Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and line your cake pans with parchment and set aside.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add the pineapple, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla and mix until just combined. Be sure not to overmix.
Fold in carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
Add batter to pans and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.Make the frosting by beating together all frosting ingredients until smooth.
Frost cake and decorate as desired.
Notes
Carrot Size Matters
When you grate your carrots, be sure to grate them as small as possible in order to get the most uniform cake slices. Sure, a larger grate will work, but the slices won't look as neat. Plus having the finer carrot pieces ensures they get evenly dispersed throughout the cake.Be Careful MixingYou do not want to mix this batter too much. Mixing the batter creates an excess of gluten, which can result in a more dense chewy texture. Good for some cookie recipes, but not so much cakes.Don't Frost too SoonIf you've spent enough time in the kitchen, you've probably experienced the sliding layer cake situation. You got overly excited, didn't want to wait, and frosted your cake just a little bit too soon before the cake layers could properly cool down.This caused the frosting to melt and everything to just slide all around. You want to make sure the cake comes all the way down to room temperature, and then ideally, you'd wrap the layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or up to a couple of days even) before frosting.Always Prep your PansWe've all seen the baking shows where they forget to prep the pans and half the cake sticks to the pan. Or maybe you've lived that nightmare (I know I have)! Now I'm always sure to use a cake-release spray as well as parchment paper along the bottom of the pan. This ensures the cake just slides right out of the pan every time.