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Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is the MOST DELICIOUS CARROT CAKE YOU'LL EVER EAT! I love this recipe so much! If you can't eat nuts, simply omit them! The cream cheese frosting is so light and creamy - a perfect pair with the cake. FULL RECIPE BELOW!
Course: dessert
Cuisine: american
Keyword: Cake

Ingredients

Cake Batter:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 lb carrots peeled and grated
  • 1 cup pecans finely chopped (optional if you have a nut allergy)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 250 g cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • orange and green food coloring

Instructions

Bake the cake:

  • In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating with each addition. Add the vanilla extract, water and carrots and beat until combined. Add the flour and pecans and mix together on low speed, until fully combined.
  • Divide the batter between 4 greased and floured 6” round cake pans or 3 greased and floured 9” round cake pans. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Make the frosting:

  • Beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and combine.
  • Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  • Dye ¼ cup of the frosting orange and another ¼ cup green. Place the orange frosting into a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized round piping tip. Place the green frosting into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip.

Assembly:

  • Slice the tops and bottoms off all cakes to smooth the surface. Stack the cakes on your work surface and spread some frosting between each layer. Coat the cake in a thin layer of frosting, then transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  • Coat the cake in a thick, generous layer of frosting. Smooth the top and sides. Pipe carrots using the orange frosting, by starting at the widest end of the carrot and pulling the piping bag towards you, making a point. Pipe little lines with the green frosting to create the carrot tops. Enjoy!

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