Carrot Cake: the Mouthwatering Recipe for a Delicious Cake

With its lightly spiced, sweet flavor, moist texture, and decadent, creamy frosting, carrot cake is always a treat. This simple-to-make dessert is incredibly versatile, and with its bright orange color, always looks fantastic. Serve it at birthday parties, potlucks, or any time you're hosting a group in your home, or whip up a carrot cake to enjoy with afternoon tea.

Often made with raisins and nuts like walnuts or pecans mixed into the batter, each bite of homemade carrot cake is utter perfection. Not keen on raisins or nuts? No worries – they're optional to give your carrot cake a little more texture. You can easily leave them out or swap them for shredded coconut or candied citrus zest – get creative!

Best Carrot Cake Ingredients

Ingredients like oil, brown sugar, and eggs help give carrot cake its irresistible moist, dense texture.

Cinnamon gives this dessert its lovely subtle spiciness, and you can mix in additional spices like nutmeg, allspice, and ginger to make your carrot cake more spiced.

You'll also need carrots, flour, baking soda, and vanilla.

Nuts and raisins are optional add-ins, but they make this cake extra delicious.

To make the frosting, you'll need softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, and a pinch of salt.

Top your carrot cake with chopped toasted or candied pecans to finish it off.

How to Make Carrot Cake

Homemade moist carrot cake is a cinch to make. Gather your ingredients and preheat your 350F. Spray two cake pans with cooking spray, and set them to the side. With your pans prepped and oven heating, it's time to make the batter.

Carrot Cake Batter

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Sifting helps prevent lumps in the batter which will help keep you from overmixing the batter. Stir to combine. Grab a second bowl, and mix the oil, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Combine the flour mixture with the oil mixture. Fold in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.

Baking the Carrot Cake

Pour the batter between the two cake pans and bake the cakes on the same oven shelf for 35 to 45 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean and free of crumbs.

Take the cakes out of the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then take them out and set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting the Carrot Cake

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until creamy. Add in ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time. Beat in the cream. Place in the fridge to chill. Decorate the cooled cakes with the frosting. Garnish with chopped pecans.

Tips for Making Moist Carrot Cake

Use room-temperature ingredients to make your carrot cake.

Don't overmix the batter.

Make your carrot cake gluten-free by using gluten-free flour.

Swap the pecans for almonds or walnuts for a tasty twist on this carrot cake recipe. Or you can leave the nuts out altogether.

If your frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar to it.

You can easily turn this carrot cake recipe into cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Fill the liners ¾ of the way full with batter and bake the cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes at 350F.

If you want a richer, more complex flavor use all dark brown sugar instead of white sugar and light brown sugar. Brown sugar will also help make your carrot cake even moister.

Add spices like nutmeg, allspice, and ginger for a spicier carrot cake.

You can use any type of oil to make your carrot cake moist and tender. Neutral oils like refined coconut oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, or canola oil work best, but olive oil adds a lovely subtle flavor to this recipe.

You can also make this into a single-layer cake, if you prefer, or bake the carrot cake in a casserole dish and slice it into squares.

For extra sweetness, use candied nuts to top your carrot cake.

How to Store Carrot Cake

Wrap or cover the carrot cake and keep it at room temperature for up to 2 days.

You can also keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease two cake pans with cooking spray. Line them with parchment paper.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

In a second bowl, combine oil, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla.

Beat the eggs one at a time.

Combine the flour mixture with the oil mixture.

Add in the nuts.

Add in the raisins.

Fold in the carrots.

Mix.

Pour the batter between the two cake pans.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes.

Take them out and set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat cream cheese in a bowl until creamy and light.

Beat in ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time.

Beat in the cream. Place in the fridge to chill.

Remove the tops of the cakes and level to create a flat surface, then cover the top with a layer of frosting.

Spread it evenly.

Top with the other cake.

Spread the frosting on the top of the cake.

Decorate the cake with chopped pecans.

Slice, serve and enjoy!

Notes

Use two 9-inch round cake pans to make your carrot cake.