The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
This is absolutely the best carrot cake recipe! It's easy to make, extremely moist, flavored with warm spices, and frosted with the best cream cheese frosting. It gets decorated with mini carrots for the cutest Easter and spring touch.
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake
- 2 ½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoon (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) packed, light brown sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- ¾ cup (178 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 cups (220 g) finely shredded carrots, at room temperature
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 ½ cups (336 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 12 oz. (340 g) cream cheese, cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups (780 g) powdered sugar
- orange food coloring optional
- green food coloring optional
- chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 6" inch round cake pans with non stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then set aside.2 ½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. (If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.)10 tablespoon (140 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (200 g) granulated white sugar, ½ cup (110 g) packed, light brown sugar
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium then medium-high speed until smooth, pale in color and slightly fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.3 eggs, at room temperature, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the butter mixture a little at a time, until each has been added completely. Mix on low then medium speed just until the batter is combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.¾ cup (178 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- Add in the shredded carrots and mix on low speed just until dispersed through the batter.2 cups (220 g) finely shredded carrots, at room temperature
- Evenly distribute the cake batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes for 36-41 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the centers. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the butter to a large bowl and whip on high speed with an electric mixer until pale in color and fluffy, about 5-10 minutes. (If using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment.)1 ½ cups (336 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Then add in the cream cheese and mix on medium-high speed until thoroughly combined, 1-2 minutes.12 oz. (340 g) cream cheese, cold
- Sift in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, and mix on low then medium-low speed until all is combined together.6 cups (780 g) powdered sugar
- Lastly add in the vanilla and mix on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, 1-2 more minutes.1 teaspoon vanilla
- Portion out a few spoonfuls of frosting into two bowls. Mix in green food coloring to one, and orange food coloring to the other until the desired color is reached.
Assembling the Cake
- STEP ONE Getting Perfectly Sized Cake Layers: Once the cakes are completely cooled make them even by removing the domed tops. With a sharp knife, remove the domed tops from each cake layer until each are flat and can be evenly stacked.
- STEP TWO Creating a Crumb Coat: Then place a dollop of cream cheese frosting in the center of your cake turntable. Place the first cake layer over it. Then add a generous amount of cream cheese frosting on top of the cake layer and even it out with your offset spatula, turning the cake table as you go. Place the next layer over top and repeat the step. Then place the final layer over the top and place small dollops of frosting on the outsides and top of the cake. Even out the frosting as much as possible with your offset spatula. Then with your cake scraper, scrape the icing across the cake, turning the cake turntable as you go to make this as easy as possible. This layer of frosting ensures the cake's final layer will be free of crumbs. Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- STEP THREE Final Layer of Frosting: Once the cake has chilled in the fridge, remove it and apply the final coating of frosting. You may need to rewhip the frosting at this point. Apply generous dollops of frosting on the sides and top of the cake and smooth them out with your offset spatula. Then with your cake scraper even out the frosting, turning the cake turntable as you go, to give you an even coating of cream cheese frosting. (You may have to do this step twice to make sure the frosting is on thick enough. Chill the cake for 20-30 minutes in-between coats.)
- STEP FOUR Decorating the Cake: Transfer the orange cream cheese frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small circular tip, and the green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small star tip. Pipe mini carrots on the cake with the orange frosting, making sure to space them out. Then with the green frosting pipe a small star at the top of each carrot to be a decorative stem. Rewhip the remaining cream cheese frosting if needed, then transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. Sprinkle chopped walnut pieces on top of the cake and press them onto the bottom edges of the cake if you wish. Pipe decorative swirls of frosting on top of the cake. Then, serve the cake!
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