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The Very Best Carrot Cake

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The Very Best Homestyle Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The very BEST carrot cake recipe might be a strong claim but this perfectly spiced, always moist, and easy carrot cake is just that. Layered with classic cream cheese frosting, this cake stole my heart and has forever been perfect in my book! Now after years of Freutcake readers making and loving this recipe, I can say without a doubt that YOU will find it the very best too.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Homestyle Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

In my opinion this really is THE best recipe for homestyle carrot cake…and I’ve tried quite a few. Carrot Cake Cupcakes are also a favorite of mine if you are looking for more carrot goodness. This cake is simple to make, you don’t even need a mixer, it’s incredibly moist, and has just the right amount of cinnamon spice.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

There isn’t a raisin, chunk of pineapple or nut to be seen in the cake (aside from the garnish of course) and it bakes up perfect every time. In my book these are all criteria for THE VERY BEST carrot cake.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Nothing but tons of freshly grated carrot (which is essential) and beautiful batter, baked and layered with sweet cream cheese frosting.

I add an extra step by crumb coating my cake with a thin layer of frosting and freezing it for about 30 minutes so that it’s nice and firm before fully frosting it. It’s not a necessary step but it makes frosting and adding the nuts so much easier! We will get to that…

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Homemade Carrot Cake Ingredients

  • Eggs – I like to use Large eggs anytime I bake!
  • Oil – you can use vegetable or canola for this recipe.
  • Sugar – granulated white sugar, you gotta have it for cake.
  • Vanilla Extract – use a good quality pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
  • Flour – all purpose white flour is what I prefer for this cake.
  • Baking Soda & Baking Powder – because it’s a cake of course!
  • Salt– to make it delicious.
  • Cinnamon – the only spice in this cake however you can add a pinch of nutmeg as well if you would like.
  • Carrots– freshly grated is the only way to go! Use a food processor to make it faster.
  • Pecans – optional for outside of the cake
  • Cream Cheese Frosting– because it wouldn’t be carrot cake without it! The recipe is included at the end of the post.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

How to Make Homemade Carrot Cake

  1. Preheat & Prep–  Preheat your oven and prep your pans before anything else! Grease and flour two round 9″ cake pans and set aside. Note: I grease mine well with butter and dust with flour. You can also line the bottoms of your pans with parchment rounds for extra insurance although I don’t usually need to. Make sure you have two good quality cake pans, like these!
  2. Make the Batter – Beat together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Then stir in the dry ingredients and lastly fold in the shredded carrots.
  3. Fill and Bake – pour the batter evenly into pans and bake! I rotate the pans during the baking process to make sure they rise evenly. Allow to cool completely before frosting!
  4. Make the Frosting – make cream cheese frosting while your cakes cool. 
  5. Frost the Cake – TRICK! I like to crumb coat my cake before fully frosting the outside. Here’s how I do it: Place one cake round on a cake plate. Top with about 1 cup of frosting or as much as you would like, just save enough for the outside of the cake. Top with the second half and apply a thin layer of frosting to the entire cake. This is the crumb coat. Freeze for 30 minutes until firm. Frost with the remaining frosting. If desired, press chopped pecans into frosting around the sides of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  6. Slice, Eat, Enjoy!

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

How to Make Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my recipe for creamy delicious CLASSIC cream cheese frosting. I only use around 4 cups of confectioners sugar in my frosting however you can use up to 6 cups depending on the consistency and sweetness you like. Some recipes call for WAY more sugar but I feel like that can leave you with a sickly sweet frosting and that’s not my jam.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Here’s how I make it: First, start with room temperature butter and softened cream cheese! This means leaving your butter out overnight and your cream cheese out for a couple hours or long enough to soften it so that when you beat it up in an electric mixer it will be creamy and not clumpy.

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth. That’s it! Perfect, classic cream cheese frosting.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Possible Carrot Cake Variations

While I PERSONALLY feel like good carrot cake is simple, I can appreciate that some people enjoy a variety of mix-ins in their cake. Here are some ideas to jazz up your carrot cake IF you are nuts…kidding, kidding…get it?

  • Nuts – chopped pecans or walnuts can be added to the batter before baking. I like them best on the outside of my cake to give it a pretty and delicious finishing touch but if you want to add them to the inside I would recommend about 1/2 cup chopped nuts.
  • Additional Spices – clove and nutmeg would both work in this cake. 
  • Raisins – I would add 1/2 cup to the batter if you are looking to add raisins.
  • Shredded Coconut – this would actually be really delicious and I would try adding 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut if you want to go this route.
  • Orange Zest – I actually really like adding orange zest to both my cake and frosting! Start with the zest of one orange and add a portion of it to your batter and reserve a little for your frosting. A little goes a long way.
  • Any combination of the above.

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

More Homemade Cake Recipes

If you love this carrot cake recipe as much as I do, you will also enjoy these cakes and recipes!

  • Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake
  • Blueberry Crumb Muffins
  • Bourbon Brown Sugar Cake
  • Apple Cider Cupcakes with Cider Buttercream
  • Blueberry Muffin Coffee Cake
  • Old Fashioned Cherry Cake

The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Who’s hungry for cake? If you make this recipe or any of my recipes, please come back and leave a comment in the section below letting me know how you like it. Happy baking, friends!

