Carrot Cake
This is our favorite carrot cake recipe with a classic cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake itself is super moist, not too sweet, flavorful, and incredibly easy to make. It's almost a one bowl recipe! Our recipe can make either a 3 layer 6 inch cake or a 2 layer 8 inch cake, which is perfect for all occasions, including Easter! For an even smaller version, try our lunch box carrot cake, which are super cute and is lighter in texture and also paired with a lighter cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
For the carrot cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour fluffed, spooned, and leveled *see notes
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed (light brown sugar is okay too *see notes)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup oil any neutral oil like avocado, canola, and vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 8 ounces carrot peeled and grated with the coarse side of the box grater (8 oz is about 3 cups)
- 1 cup pecan chopped (optional, plus more for garnish if desired)
For the cream cheese icing:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Green and orange food colorings optional
Instructions
Make the carrot cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease the cake pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. You can either use three 6 inch round cake pans or two 8 inch round cake pans.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside until needed.
- In a mixing bowl, add both the brown and white sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until everything is well combined and emulsified. Then add the prepared flour mixture gently whisk until just combined and no more dry flour is visible. Next, add the grated carrot and the chopped pecans (if using) and fold everything together with a spatula until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared cake pans. and give the pans a gentle shake to level out the batter. Bake the carrots cakes for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean or with only a few crumbs.
- Remove the carrot cakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from the cake pans. Use a pairing knife to release the sides of the cake from the pan if needed and flip them out of the pan to cool completely. Once cooled, the cake can be used immediately or wrapped with cling film and refrigerated for up to 5-7 days.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- In a mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese and butter. Using a hand mixer, mix on medium speed for a few minutes until the mixture is fluffy and pale.
- Add the vanilla extra and powdered sugar and mix on low speed until most of the sugar is incorporated, then increase the speed to medium high and mix for a couple of minutes until well mixed and kind of fluffy again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.*If your kitchen is hot, the frosting may be too soft to use immediately. You can cover and refrigerate it for a couple of hours to stiffen the icing or you can make the icing the day before and just remove it from the fridge about 1 hour before you plan to ice to cake.*
- Optional for carrot decor:If you wish to pipe carrot icing decorations on the cake, reserve about 1 tablespoon of icing and add enjoy green food color for the carrot tops and about 2 to 3 tablespoons of icing mixed with orange or a mix of yellow and red food color for the carrots. Transfer each colored icing into a piping bag. Optionally, you can fit the piping bags with piping tips. Refrigerated until needed.See the post above for the tips we used and alternative for no tip pipping!
To assemble:
- Peel away the parchment paper on the bottoms of the carrot cakes. If your carrot is domed, and you'd liked a very even and flat cake, level off the cakes by slicing off the dome using a serrated knife or cake leveler.
- Place a cake on a cake stand, plate, or turntable, with or without a cake board. You can use just a sheet of parchment too. Add a generous dollop of icing on top of the cake and spread it out with a cake spatula, the back of a butterknife, or even the back of a spoon until it's even and flat. Stack the next cake on top of the icing and repeat the icing process. Using the remaining icing, cover the sides of the cake. Using the colored icings, pipe tiny carrots all over the cakes. Optional, to finish, sprinkle chopped pecans around the bottom of the cake and some on the cake.
- We recommend refrigerating the cake for a couple of hours so that the icing firms up so that the cake is more stable and easier to cut. The cake can be covered and stored in the fridge for up to 5 to 7 days.
Notes
Please refer to the post above for step by step photo reference, tips, and more storage details!
- 1 recipe of the cream cheese icing is perfect for 1 whole carrot cake. If you like a generous amount of icing on your cake, you can double the icing recipe.
- Fluff, spoon, and level - Using a scale is the most preferred measuring method, especially for baking recipes. This flour measuring technique is the next best alternative. To use this method:
- Fluff up the flour in the bag or the flour canister.
- Spoon the fluffed flour into the measuring cup, without shaking or tapping, until the flour overflows.
- Use a straight-edge, like a the back of a butter knife, to scrape off the excess flour.
- Brown sugar - We recommend using dark brown sugar to give the carrot cake the deepest flavor, but light brown sugar works too.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice (⅛ of the cake) | Calories: 957kcal | Carbohydrates: 115.5g | Protein: 12.4g | Fat: 51.4g | Saturated Fat: 11.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26.8g | Trans Fat: 0.6g | Cholesterol: 126.8mg | Sodium: 684.1mg | Potassium: 333mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 86.9g | Vitamin A: 5247.5IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 168.2mg | Iron: 2.6mg
Keywords: Easter recipe, easy recipe
Tried this recipe?Mention @two_plaid_aprons or tag #twoplaidaprons!