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Ummm, can I go out and say, best carrot cake ever?!
Because I really, really want to! I hate when I’m always saying things are the best, but you guy, I really do not know how else to describe this cake. Three coconutty, carrot cake layers, frosted generously with the most delicious whipped mascarpone buttercream, and topped with fresh spring strawberries. Yup, see…best ever. Or at least it’s the best carrot cake I’ve ever had, which granted, I really haven’t had many carrot cakes, but I think you get what I’m trying to say here…
Plus, not only is this cake delicious, it’s super pretty too! Which you guys know is something I’m all about. If something can be pretty AND taste good, well that is just a major bonus for me!
This cake is the perfect way to be kicking off the weekend, right?! YES. Which by the way, hey, hi! Happy Friday! I feel like I just jumped right on into things here with some serious cake details, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I am a little exited about this recipe! OkOK, and the fact that it’s Friday just adds to the excitement! Anyone else totally ready for an awesome weekend?
It was a long but great week over here. I love that my weeks are jam-packed and feel really productive. All the more reason to end with cake and celebrate just a little! <–smart reasoning, trust me.
Here’s the deal, with Easter right around the corner, I am definitely in the baking mood. When I think about Easter eats, I think of ham, lamb, asparagus, pineapple, carrot cake, milk chocolate bunnies and strawberry filled desserts. Reading that sentence out loud, it sounds like a complete random mix of foods, but I dunno, those are just traditional Easter eats to me. What do you think of when thinking about your Easter menu?
Anyway, carrot cake is a classic. Thing is, you guys know that I’m typically all about chocolate cakes. I mean, the more chocolate the better! DUH.
I only recently started getting into baking fruity desserts, and while I will not deny that I don’t love them same way as say, something like this chocolate cake, I’m still loving having fun with them, and this cake is no exception. Hello, the whipped mascarpone buttercream alone is reason enough to bake this one up.
The idea of carrot cake has always sounded a off to me, but then last year I finally made a carrot cake cheesecake and my view on carrot cake changed forever. Not only do the carrots add major moistness to the cake, but the sweet flavor they give off is very good.
This year, I decided to step things up a notch and go all out…after all, I do love a good over the top cake. Muahahaha 🙂
The base layers for this cake are made of vanilla cake, flavored with cinnamon, carrots and tons of sweet shredded coconut. The coconut is probably my favorite part. It lends a really nice sweet, almost tropical flavor, to the cake that pairs really well with the strawberries in the frosting…which oh my gosh, this buttercream (or frosting, I never really know whether to call it frosting or buttercream, but I like buttercream), my mom says you could top off just about anything with this buttercream and turn it into something so delish.
It’s pretty traditional for carrot cake to have a cream cheese frosting, but I loved the sound of strawberries and mascarpone together, so I went for it…such a good idea. Especially paired with the super moist and coconutty carrot cake layers. It’s kind of like Italian cake meets carrot cake. Promise, it’s all things awesome and perfect.
While the cake looks all fancy, it’s actually pretty easy to make. Simply bake the cake layers, make the buttercream, frost the cake and DONE. Nothing complicated about it, which is great for any kind of holiday dessert.
OH, and while the chamomile flowers are optional, I love the pretty spring touch they add, and yes, they are edible!
This cake would be perfect for Easter or Mother’s Day, but also makes for a great weekend treat. I don’t know about you guys, but this week has left me feeling the need to celebrate its end with cake. Long work days and dealing with some online haters means cake is for sure a good idea…but then, cake is always a good idea!
I mean, ALWAYS.
Strawberry Coconut Carrot Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 pound carrots, grated
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Strawberry Mascarpone Frosting
- 8 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks salted butter, softened
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries, ground until a fine powder
- 1 cup fresh chopped strawberries
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer) beat together the canola oil, buttermilk, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the carrots and coconut. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low until there are no longer any clumps of flour. Batter should be pourable, but not super thin. 4. Pour the batter among the 3 cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before assembling.5. To make the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat another 2-4 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Beat in the strawberry powder. 6. Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread a little frosting. Top with half the strawberries. Repeat with the remaining 2 cake layers. Be careful not to over fill your layers with fruit. Frost the cake sides.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
That cake slice right there, it is to die for!