 

The Very Best Homestyle Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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The Very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The Very Best Carrot Cake

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

The very best homestyle carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups white granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups (packed) freshly grated carrots
  • 3-4 cups chopped pecans - optional for outside of the cake
  • Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round 9" cake pans and set aside. Note: I grease mine well with butter and dust with flour. Give the pans a good bang over the sink to remove any extra flour. You can also line the bottoms of your pans with parchment rounds for extra insurance although I don't usually need to.
  2. Peel and grate carrots and set aside. I use a food processor to grate mine fast but you can use a box grater as well. Note: Use freshly grated carrots. Store bought pre-grated carrots are too dry.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract by hand with a large whisk.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until blended with a wooden spoon.
  5. Fold in the carrots and divide between the two prepared round cake pans.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes rotating pans once during the baking (after 20 minutes) for even rise in both pans. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes in the pans and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you are making these a day ahead, allow to cool and wrap each round in plastic wrap. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
  7. Make the Frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth.
  8. Frost the Cake: Place one cake round on a cake plate. Top with about 1 cup of frosting or as much as you would like, just save enough for the outside of the cake. Top with the second half and apply a thin layer of frosting to the entire cake. This is the crumb coat. Freeze for 30 minutes until firm. Frost with the remaining frosting. If desired, press chopped pecans into frosting around the sides of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

PLEASE NOTE: this makes two 9" round cakes which will be layered to make one cake.

Possible Carrot Cake Variation:

  • Nuts – chopped pecans or walnuts can be added to the batter before baking. I like them best on the outside of my cake to give it a pretty and delicious finishing touch but if you want to add them to the inside I would recommend about 1/2 cup chopped nuts.
    • Additional Spices – clove and nutmeg would both work in this cake. 
    • Raisins – I would add 1/2 cup to the batter if you are looking to add raisins.
    • Shredded Coconut – this would actually be really delicious and I would try adding 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut if you want to go this route.
    • Orange Zest – I actually really like adding orange zest to both my cake and frosting! Start with the zest of one orange and add a portion of it to your batter and reserve a little for your frosting. A little goes a long way.

    Recommended Products

    This site uses affiliate links in which I may earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases.

    • Offset Icing Spatula
      Offset Icing Spatula
    • KitchenAid Artisan White Mixer with Hobnail Bowl
      KitchenAid Artisan White Mixer with Hobnail Bowl
    • Nonstick Round Cake Pan
      Nonstick Round Cake Pan
    Nutrition Information:
    Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
    Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1500Total Fat: 119gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 94gCholesterol: 108mgSodium: 568mgCarbohydrates: 107gFiber: 12gSugar: 78gProtein: 16g
    © Leah Bergman
    Cuisine: American / Category: Dessert

     

     

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    Comments

    1. Julie Blanner says

      March 21, 2017 at 5:42 am

      That looks so good! I shamefully have never made carrot cake – I’m always scared the delicious cream cheese icing won’t actually make it on the cake.

      • Leah Bergman says

        March 21, 2017 at 4:00 pm

        Haha! Well at least there will be a beater and spatula for “sampling.” ????

    2. Michael Wurm Jr says

      March 21, 2017 at 2:58 pm

      The title of this post is no lie! This seriously looks like THE BEST CARROT Cake. I can’t wait to give your recipe a try … but maybe in cupcake form. 😉

      xo Michael

      • Leah Bergman says

        March 21, 2017 at 3:59 pm

        Michael, I honestly get nervous claiming a recipe is the best because it’s all up to individual tastes but I can honestly say that this cake is THE best…in my opinion. It’s so straightforward and easy to make but super delicious!

    3. Jen Pinkston says

      March 21, 2017 at 7:42 pm

      Literally the best looking carrot cake I have ever seen!

      • Leah Bergman says

        March 21, 2017 at 9:31 pm

        Thank you Jen! It really is such a good recipe. I’ve made it for years and years.

    4. Alex says

      March 31, 2017 at 9:00 am

      this looks amazing!!! i know a lot of carrot cakes bake to have a soft almost fall apart moist texture, but this one looks a lot firmer in the best way. Asking because I really want to make carrot cake square bites for a party i’m baking for. If refrigerated before cutting, do you think cut squares of this cake would hold up? Or does it still bake up to be soft? Once again, cake looks to die for either way!

      • Leah Bergman says

        March 31, 2017 at 1:00 pm

        Hi Alex, This cake is really moist but I think it would hold up fine. I would recommend popping it in the freezer for maybe 20 minutes before slicing? That would help keep it’s shape. Hope you enjoy it!

    5. Leah Bergman says

      April 15, 2017 at 4:33 pm

      Oh no! I’m so sorry that this happened to you. I double checked the recipe and it’s definitely 2 teaspoons of both baking soda and powder. What size pans did you use? Also, this cake doesn’t actually rise all that much. I’ve made it at least a dozen times and never had that issue. Wish I had an answer for you! Could you possibly have measured tablespoons instead? Just trying to think what could have caused this.

    6. Leah Bergman says

      March 3, 2020 at 4:38 pm

      MORE REVIEWS OF THIS CAKE RECIPE ON PINTEREST: https://bit.ly/38jK5nl

    Trackbacks

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