Easy Carrot Cake Recipe

My mom’s famous carrot cake recipe that makes the BEST carrot cake with creamy, decadent cream cheese frosting.

This easy carrot cake is a family favorite. It’s simple to make, pretty much fool proof, and perfect for parties or potlucks. I can’t wait for you to try it!

A couple of years ago, I shared this Small Carrot Cake recipe, which is a miniaturized version of my Mom’s (amazing, wonderful, perfect) carrot cake.

Since that post went live, I’ve had SO many people email me asking for her full-size recipe. And since we’re coming up on carrot cake season, today I’m sharing her version on the blog.

This recipe will make a 9×13-inch carrot cake, and it’s my absolute favorite carrot cake in the entire world.

This carrot cake recipe makes a wonderfully moist and soft carrot cake with just the perfect level of spice and sweetness.

Growing up, it was my Mom’s go-to potluck dessert, and to this day, I maintain that it really is the perfect dessert for parties and potlucks because aside from being irresistible:

And before we get to the recipe, let’s have a quick chat about carrots, because this is the one place I see people get hung up when making carrot cake.

Incredibly Moist and Easy Carrot Cake

This is the best carrot cake recipe I’ve ever used. We prefer to use a hand grater when preparing the carrots since it creates delicate carrot shreds that melt into the cake batter. Pre-shredded bags or shredding carrots using a food processor are also options, but the carrot shreds will be larger. This recipe is forgiving. You can make this with or without the nuts or raisins. We love the combination of granulated and brown sugar, but if you only have one of them, use it, and the cake will still be delicious. Frosting: Our creamy frosting recipe shared below is not a traditional cream cheese frosting. Thanks to whipped cream, it’s creamier and has soft peaks (you can see it in our video). We love it, but if you prefer a more traditional frosting, see the tips section below the recipe. We have provided instructions for a classic cream cheese frosting that works nicely with this cake.

Prep: 20min

Total: 1h5min

Yield: Makes 1 (9-inch) double layer cake (16 thin slices) or 22 to 24 cupcakes

Serving Size: 1 slice (1 of 16)

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 slice (1 of 16), calories 535, Fat 33.4g, Saturated Fat 6.9g, Cholesterol 69.3mg, Sodium 315.9mg, Carbohydrate 56.4g, Fiber 2.4g, Sugar 40.5g, Protein 5.6g

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 ¼ cups (295 ml) canola or other vegetable oil
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (190 grams) lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 cups (300 grams) grated peeled carrots, 5 to 6 medium carrots
• 1 cup (100 grams) coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup (65 grams) raisins
• 8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups (140 grams) powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) cold heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) coarsely chopped pecans, for topping cake

Instruction:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment paper and then grease the top. Or grease and flour the bottom and sides of both pans.
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176C).
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until very well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one.
6. Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the dry ingredients in three parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth.
7. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.
8. Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans.
9. Bake until the tops of the cake layers are springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.
10. Cool cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully turn the cake layers out onto cooling racks. Remove the parchment paper and cool completely. If you find that a cake layer is sticking to the bottom of the pan, leave the cake pan upside down and allow gravity to do its thing.
11. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
12. Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time, until fluffy.
13. Pour in the whipping cream. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the frosting is whipped and creamy. This frosting resembles the texture of whipped cream. Chill covered until ready to frost the cake.
14. When the cake layers are completely cool, frost the top of one cake layer, and place the second cake layer on top.
15. Add the remaining frosting to the top of the carrot cake and use a butter knife or small spatula to swirl the frosting around. Leave the sides of the cake unfrosted. Finish with a handful of nuts on top.

Easy Carrot Cake Recipe

My mom’s famous carrot cake recipe that makes the BEST carrot cake with creamy, decadent cream cheese frosting.

Prep: 30min

Total: 150min

Yield: 16

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 446 kcal, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons allspice (*)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups loosely packed peeled and grated carrots (*)
• 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup (4oz) salted butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 cups (1 16-ounce box) powdered sugar (sifted)

Instruction:

1. Cool cake in the pan until completely cool.
2. Spread frosting over the top of the cake. Chill before serving if desired, and enjoy!

EASY CARROT CAKE RECIPE with Cream Cheese Frosting

FAQ

Why do carrot cakes use oil instead of butter?

How to make carrot cake Mary Berry?

1. 150ml Sunflower oil (plus extra for greasing)
2. 250g Self-raising wholemeal flour.
3. 2 tsp Baking powder.
4. 150g Billington’s Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar.
5. 60g Walnuts (chopped)
6. 125g Carrot(s) (grated)
7. 2 Banana(s) (ripe)
8. 2 Egg(s) (free range)

Why is my carrot cake hard?

How to make carrot cake Martha Stewart?

1. 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans.
2. 1 teaspoon baking powder.
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda.
4. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
5. ¾ teaspoon coarse salt.
6. ½ teaspoon ground ginger.
7. ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
8. 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans.