Yield: 16 servings
Carrot Cake
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
38 minutes
Additional Time
15 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 8 minutes
A classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting that’s easy to bake and decorate. Incredibly moist and packed with flavor, you'll love this delicious recipe!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 cups grated carrots, or finely shredded
- 1 cup chopped pecans
For the frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Beat for 2 minutes until fully combined and fluffy.
- Fold in carrots and chopped nuts.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour batter into well greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 38-42 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.
- When cake is cooled, cream together butter and cream cheese (about 3 minutes). Add vanilla, powdered sugar and milk, mix well. Spread over cake and enjoy!
Notes
- Let your cake cool for about 10 minutes in the pan after baking before removing them. This helps keep the cake from sticking and falling apart as you try to take it out of the pan!
- Make sure the cake is completely cool before you add the frosting.
- This frosting is more loose than a traditional cream cheese frosting. You may want to do a crumb coat first, then chill, then frost with the remaining frosting.
- Carrots. You can grate carrots for carrot cake using either a box grater or a food processor. Make sure to start with washed, peeled carrots. If using a box grater, place the carrot against the side of the grater and run the carrot downward to grate. When you use a food processor, use the grating attachment. You want the pieces very fine without turning into a puree.
- Can you make carrot cake ahead of time? This moist cake can be made up to two days in advance of serving if stored properly in an airtight container. For best taste, bake the cake and store it (un-frosted) wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Frost the cake on the same day you're ready to serve.
- Storage: Keep cake in covered container in refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze slices of cake by wrapping in plastic wrap then slide into airtight containers or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Make it in a 13x9. To do this: Grease and flour 13x9, use baking spray, or use our homemade cake relase. Bake cake for about 45 minutes, testing doneness with a toothpick. You'll need about ½ batch of the cream cheese frosting, since there are no layers to frost!
- Check the blog post for more recipe tips and tricks!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 606Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 245mgCarbohydrates: 73gFiber: 2gSugar: 57gProtein: 5g
*Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.