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The carrot pound cake with a cream cheese glaze on a marble cake stand with orange flowers.
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Carrot Pound Cake With Cream Cheese Glaze

Rich, dense and ultra moist, this perfectly spiced carrot pound cake with a cream cheese glaze puts a tasty spin on a classic dessert. For the utmost decadence, serve with a giant scoop of ice cream for a dessert everyone is sure to love. Pound cake never tasted so good.
Course Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings 16 servings
Calories 340kcal
Author Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

  • Mixer
  • 12-cup bundt pan
  • Foil

Ingredients

Carrot Pound Cake

  • 1 cup chopped walnuts toasted
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg preferably freshly grated
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 7 eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup buttermilk shaken before measuring
  • 1 cup grated carrots 3-4 carrots (see notes)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple with juice

Cream Cheese Glaze

  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-4 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Carrot Pound Cake

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together the 3 cups of flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift into another bowl and set aside.
  • Add the dark brown sugar, white sugar, butter, vanilla extract and almond extract to a separate large mixing bowl. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the ingredients over medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about four to five minutes. If using a hand mixer, it might take an extra minute or so. From time to time, scrape the butter off the side of the bowl to ensure everything is well-incorporated.
  • Beat in the eggs one at a time just until combined.
  • Once you beat in all the eggs, add about ½ cup of the flour into the batter and beat until combined on low speed. Beat in a splash of the buttermilk. Repeat the process until both are fully incorporated into the batter, ending with the buttermilk.
  • Stir in the grated carrots, shredded coconut, crushed pineapple and toasted walnuts.
  • Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan, including the middle. The flour makes a big difference in keeping the finished cake from sticking, so don’t skip this step. I find it's helpful to place plastic wrap on top of the bundt pan after flouring and give it a good shake to make sure it's well-coated. Pour in the batter and smooth on top.
  • Bake for 55-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a long skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for an hour or up to two hours. Run a knife along the edge of the bundt pan to loose the cake. Invert on a wire rack to finish cooling before serving. Drizzle with cream cheese glaze once cool. See below for directions.
  • Move to a cake stand when ready to serve. Store under a cake dome to create an airtight environment. If desired, serve with bourbon caramel or your favorite ice cream, such as this Baileys ice cream or butterscotch ice cream with candied pecans. Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Glaze

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until light and fluffy.
  • Add about ½ cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Repeat until you use all the powdered sugar, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary.
  • Add the vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of milk and beat until combined. If you need to thin it out, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk. Either pour in a squeeze bottle to drizzle on the cake or do so directly.

Video

Notes

  • For baking at 5,280 feet altitude, I adjusted to 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder and ⅞ teaspoon baking soda.
  • Use the smallest holes of the box grater for the carrots. Don't use packaged shredded carrots. They're too dry — we want the moisture that comes from freshly grated carrots.
  • To toast the walnuts, add them to a large skillet over medium heat and toast until fragrant, stirring often. This should only take two or three minutes. 
  • Don't scoop the measuring cup into a bag of flour. That can pack in too much flour. Instead, spoon flour into a measuring cup and use a knife to level off the flour.
  • Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 208mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 43g