Hummingbird Carrot Bundt Cake with Pineapple and Coconut

This Hummingbird Carrot Bundt Cake with Pineapple and Coconut is the perfect cross between a carrot cake and a hummingbird cake. It’s incredibly moist without being wet, perfectly spiced, and topped with a light and fluffy cream cheese frosting. A delicious addition to any party or potluck!

this recipe

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• 🥇 Why it’s great!
• 🥕Ingredients
• 🥣 Instructions
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For a crowd
• 🙋 Questions and Answers
• 👨🏼‍🍳 Tips & Tricks
• 📖 Other great bundt cake recipes
• 👋🏻 Connect with us!
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Bundt cakes are my favorite kind of cake to serve at a gathering. They don’t require all the fuss of a layer cake, or the individual attention of cupcakes, but serve a crowd just as well. This particular cake is no exception. 

In my mind this is a tropical take on carrot cake. Changing out walnuts for pecans and adding in pineapple and coconut to complement the spiced carrot batter. Truly delicious!

And if you love tropical flavors be sure to try our pineapple lime rice or toasted coconut rice. Both are excellent!

🥇 Why it’s great!

• It combines the familiar flavor of carrot cake with the pineapple, coconut, and pecans found in hummingbird cake. 
• It is baked in a bundt cake pan which helps it to bake evenly.
• It’s moist without being wet.
• The frosting is traditional cream cheese that is made fluffy with a little cream or milk.

🥕Ingredients

Cake ingredients

A full list of the ingredients is in the recipe card below, but here are a few noteworthy tips.

Nuts: Pecans are best. For an added punch of flavor toast them for a couple minutes before incorporating them into the batter.
Carrots: Any peeled and cleaned carrots will work. I prefer finely grated carrots but any size will work.
Pineapple: Fully drain the can of pineapple to keep the cake from being too wet.
Coconut: Sweetened pre-shredded coconut is perfect. If the coconut is grated too fine it will disappear into the cake.
Oil: Any neutral flavored oil is perfect. This ingredient is critical to the moistness of the cake.

Frosting Ingredients

Cream cheese: Block cream cheese is required for this recipe.
Vanilla: If at all possible use real vanilla. Imitation vanilla doesn’t taste the same.

🥣 Instructions

Making the cake

The process for this cake is pretty straightforward.

1. The dry ingredients get mixed together.
2. The wet ingredients get mixed together.
3. The dry ingredients get dumped into the wet and mixed until just combined.
4. The pineapple, coconut, pecans, and carrots get mixed in until everything is well combined.

Making the frosting

Once the cake is baked and cooled, it's time to make the frosting.

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until well combined.
2. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat thoroughly.
3. Add milk or cream until desired consistency is reached. I prefer it light enough to be fluffy but still hold its shape when put on the cake. If it gets too runny just add a little bit more powdered sugar.

Baking a bundt cake

Baking a bundt cake is super easy, but in order to make sure that the bundt cake doesn’t stick here are a few tips on the best way to grease a bundt pan.

1. First, make sure that you liberally grease and flour every inch of the pan, paying special attention to the grooves. The main reason that a bundt cake sticks to the pan is not enough baking spray. I have had good success with both Pam Baking and Baker’s Joy. If you don’t have baking spray (which is my preferred method), you may use softened butter, shortening, or oil and then sift flour over the top. Dump out the excess four and your cake pan should be good to go.
2. Do not allow the cake batter to sit in the pan for more than a couple minutes before placing it in the oven. It is best to put the cake batter in the pan just before baking.
3. Once the cake is finished baking, allow it to cool for 20 minutes before flipping it out. In other bundt cake recipes we advise allowing them to cool for 10 minutes, but because this cake is a little heavier it benefits from an extra 10 minutes in the pan to prevent it from falling.

Decorating a Hummingbird Carrot Bundt Cake

Wait until the cake is completely cool before attempting to frost it. There are many methods for decorating a bundt cake, but for this cake we like to dollop some right in the center of the cake and rock the spoon back and forth until it just starts to drop down the edge and form a scallop. If you wish you can swirl the spoon around a couple times on the top.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For a crowd

Of all desserts, bundt cakes are naturally great for serving crowds. I find that they typically serve 15-16 comfortably, especially when you add a small scoop of ice cream on top. If you are serving this at a party, I highly suggest making it ahead and freezing (see instructions below).

🙋 Questions and Answers

👨🏼‍🍳 Tips & Tricks

• Whether using baking spray or your own grease/flour mixture be sure to coat the pan thoroughly and generously. 
• Allow the cake to cool for a full 20 minutes before flipping it out. Then allow it to cool thoroughly before frosting. 
• A secret to making any cake more moist is to refrigerate it overnight or freeze it. I highly recommend making this cake ahead to allow time for one of those options - it really does make a difference! 
• Move the cake from the cooling rack to a cake plate using a cake lifter like this one. Makes moving cakes SO easy.

📖 Other great bundt cake recipes

• Chocolate buttermilk bundt cake
• Moist Mini Bundt Cakes
• Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake
• The Ultimate White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake

👋🏻 Connect with us!

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📋 Recipe