The best Carrot Cake Recipe you will ever try. This homemade carrot cake is bursting with flavor and moisture! But one of my favorite things about this cake is (in my opinion) the best cream cheese frosting on the planet.
Homemade Carrot Cake
Trying to find a real carrot cake recipe is not as easy as you would think. My Mother-in-Law was having a big birthday party last Sunday and her only request was a carrot cake from scratch.
Real carrot cake. With real ingredients. (No box mixes allowed!) After testing out several recipes, I finally found one that everyone loves and that is now a tradition in our home.
For the exterior, I did a version of my original Rosette Cake.
Why Rosettes on a Carrot Cake?
My beautiful mother-in-law was turning 67 (she really doesn’t look a day over 45!) and so piped out 67 flowers. Some are with the 1M tip (remember you can always use a 2D tip in place of the 1M) and the rest are with #27 tip from Wilton. (It brought her to tears… if you ever have the opportunity to replicate this for a loved one I highly recommend it!)
How to Make the Best Carrot Cake
Once you have added the flour to the wet ingredients you want to be very gentle with the batter. I recommend removing the bowl from the stand mixer and mix all dry ingredients in by hand.
If you do not want to add pineapple, you can add 1/4 more oil and omit the pineapple. You can also make other substitutions or changes like adding sweetened coconut (1/4 cup should do!) or using a little brown sugar.
Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling the cake. I like to use a chilled cake for assembly and a room-temperature frosting. You may need to level your cake prior to assembly. (Get detailed instructions on that here.)
BONUS: One way to make this cake AMAZING (and for the 21+ crowd) is to plump up your raisins in rum or brandy.
Cream Cheese Frosting
This cream cheese frosting is amazing for a few reasons. First, it’s amazingly sweet AND you can pipe with it. If you do not want to pipe out 67 rosettes, you can simply spread it over the cake in glorious swoops. This recipe and a “rustic” design are a match made in heaven!
How to Store Carrot Cake
If you chose to decorate carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it should be stored it in the refrigerator. Refrigeration can dry out baked goods, but cream cheese frosting does need to be refrigerated. It will last 2-3 days.
Can I Use a Different Sized Pan?
Yes! This works great in a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350°F for 36-42 minutes. The cake is done when it no longer appears wet on top or when an inserted toothpick is removed with crumbs, but no wet batter.
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1¼ cups (250g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2¾ cups (352g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 2¼ cups finely grated carrots
- ½ cup pineapple, drained from a can or freshly diced
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick or 113g) salted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (512g) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans. (Can also do three 7-inch round cake pans) Butter pans generously or spray with baking spray.
- Beat the sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs in mixer until it is a light yellow, about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. (Double sifting is recommended)
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly and gently add in the dry ingredients. Mix until JUST combined. (Can also mix by hand!)
- Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the raisins, nuts, carrots, and pineapple.
- Divide the batter equally between the pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. A few crumbs are what you want for a MOIST cake!
- Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place room temperature butter, cream cheese, and vanilla into mixer and blend for 1-2 minutes on medium until fully incorporated.
- Add powder sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting is light and creamy. Whip cream cheese frosting for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Cover cake in frosting.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
silly question. 2 round pans bake for an hour, but a 9X13 is only 42 minutes? Isn’t there more batter to be baked? I don’t imagine I’ll get a reply before the cake is done – I’ll just keep checking it, but it is confusing to my old brain! Thanks
I just baked a 9×13 and I had to bake it for 50 minutes before the toothpick came out with only slight crumbs.