Carrot Pineapple Bundt Cake w/ Sour Cream Frosting

bundt!

Somehow I got the idea that you need an occasion to make a cake. Like you can’t just make a cake because it’s a Thursday and you want one. That’s bad. That kind of thinking gets you into trouble. In a perfect world every day is worthy of cake, isn’t it?  My excuse/occasion for making this cake was that my husband has been working his ass off for the past few weeks at work and deserved one.  And thank god he’s been working hard, because if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have this heavenly recipe to share!

cinnamon goodness

Carrot cake! We loooooove carrot cake. A carrot bundt cake? I’m intrigued! A few weeks ago, I showed Casey the photo of this cake from the magazine and he insisted that there wasn’t enough frosting. NOT TRUE. There’s tons! Like a ridiculous amount of it. There was a pool of frosting in the middle of the bundt hole and yes, I went for it.  No one witnessed my moment of gluttony so it might not have happened. So how did it go? Extremely well! The best part of this cake?  The crunchy caramelized edges you get from using a bundt pan! It reminds me of a cross between a pineapple upside down cake, a coffee cake and carrot cake! Three of my favorites!  The tang of the sour cream is a perfect substitution for the classic carrot cake’s cream cheese frosting. Total winner. It’s going in the cake rotation fo’sho!

Start mixing up your dry ingredients. Now set aside.

dry

Now you get your wet ingredients together in a bowl & mix with a whisk.

sugar vanilla eggs oil

And here we have the trifecta of yum! Carrots, walnuts & pineapples!

trifecta of yum

Dry meets wet! And a little bit of mixing…

wet meets dry

You get this! Now pour the batter into your bundt pan!

fillage

Level it, and then put it in the oven for 55 minutes or so. Mine took a little bit less.

to oven

The hardest part is letting it cool. Get your hands off of it! I know I know. I should talk…

cooling is the hardest part

Now it’s time to make the frosting! I melted the butter by accident. Still worked, but follow the actual recipe!

sour cream meets sugar and butter

Stir stir stir! Watch those lumps! I got a ton cuz I didn’t sift. YIKES.

sour cream icing

Drizzle the sour cream frosting on top of the cooled cake.

drizzles

Top with some ground cinnamon to make it fancy!

oh dear god yes

Wanna peak inside?

up close and personal

Look at that pineapple CHUNK! Oh dear god! YES!

Carrot Pineapple Bundt Cake with Sour Cream Frosting

(recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine)

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1/4 teaspoon, plus 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup loosely packed carrots shreds, about 2 medium carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh or canned pineapple
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 6 cup nonstick Bundt pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, 1/4 cup sour cream, the oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the carrots, pineapple and walnuts. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes, then invert onto the rack, remove the pan and let cool completely.

3. Using a wooden spoon, beat the confectioners’ sugar and butter until smooth. Whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup sour cream and 1 pinch salt. Drizzle the frosting on top of the cake and sprinkle with cinnamon. Dig in!

A few notes about this cake:

-Make sure you sift the powdered sugar in the frosting. I got lumps because I didn’t. I quickly got over the lumps because the taste was soo good. It wiped away my OCD for those lumps. THOSE DAMN LUMPS!

-I used a bigger bundt cake than the required 6 cup bundt pan. This effects the cooking time a little bit! It actually made the cake bake in less time. Make sure you know that!

-I rushed through the recipe and didn’t realize the butter was supposed to be softened-not melted for the frosting. Make sure you do that! It worked out in the end, but it freaked me out in the process! Don’t make that mistake!

  • Katrina

    This cake is SO pretty! The recipe screams delicious. Thanks!

  • Marci

    I’m drooling! And I love that there are no raisins in this. The pictures are fantastic (hence the drool). Mmm…

  • bridget

    wow, that looks delicious.

    i feel the same way – make a cake just because? nonsense!

    but with this one, maybe i will.

  • Julie

    I’m fairly certain there’s some kind of law of nature that says you HAVE to go for the frosting in the middle of the bundt cake. It’s like…the whole point of making a bundt cake! That looks delicious!

  • Dana

    My husband’s favorite cake is carrot cake. I haven’t made him one (bad wife!) because it does need to be a special occasion for me to bake a layer cake. This looks so much more simple and no less delicious. This is definitely a weeknight cake!

    • Tracy

      A layer cake takes soo much out of me! This is totally doable…and a perfect compromise! I bet he will love it! xo

  • Jessie

    That’s funny because I started baking one cake a week– reasoning? Just because. It’s a great release from the pressures of the rest of life! 🙂 Looks yummy
    Jessie

    • Tracy

      that’s pretty much why I bake too…instant stress reliever! There’s just something about measuring flour and sugar in a measuring cup that helps center me! And then in the end, I get a nice little sugar rush! WIN!

  • regan

    I am dying over bundt hole. BUNDT HOLE! hehehehe, bundt hole.

  • Olga

    I came upon your blog while trolling for carrot cake recipes on the interweb. This cake is yummy delicious and super easy to make. 🙂

  • Jennie

    You wrote this post on my birthday…and I never made myself a cake..so I figure it’s a sign. A belated birthday cake is better than no cake at all…

  • Lori

    Moist and delicious cake!
    Rookie mistake: In my excitement I didn’t read to the end of the recipe so I ended up adding the whole 1/2 cup of sour cream to the cake batter (doh!). I also had a less than perfect dismount from my NON-nonstick bundt pan but nothing that delicious icing can’t cover up. Thanks for offering the perfect solution to my leftover pineapple 🙂

  • samantha steven

    I love this idea! Can’t wait to try it. I have been suffering from hiatal hernia for a long time… carrots are the best as they are low-acid-producing foods and are less likely to aggravate my problem. Thanks for sharing.

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