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. For the same delicious flavors, try my Carrot Cake Cruffins, too!
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 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! For a fun twist on frosted carrot cake, try my Cream Cheese Filled Carrot Cake Cupcakes where the cream cheese is inside!
How to Store Carrot Cake
If you chose to decorate a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it should be stored in the refrigerator. Refrigeration can dry out baked goods, but cream cheese frosting does need to be refrigerated. It will last 2-3 days. Save a piece of cake to crumble up for my Carrot Cake Milkshake!
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 (400 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups (250 g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 ¾ cups (352 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 2 ¼ 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 / 113 g) butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (512 g) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans. (You can also use three 7-inch round cake pans.) Generously butter the pans or spray each with baking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs until 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.
- 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 confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until the frosting is light and creamy. Whip cream cheese frosting for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Frost the cooled cake with the cream cheese frosting.
Video
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I am making this for a big party for my father in law and I was wondering to frost a cake with the cream cheese frosting, did you double the recipe used on the zucchini cupcakes? I have always loved your cakes and am always making what you make and I just started following you on instagram and am always looking forward to what you make next 🙂 Thanks!
hi. I have been following your recipes and have made several Rose cakes based on your
recipes and photos. I tried to do this one but struggled with the different sized roses. You said you only used 2 tips (1M and the #27)
but it looks like three sizes. Im also struggling with the technique. I cannot seem to “get” it just rt. Any suggestions?
I think you do beautiful work, once I master the roses I will move onto ruffles, hydrangeas etc. I would love to try all
and get creative. I don’t have a way or know of any one who could really show me a “hands on” approach so I have watched and rewatched the videos.. thank you for any advise.
denise
Hi Denise! You have a great eye. I used the 1M to make one-swirl roses and two-swirl roses, then the #27 tip for the third size. I would recommend practicing on a piece of parchment paper until you get the exact look that you want! 🙂
love the cake how long would it have to bake in a bundt pan compared to 2- 8 in. pans
what are the number of servings for this above recipe?
I tried making this cake over the weekend and encountered a serious problem…Despite following all directions exactly, I ended up with what looked like cookie dough instead of cake batter. I put it in my pans anyway, hoping for the best, and I came out with an inedible beastly puck of a cake that tasted very wrong. All my ingredients were fresh and good quality, so I don’t think that was the issue. Is there anyone who could help me figure out what went wrong?
Oh dear!! I have never encourtered that result with this recipe. The first thing that comes to mind is a lack of liquid.. is it possible something was missed? So very sorry!
is it 350celcius or farnheit
I recently made this recipe for a tier on a wedding cake. It was the best carrot cake I have ever made. It was very tasty and it supported the top tier without any issues. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on. Thank you so much for posting.
Mam,
What is granulated sugar. Is it the same sugar which you use in tea. Please explain cause I want to bake this cake for my daughter’s birthday.
I also had the same problem with the cookie dough-like consistency of the batter…I even threw out the first batch and carefully started over – with the same results…I remedied the problem the second time by adding a little bit more oil and an individual serving size of motts applesauce…the results were divine!…I am baking it for my mom’s birthday and I snuck a crumb…I know she will be thrilled…thank you so much! 🙂
Hi
Was wondering if 1 quantity of the frosting is enough to cover the cake and do the roses. I made that frosting earlier and it does not go far. Do I need to double it?
For the rosette cake specifically, yes, I would double the cream cheese frosting recipe. 🙂