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The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

This is The Best Carrot Cake Recipe, a wonderfully moist and perfectly spiced cake that's surprisingly simple to make.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Cake
Cuisine American
Servings 14 slices
Calories 533 kcal

Equipment

  • 8" round cake pans
  • Mixing bowls

Ingredients
  

Dry Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light or dark brown sugar firmly packed
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooking oil use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Main Ingredients

  • 3 cups grated carrots peel before grating
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened (brick-style, not spreadable)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 0.25 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions
 

Cake Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well until combined.
  • Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
  • Stir in vanilla extract.
  • Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until well-combined.
  • Evenly divide the batter into prepared baking pans and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
  • Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frosting Preparation

  • Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and lump-free.
  • Add vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into the bowl and stir well to combine.
  • Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.
  • Once the cake has cooled completely, cover with the cream cheese frosting.

Notes

Dark brown sugar will make your cake slightly more moist and rich, but light brown sugar works perfectly if you don't have dark on hand. Make sure to use the small shred of your box grater for the carrots. A single batch of frosting will cover this cake, but consider increasing it for decoration.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 533kcalCarbohydrates: 86gProtein: 7gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 448mgPotassium: 195mgFiber: 2gSugar: 65gVitamin A: 4283IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 84mgIron: 2mg
Keyword baking, Carrot Cake, dessert, easy recipes, moist cake, spiced cake
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