High Altitude Carrot Coconut Bundt Cake
Perfectly moist, spiced carrot cake baked in a bundt or tube pan, frosted with pecan cream cheese buttercream and covered in coconut flakes.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Angel Food Cake Pan or Tube Pan with Removable Bottom (or a 12-cup bundt pan)
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups carrots, peeled and finely grated (about 9 ounces)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
Buttercream
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature for 30 minutes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, completely softened to room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp meringue powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 2 cups "natural" unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly spray a tube pan with a removable bottom (also known as an angel food cake pan) with non-stick baking spray. If you don't have a tube pan, you can use a 12-cup bundt pan instead.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until nutty brown solids form on the bottom of the pan. Immediately scrape the butter and the browned bits into a large mixing bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots, applesauce, oil, milk, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla to the brown butter, and whisk until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk for 10-15 seconds until combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the cake for about 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. My cake was done at 55 minutes.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the sides of the tube pan and let the cake finish cooling on the base of the pan. If using a bundt pan, turn the cake out of the pan onto the cooling rack.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting. You can make this cake in advance, wrapping the cake while it's slightly warm in several layers of plastic. Keep at room temperature for up to 1 day until ready to frost your cake.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar and the meringue powder, mixing until combined.
- Add the salt and vanilla; on medium high, whip for several minutes until light and fluffy – add a little more powdered sugar if the buttercream is too soft, or 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream if it's too thick. Fold in the chopped pecans.
- Set the cooled cake on a serving plate or cake pedestal. Frost all over with the buttercream. Before the buttercream crusts over, press handfuls of coconut flakes all over the cake.
Notes
Once frosted, the cake can be kept at room temperature for up to one day, then refrigerated, in an airtight container or cake carrier, for up to 3 days. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.
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