Thank your site! information your share is useful to me!
Thats great! Thank you!
Yes the cake was really Fantastic!!! We amused our party with this fantastic cake, Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe. Thanks alot!!!
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That is amazing! Thanks Rajiv!
Made this cake with some healthier modifications, used almond meal, avo oil, cashew milk and a little less sugar. Cream cheese for the frosting. Basically I wanted to make this really badly so used what I had at home. OMG!!!!!! Sooooooo Good!!! Thank you for all your beautiful creations, I always look forward to your instagram posts.
All the subs sound amazing! So happy it was yummy!
Thank you for making it Rachel!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. There is no buttermilk for sale in Sweden and I am therefore wondering if I could replace it with something else? I really want to bake this for mothers day this Sunday 🙂
Greetings from Sweden and keep up the good work!
Hi! Sorry for the delay in my response. You can use regular whole milk in place of the buttermilk. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the cake!
Hi! This cake looks amazing! I’m going to make it this weekend for my birthday party, I can’t wait to try it! I have one question though: I live in the Netherlands and can not get freeze-dried strawberries anywhere, I can’t order them either. Can I substitute it with anything or is it better to just leave it out? Thanks!
Hi Katja!! You can either leave them out or use 2 tablespoons strawberry jam. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love the cake and happy birthday!
YUM! I just made this for my Sister’s Birthday and it was a huge hit. I found some edible flowers to decorate the top and it was so festive!
Thank you!
Sounds so fun Kathryn! So happy you liked it!
I made this for Easter. It was so delicious and fun to serve. I loved the coconut. I happened to be in a dollar store and they had dried strawberries and they were great! It was meant to be. Thanks for your blog. My favorite!
Whoa! How perfect! So happy you liked it Susan, thank you!
This cake looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it! How do you measure your flour? Scoop and sweep? I’d love it if you’d start sharing your recipes with weight measurements! Thanks for always having the best recipes!!
Hi, this cake looks amazing. I’m in Australia and not to sure what a stick of butter is. Can you tell me how many grams that is please?
Thanks
Sure! It’s 113 grams of butter. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love the cake! 🙂
I also made this for Easter brunch and it was a showstopper! Sorry no photo to show but it was so pretty. Ended up using frozen strawberries in the frosting (which I pulverized) as I misread the recipe but it turned out great. This is my third of your cakes I have made and they are the best. Thanks!
So happy you made the cake, and liked it!! Thank you so much (:
Made this for Easter and it was a huge hit with my family. Delicious! Very easy to make, and looked amazing! I’ll certainly make it again.
So happy it was a hit, thank you so much Erin (:
This cake is amazing, i made it this weekend for our annual Easter party, it was a hit..i will be making this many times. I did sub out the mascarpone cheese for cream cheese because i had a brick of cream cheese. I may try it next time with the mascarpone to see if i taste a difference.
So happy you liked it! Excited to hear if you taste the difference! Thanks Jeanice (:
Hi!
What do you think of using coconut flour instead of normal flour.. ? Any advice on that?
Thank you for all you do .. keep inspiring!
Hi Alia, I would not recommend replacing all the flour with coconut flour. Coconut flour works in a very different way then regular flour, so I just cannot be sure what the results would be. You could try replacing half the flour with coconut flour, but again I am just not sure how it will turn out. So sorry I couldn’t help more. Let me know if you have other questions. Thank you! 🙂
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! I followed the recipe and it came out perfectly! Imagine?! 🙂 🙂 Thank you for all your amazing recipes and your gorgeous pictures. This website makes me so happy!!
SO happy it came out as expected (:
Thank you so much Meridith!
Does anyone have any suggestions for making this beautiful cake Gluten Free and Low Carb?? Thank you!
Hi! I have not tried this as a gluten free cake so unfortunately I don’t think I can help much. I do love bob’s red mill gluten free flour blend if that helps at all.