Carrot Cake with Buttermilk Glaze – delicious carrot cake with pineapple, coconut, and nuts! It’s drizzled with a buttermilk glaze and topped with cream cheese frosting!
I promise there’s a reason this looks like the biggest hot mess of a carrot cake ever.
And that reason is because it’s the world’s best carrot cake.
You’ve got your typical carrot cake recipe with lots of carrots, coconut, pineapple, nuts and then when you pull it out of the oven, you drizzle a buttermilk glaze over it and it all seeps in and makes the cake extra delicious.
And then after it cools you cover it in cream cheese frosting which makes it extra, extra delicious.
Like I said, best carrot cake ever.
So I guess it’s officially carrot cake season. Which is strange because I think of the months January – December when I think of carrot cake. I don’t know, spicy carrot cakes just feel like winter to me.
But officially, carrot cake season is the couple weeks before Easter. Because, you know, Easter Bunny and all that.
How To Make Carrot Cake with Buttermilk Glaze!
Like I mentioned, this cake is so delicious.
There’s a lot going on in it which is exactly how I like my carrot cake. The cake itself is full of carrots, crushed pineapple, flaked coconut, and chopped pecans. And it makes 3 layers.
Once the layers are out of the oven, it gets drizzled with the buttermilk glaze. It’s sweet and a little bit tangy from the buttermilk and it just soaks into the hot cakes and makes them super moist.
Once everything is cooled, it gets filled and topped with an easy cream cheese frosting.
Everything works together so beautifully and it’s definitely the only carrot cake I’ll make from now on.
More Layer Cake Recipes

Carrot Cake with Buttermilk Glaze
adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups grated carrot
- 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
For the buttermilk glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup 1 stick butter
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 - 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Line 3 (9-inch) round cakepans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until no lumps remain.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture slowly, beating at low speed until combined. Fold in grated carrot, crushed pineapple, coconut, and pecans. Pour into prepared pans.
- Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
- While the cakes are baking, make the buttermilk glaze by bringing the C&H® Quick Dissolve Superfine Sugar, baking soda, buttermilk, and butter to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over cakes when they are done baking and out of the oven.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, beat all ingredients until no lumps remain.
- To frost the cake, gently remove layers from pans one at a time and place on your serving plate. Spread a generous amount of frosting on top of each layer. Repeat with remaining cake layers and frosting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 410Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 370mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 2gSugar: 40gProtein: 4g
patricia says
My favorite way to use brown sugar is to make gingerbread body scrubQuinlan726(at)aol(dot)com
patricia says
Quinlan726(at)aol(dot)com
https://mobile.twitter.com/crunchycolletti/status/598256127365619712
Amanda Sakovitz says
I like to use it on sweet potatoes
Amanda Sakovitz says
tweeet
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/598472674743037952
ELIZABETH P says
My favorite way is using it in oatmeal. truckredford(at)Gmail(Dot)com
ELIZABETH P says
https://twitter.com/eliza_elliott/status/598495755532369920
Thomas Murphy says
I like to use brown sugar on sweet potatoes.
Thomas Murphy says
tweeted
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/598587423287828481
Aurelie Red says
My favorite way is using it in oatmeal and in cookies ♥
Aurelie Red says
My tweet https://twitter.com/AurelieRed/status/598606969138741248
Natalie J Vandenberghe says
I love brown sugar in oatmeal cake!
Wanda McHenry says
My favorite way to use brown sugar is in my Upside Down Pineapple Cake!
Wanda McHenry says
https://twitter.com/myfolly/status/598730821160333313
Bert Ruiz says
I like brown sugar in oatmeal
Bert Ruiz says
tweeted tweeted https://twitter.com/iamdadtastic/status/598880762528600064
angie says
Homemade baking, cinnamon toast, on cereal, on oatmeal, and in my grits! :-D
angie says
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/598901138793037824
Tabathia B says
I like to use it when making sweet potato casserole
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Tabathia B says
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/598979394569404416
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Whitney Bellows says
I love making cinnamon rolls with brown sugar
Whitney Bellows says
I sent out a tweet: https://twitter.com/electricstar/status/598986843309277185
Cynthia Knisely says
Love the carrot cake glaze recipe. My husband would love it too. Thank you for the recipe.
jessica says
I like to put brown sugar on cream of wheat.
Jean High says
The carrot cake recipe calls for 2 cups granulated sugar but the instructions say C&H pourable brown sugar. Which one goes in the cake?? White or brown sugar
Amanda Livesay says
It should be brown sugar. Sorry and thanks for catching that! I hope you love the cake if you try it!