Carrot Cake screams spring! This one is simple to make, super moist and flavorful, and is finished off with the creamiest cream cheese frosting! I’m also sharing all my tips and tricks for frosting a naked cake in this post – it’s incredibly easy, so never fear if you’ve never decorated a cake before!
Why This is the Best Carrot Cake Recipe:
Just call me Peter Rabbit because I have been eating and loving carrot cake all week long! This cake required a few rounds of testing to get it just right but I am so pleased with the results!
Here’s why you’re going to love this recipe:
- Spiced Cake with Carrots – This classic spring dessert features 3 layers of thick, moist cake loaded with cozy spices and fresh carrots.
- Sweet… But Not Too Sweet – The sweet carrots are balanced by the warm spices. The frosting is rich and sugary, but the tanginess of cream cheese keeps it from being overly sweet. So this cake is perfect to cure a sweet tooth – but without giving you a toothache!
- It’s Naked! – I frosted this cake in the “naked” style. They scream fancy and beautiful while actually being one of the simplest ways to decorate a cake!
- Easy to Make – Baking the cake, making the cream cheese frosting, and decorating are all easy for a novice baker. Even if you have little to no cake decorating experience or skill, I’m confident that you can produce a lovely naked-frosted cake.
- Great to Share – This 3-layer cake yields about 18 slices. It’s terrific to serve a crowd at Easter celebrations, potlucks and picnics, and as a festive springtime birthday cake!
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full carrot cake recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).
- Eggs – Use large eggs, at room temperature, for best results. We’re using whole eggs rather than just egg whites to add extra flavor & tender texture to this cake.
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugars – Using both white cane sugar and dark brown sugar gives the cake a deep, almost caramelized sweetness.
- Vegetable oil – This lighter oil doesn’t have much of a taste. It’s perfect for making a plush cake without a heavy flavor.
- Sour cream – Use full fat sour cream at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Real vanilla extract makes sweet baked goods taste amazing!
- All-purpose flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.
- Cozy spices – Salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves. The cinnamon is used in both the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting.
- Milk – You can use 2% or whole milk (I’m using 2% here). Like the eggs and sour cream it’s best to have the milk come to room temp first.
- Butter – I prefer salted, but you can use unsalted butter if that’s your preference.
- Cream cheese – Use cold blocks of full fat cream cheese.
Recipe Variations + Substitutions:
- Gluten-free – I have not tested a gluten-free version of this cake.
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free milk to make the cake dairy-free. Use your favorite trusted brand of dairy-free cream cheese and butter to make the frosting dairy-free.
- Sour cream – Use full fat plain yogurt in a pinch.
- Nuts – Feel free to use walnuts or pecans, or omit the nuts entirely if desired.
How to Make This Carrot Cake Recipe:
This cake batter comes together so quickly! We’re combining wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl and then alternating mixing in the dry ingredients and milk in thirds. Chopped walnuts and grated carrots get added last. Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Prep. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease three 8 or 9-inch round cake pans. Add rounds of parchment paper and a dusting of flour.
Step 2: Make the Batter. Add the eggs to a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on medium high speed. Add sugars and beat on medium high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, 1 minute. Whisk in the oil, sour cream, and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and begin folding in with a silicone spatula until halfway incorporated, then pour in the milk, grated carrots, and chopped nuts. Continue gently folding together just until the last streaks of flour disappear into the batter. If there are a few lumps, that’s fine.
Step 3: Bake. Divide the batter between your three 9-inch pans, and bake as directed in the recipe card below.
You know the carrot cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. Let cakes cool in pans on cooling racks for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen and invert cakes onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Step 4: Make the Frosting. In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter. Add the powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, mixing between each addition until well combined. Add heavy cream as needed to help it come together. Beat in the vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Beat in the cream cheese last. (This prevents a weepy frosting.)
How to Frost and Assemble a Naked Cake:
Start by placing one cake layer on your cake stand, using strips of wax paper to protect the cake stand from getting messy. (Simply pull them away when you’re finished!) Frost a layer, making sure to spread the frosting over the edges of the cake a bit.
Repeat with the next two layers! (I like to divide my frosting into 3 equal portions, giving slightly more to the portion that will cover the top and sides of the cake, with a food scale to make sure I don’t run out, but you can eyeball it too!).
