Buttermilk-Glazed Pineapple-Carrot Cake

By Jean Hewitt

Published Aug. 12, 2020

Buttermilk-Glazed Pineapple-Carrot Cake
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(157)
Comments
Read comments

This easy pineapple-carrot cake first ran in The New York Times Magazine in the spring of 1972, and it is one of the recipes that former Times columnist Joyce Purnick clipped and saved for decades in her recipe file. This is a snacking cake, mighty sweet, which benefits from a cup of coffee or another bitter drink to cut through the sugar. It might remind you of Jamaican black cake. Pour some rum on top if you so desire.

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Ingredients

Yield:48 pieces

    For the Cake

    • 2cups/255 grams flour
    • 1teaspoon baking soda
    • ½teaspoon salt
    • 1½cups/300 grams sugar
    • 2teaspoons cinnamon
    • 3eggs
    • ¾cup/175 milliliters buttermilk
    • ½cup/120 milliliters oil
    • 2teaspoons vanilla
    • 1(8 ounce/225 grams) can crushed pineapple
    • 2cups/250 grams finely grated raw carrots (there should not be any liquid)
    • 1cup/120 grams coarsely chopped nuts
    • 1cup/85 grams unsweetened flaked coconut

    For the Buttermilk Glaze

    • ⅔cup/135 grams sugar
    • ¼teaspoon baking soda
    • ⅓cup/80 milliliters buttermilk
    • ⅓cup/75 grams butter
    • 2tablespoons light corn syrup
    • ½teaspoon vanilla
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (48 servings)

118 calories; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 76 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk, oil and vanilla, and add to the dry ingredients all at once. Mix until smooth.

  3. Step 3

    Fold in the pineapple, grated carrot, nuts and coconut, and pour into a greased and floured 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake 45 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly touched.

  4. Step 4

    About 15 minutes before the cake is done, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients except the vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, over medium heat and boil gently five minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

  6. Step 6

    Take the cake out of the oven and immediately prick it all over with a fork and slowly pour the buttermilk glaze over the top. Cool in pan. Cut into slices.

Ratings

4 out of 5
157 user ratings
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Comments

Joan M

This cake is almost identical to one that I loved in Sunset Magazine's first Favorite Recipes Cookbook. This cookbook was from long before Sunset was sold by the Lane family to the Time Magazine company. The only difference between the recipes is that Sunset's called for 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup in the glaze rather than 2 tablespoons. I recommend the smaller amount of corn syrup. This cake is better than the standard carrot cake with gloppy cream cheese icing.

larry k

Very moist, tasty cake. After reading the comments (which I find invaluable), I decided to add less sugar, specifically 3/4 of a cup to the cake. That amount of sugar, combined with the sweetness from the sugar and syrup in the glaze was just right to my taste.

EBBrady

I loved this cake. I didn’t drain the pineapple thinking there wasn’t much liquid other than the eggs and little bit of oil. I used macadamia nuts. And I did make and use the glaze. Over all it was much lighter than the carrot cakes popular in the late 20th century with the cream cheese frosting. Will definitely make again.

nicole

I found that there was way too much glaze. It pooled around the edges of the cake despite piercing the cake all over with a fork. Overall very tasty cake!

Jay

Like others mentioned, I reduced the sugar. I made a few additional tweaks for less sugar or just personal preference: -reduced the sugar in the cake (by 40%) to 120 grams, and used coconut sugar instead -used fresh pineapple instead of canned -toasted my pecans and let them cool before adding them to the mix -reduced the corn syrup (by half) to 1 TBSP Absolutely fantastic recipe to have slightly adapted, and got so many compliments from family I shared with.

Aggie

This is a great way to use up some leftover produce and pantry items. I used fresh pineapple (chopped finely) instead of canned and I cut out half of the sugar in the cake (using .75 cup). I didn’t have unsweetened coconut so I used sweetened. I had small bits of almonds, walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts and used them all. Really tasty cake and plenty sweet without so much sugar.

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