The best classic and simple carrot cake with tangy smooth cream cheese frosting. It’s made with fresh grated organic carrots and spiced with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Perfect for Easter and spring gatherings!
This recipe is fool proof and super easy. Get a moist crumb every time!
Some recipes include pineapple, coconut shreds, or raisins. This one is very simple. You are welcome to add additional stir ins, just note that you may want to use dry stir ins to avoid any extra water content.
The cream cheese frosting is rich, velvety and tangy! Definitely indulgent and not super sweet.
Muddled History
Some of the earliest sources show that a form of carrot cake was made in 16th-century England. This was more likely a steamed or boiled carrot pudding. Some accounts claimed George Washington served carrot cake at dinner parties. In the 1940’s, the British Ministry of Food ran a campaign for eating carrots – telling the public that they could improve their eyesight so you could see in the dark.
Carrot cake has a long and muddled history, popular across the world. Today, traditional carrot cake as we know it, is far from a light dessert that cuts back on sugar. It’s calorie dense and flavorful.
Mark your calendars! February 3rd is national carrot cake day.
Ingredients
Brown Sugar: Adds moisture and the molasses adds to the flavor.
Eggs: Binds the cake batter together. It also lends moisture.
Butter: Everything is better when there’s butter! A lot of carrot cake recipes use oil to make it moist, I prefer butter.
Freshly grated carrots: Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry. Fresh carrots will be the star.
Cream cheese frosting: Spreadable, smooth and glides on easy. Not too sweet and definitely savory!
Vanilla extract: Enhances the flavor.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg: Add a cozy warm spicy flavor.
Storage
Refrigerate the cake and consume within 5 days.. doubt there will be leftovers!
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Large shredding disk attachment (Or Box Grater)
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (121 oz)
- 1 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cloves
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 lb Carrots peeled
- 1 ½ cups Granulated Sugar (10 ½ oz)
- ½ cup Packed Light Brown Sugar (3 ½ oz)
- 4 Large Eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ cups Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 12 oz Cream Cheese (full fat) softened
- 6 tbs Unsalted Butter softened
- 4 tsp Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 cups Confectioners' Sugar
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease rounds, line with parchment paper, grease and flour the pan and parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- Shred carrots on large holes of box grater or use a food processor with large shredding disk (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar on medium-high speed until throughly combined, about 45 seconds.
- Add egg one at a time. Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Add flour mixture gradually, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and mixed.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top with rubber spatula, and gently tap pan on counter to release air bubbles. The batter will be thick.
- Bake cake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, baking.
- Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove springform from cake. Using a butter knife, loosen the parchment paper from the pan. Transfer back to wire rack to cool another hour and a half. If the cakes seem uneven, you can level them with a serrated knife.
Frosting
- Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt at medium-high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add confectioners' sugar and mix until very fluffy and well combined. For added thickness, add another cup of confectioners' sugar. The frosting will not stiffen like buttercream.
- When cake is fully cooled, place on a cardboard round or directly on cake plate. I recommend using a cake decorating turntable for even frosting. For even application, pipe frosting.
- Place second tier on top and continue to pipe frosting.
- Using a metal spatula and a plastic scraper, frost your cake.
- Add chopped nuts if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