Once you have frosting on the top of the 3rd layer, use the remaining frosting to dot the sides of the cake, in random places. Use a cake smoother (I love this one – best two dollars I’ve spent on a kitchen tool!) to smooth the frosting blobs – hold it against the side of the cake, and slowly turn the cake while pulling the scraper towards you. You’re essentially making a cleaner version of a crumb coat! Add more frosting in any places you feel need it. Use the back of a spoon to create swirls on the top – we’re going for artsy here, not perfect! Another tool that makes frosting a breeze is an offset spatula!
Sprinkle some chopped walnuts around the base of the cake for some simple decor – and that’s your naked cake.
Place the carrot cake in the fridge for 10-30 minutes so the cream cheese frosting can firm up a bit before serving. Then you can cover the cake in plastic wrap, or keep the cake in a cake carrier.
Serving + Storing This Carrot Cake:
A gorgeous carrot cake decorated with cream cheese frosting is the perfect centerpiece for spring and summer gatherings! Serve it for dessert at Easter or other holiday dinners, birthday parties, anniversaries, and nearly any celebration.
If the cake was chilled longer than 1 hour, let it come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. I recommend offering guests coffee, tea, or large glasses of cold milk to go along with their slice of tender and delicious cake!
Store the leftover cake in an airtight container or cake carrier in the fridge for 3-4 days. Press plastic wrap over the cut portion of the cake to add extra insurance against it drying out (although it does stay moist for days!). Individual slices can also be double plastic wrapped and kept in a tupperware, or frozen in this way for up to 1 month.
Thaw frozen slices in the fridge overnight. Then allow them to come to room temperature before serving.
Expert Success Tips:
- Grating the Carrots – Be sure to grate your own carrots, rather than using the pre-grated you find in a bag at the store. They are drier and can create a drier cake. Be sure to use the really fine holes on the box grater too – you don’t want big chunks of carrot in your cake.
- Food Processor – Use the blade on your food processor to grate the carrots. This method is quicker and easier than using a box grater.
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized
- Pan Size – If using 8-inch pans, the bake time will be a few minutes longer.
- Prepare the Cake Pan – Grease your cake pans with shortening – use a paper towel to rub it all around, getting in every little nook of the pan. Then, add flour and tap it around until the shortening layer is completely coated. Tap out the excess flour. This method is foolproof – the cake layers release cleanly every time.
- Make Ahead – The elements of this cake, or the whole cake, can be made in advance! That makes life a little easier, especially when you’re entertaining. The cake layers can be made, cooled, and kept at room temp (wrapped up) for 1 day. Any longer, I’d store them in the fridge. The frosting can be made and kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Frosting – The frosting can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Let sit at room temperature for 10-20 minutes before using, then mix with your mixer to get it back to a spreadable consistency before using.
FAQs:
The smaller the better! Use the fine side of a box grater or the blades of a food processor to grate fresh carrots as super fine as possible.
I find it’s best to use all vegetable oil in this carrot cake recipe. Butter is delicious (of course!) but oil adds just the right amount of moisture to make the cake crumb soft and springy. Oil also has a more mild flavor versus butter, which is great to let the fresh carrot flavor and spices really shine.
Yes, you can! The full recipe will yield 38-42 cupcakes, so you may want to cut the recipe in half.
Prepare the recipe as directed, and divide the batter between two muffin pans lined with cupcake liners. Bake the pans, either one at a time or side by side, for 18-19 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans for a few minutes, then pop them out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
That is completely up to you! Both nuts are considered “traditional” for carrot cake. I personally prefer chopped pecans over walnuts. But again, choose whichever you like best.
Special Tools:
- Box Grater – Use a box grater to grate the carrots into super fine shreds. Or you can use a…
- Food Processor – Use the grater attachment that comes with your food processor to grate the carrots in no time!
- 8 or 9-inch Cake Pans – This carrot cake recipe can be made with either size, so choose whichever you like best! You will need to add a few minutes to the baking time if using 8-inch pans.
- Cake Turntable – If you make at least a few cakes a year, a cake turntable makes the process a breeze!
- Offset Spatula – A regular silicone spatula works too, but an offset one speeds things up and I find it an incredibly worthwhile tool to have!
