A great carrot cake can be one of the best desserts to serve, particularly in the spring and fall, when carrots are in season. Even if you have the best veggies, though, baking a moist, flavorful cake can be challenging. Thankfully, there’s an ingredient that can help.
The Surprising Ingredient Your Carrot Cake Recipe Needs
Have you ever looked at a recipe for carrot cake batter that includes pineapple? While it might seem unusual at first, pineapple is the secret ingredient to making a soft, sweet carrot cake. Most recipes call for canned crushed pineapple, which is much easier to bake with than cutting up your own. It’s similar to substituting applesauce for oil in muffins—one of those healthy swaps that just happens to also make cakes extra tender and delicious.
What Does Pineapple Actually Do to Carrot Cake?
- Pineapple tenderizes. Enzymes found in pineapple (and kiwis and papayas, too) break down proteins, which in the case of carrot cake, results in a more moist cake.
- Lends extra sweetness. So you don’t need to overload the recipe with refined sugar, especially if you use the canned pineapple normally called for.
- Limits the need for oil. Replacing a little bit of the oil with the (usually crushed) pineapple does make it a skosh healthier. Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I make the cream cheese frosting.
Carrot Cake Recipes to Try
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Carrot Cake
- Chef John’s Carrot Cake
- Best Carrot Cake Ever
- Easy Carrot Cake
- Our Entire Collection of Carrot Cake Recipes
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