that is cooked on the stove until some of the moisture evaporates, allowing the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. The result is this butter with an amber hue and little speckles that has a toasted and slightly nutty aroma.
how to store carrot cake
Once you fill the cake, you’ll want to keep it stored in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep well for about 3 days.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Coconut Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 150 g carrots after peeling & shredding (1 ½ c.)
- 200 g light brown sugar (1 c.)
- 130 g vegetable oil (⅔ c.)
- 120 g sour cream room temperature (½ c.)
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 60 g sweetened coconut flakes (½ c.)
- 180 g all-purpose flour (1 ½ c.)
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. salt
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 226 g cream cheese room temperature (1 c.)
- 127 g unsalted butter room temperature (9 tbsp.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- zest 1 medium-sized orange
- 330 g powdered sugar (2 ¾ c.)
- 105 g sweetened coconut flakes (¾ c. + 2 tbsp.)
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Butter a 7" springform pan, then coat the inside with sugar.
- Wash, peel, and shred the carrots. Make sure to weigh the carrots after shredding to ensure you have 150g.
- To a medium sized mixing bowl, add the sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream, and eggs. Whisk vigorously until well combined, then whisk in the shredded carrots and coconut.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Gently whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until the last streak of flour dissapears.
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the cake is baking, brown the butter: add the butter to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks.
- Transfer the butter to a shallow-heat safe bowl and leave it to cool at room temperature. (If you need the butter cooled fast, you can set it in the freezer and stir it every 5 minutes until it turns solid, then set it at room temp.)
- In a large mixing bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, brown butter, salt, and orange zest until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Then, add in the rest of the powdered sugar and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
- Keep the frosting stored in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the cake. (*You may need to let it sit out at room temp for 10-20 minutes before frosting the cake if the frosting gets too cold.)
Assembly
- Once the cake has fully cooled to room temperature, cut it horizontally into three pieces.
- Set the bottom third of the cake back into the springform pan and evenly spread ⅓ of the cream cheese frosting over it. Place the middle of the cake into the pan and top it with another ⅓ of the frosting.
- Place the top third of the cake on to the cake, then set it in the freezer to firm up for ~20 minutes. (This will make it much easier to frost the outside of the cake).
- Remove the cake from the freezer and from the pan and set it on a serving tray. Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting over the outside of the cake (it will be a thin layer), then coat the outside of the cake with sweetened coconut flakes. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