Happy Baking and Hop to It! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)
More Easter Desserts:
- Easter Egg Blondies
- Perfect Classic Cheesecake with Homemade Strawberry Sauce
- Easter Egg Seven Layer Bars
- Raspberry Lemon Sweet Rolls
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment!
Be sure to follow bluebowlrecipes on instagram and tag #bluebowlrecipes with your photo! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the bluebowlrecipes Facebook page. I’d love to see what you make!
The Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed 380 grams
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar 150 grams
- 1 cup vegetable oil 224 mL
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp full fat sour cream, at room temperature 80 grams
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 and 2/3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out 366 grams
- 2 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 and 1/3 cups milk, at room temperature I use 2% – 320 mL
- 3 cups finely grated carrots – see note About 6 large carrots – 300 grams. Weigh this out for the best accuracy as size varies!
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped I love using pecans instead! Nuts can be omitted if needed. 100 grams
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter
- 3 tbsp heavy cream or milk
- 6 cups powdered sugar Start with 5 cups and add more until desired sweetness is reached
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cinamon
- 18 oz full fat cream cheese, cold Use the block style
For Decorating
- extra walnuts or pecans, for garnish optional
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 350° F. Grease three 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans with shortening (use a paper towel and make sure to get into all the crevices well). Add parchment rounds , making sure to grease over them with shortening as well. Then, dust the pans with flour, tapping it around so the shortening is coated entirely. Tap out the excess flour. This will ensure your cake pops out perfectly after baking!
- Make the Cake Batter: Add the eggs to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on medium high speed. Add sugars and beat on medium high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, 1 minute. Whisk in the oil, sour cream, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and begin folding in with a silicone spatula until halfway incorporated, then pour in the milk, grated carrots, and chopped nuts. Continue gently folding together just until the last streaks of flour disappear into the batter. If there are a few lumps, that's fine.
- Bake: Divide the batter between your three 9-inch pans, and bake for 24-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter. Let cakes cool in pans on cooling racks for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen and invert cakes onto cooling racks to cool completely. Note: If using 8-inch pans, the bake time will be a few minutes longer.
- Make the Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter. Add the powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, mixing between each addition until well combined. Add heavy cream as needed to help it come together. Beat in the vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Beat in the cream cheese last. (This prevents a weepy frosting.)
- Assemble Cake: Place one cake layer down on your cake stand placed on a cake turntable, and frost with 1 and 1/4 cups of frosting, spreading it as evenly as possible. Place the second cake layer on top, and pop in the fridge for 1015 minutes so the layers won't slide around. Frost on top of the second layer in the same manner. Place the third layer upside down on top (this makes a perfectly flat top!) Smooth any frosting sticking out between layers over the outside of the cake, and add a bit more as a crumb coat. Chill for 20 minutes or until set. Then, use the remaining frosting to cover the top of the cake and dot the crumb coated sides of the cake in random places, all the way around. Use a cake smoother/scraper to smooth the frosting by holding it against the side of the cake, and slowly turning the cake and pulling the cake smoother towards you while turning the cake the opposite direction. Continue until desired "naked cake" effect is reached. Create swirls on the top of the cake with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle chopped nuts around the base and on top of the cake as desired. Chill the frosted cake for at least 20-30 minutes (or more if your frosting got very warm/weepy) to ensure everything is set before slicing.
- Serve + Store:Â Slice the cake and enjoy! If it was chilled longer than 1 hour, let it come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. Store the leftover cake in an airtight container or cake carrier in the fridge for 3-4 days. Press plastic wrap over the cut portion of the cake to add extra insurance against it drying out (although it does stay moist for days!). Individual slices can also be double plastic wrapped and kept in a tupperware, or frozen in this way for up to 1 month. Thaw frozen slices in the fridge overnight before enjoying.
- Make Ahead Tips:Â The frosting and cake layers can be made a day in advance. Cake Layers: Make cake layers and let cool completely. Place each on a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Store at room temp for up to 24 hours before frosting & serving.Frosting: Cover frosting tightly and keep in fridge – let it sit out a little bit before frosting the cake so it's not solid as a rock. Re-mix it with the electric mixer to get it back to a spreadable consistency.
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