Easy Carrot Cake Recipe: A simple and moist recipe from scratch with a cream cheese frosting that will soon become a favorite!
No matter what time of year it is, carrot cake can be the perfect spring cake, or even a comforting rich cake to make during the holiday season.
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Why You’ll Love This Cake
As a fan of chocolate, it’s rare for me to like a dessert or a cake that doesn’t include chocolate in the ingredients list, like this Ding Dong Cake or Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake!
But when you put a plate of carrot cake in front of me, you better believe I’ll be grabbing a fork before someone can take it away. And this recipe… well, it’s not only delicious but it’s easy and may just become your new go-to!
Not looking for homemade? You’ll love this carrot walnut cake made with a spice cake mix!
Carrot Cake from Scratch
Now I love a boxed cake mix as much as the next gal, but when it comes to carrot cake, there’s something beyond amazing about it being made from scratch.
If you have the time, (which may not be as much as you think you need) don’t give this recipe a second thought.
Here is a beautiful cake from a Pinterest reviewer of this carrot cake recipe that I thought you’d enjoy seeing too!
How to Make Carrot Cake
You can find the full recipe card with ingredients and instructions at the bottom of this post. But like the other recipes here on the blog, I love to provide instructions with photos as well in case you’re a visual person like myself!
Preheat + Prep
First, preheat your oven to 350º degrees and prepare 3 – 6” cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment paper.
Mix + Pour
Combine all dry ingredients (sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
Run through the ingredients with a whisk breaking up any large clumps.
Add in all of the wet ingredients (eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract) and mix until combined.
Then, add in the carrots and mix until combined.
Bake + Cool
Evenly distribute the batter between the three baking pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Carrot Cake Icing
While the cakes are cooling, prepare your cream cheese buttercream by creaming together the cream cheese and butter until nice and smooth.
Slowly add in confectioners sugar until combined.
Add in vanilla and cream and mix on high for 3-4 minutes until the frosting is nice and fluffy.
Assemble + Ice
Assemble the cake by placing one layer on a cake stand or plate and topping with about ½ cup of the frosting and leveling with a spatula.
Continue with all layers. Cover the entire cake with frosting…
and top with chopped pecans if desired. (Isn’t this little row along the bottom of the cake, adorable?)
TIP: Place pecans in the cup of your hand and gently place the inside of your hand against the bottom of the cake, slowly turning the cake and carefully placing the nuts along the bottom!
Feel free to use something other than pecans, to decorate your carrot cake. (Mini chocolate chips, toffee, etc.)
Moist Carrot Cake
I know, I know… I can’t stand the word “moist” but there really isn’t another word that I can think of at the moment to describe the inside of this beautiful cake.
Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of your carrot cake and pat yourself on the back for what is now what you may consider the BEST Carrot Cake Recipe.
Let us know in the comments below if you love carrot cake, and how yours turned out!
More Easy Cake Recipes
If you’re in a baking mood and want to add more cake recipes to your Pinterest boards, then you’ll want to check out reader favorites!
More Dessert Recipes
We LOVE dessert around here, so you’ll want to make sure you snag your favorite easy dessert recipes before you head out! Browse our Easy Dessert Recipes!
📖 Recipe
Easy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- 1 stick butter softened
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare 3 6” cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment paper if desired.
- Combine all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Run through the ingredients with a whisk breaking up any large clumps.
- Add in all of the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Add in the carrots and mix until just combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the three baking pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare your cream cheese buttercream by creaming together the cream cheese and butter until nice and smooth.
- Slowly add in one cup of confectioners sugar at a time until combined.
- Add in vanilla and cream and mix on high for 3-4 minutes until the frosting is nice and fluffy.
- Assemble the cake by placing one layer on a cake stand or plate and topping with about ½ cup of the frosting and leveling with a spatula.
- Continue with all layers. Finally cover the entire cake with the frosting, and top with chopped pecans if desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Donna Lyle says
I made this cake last night and it sunk in and didn’t cook. I tried again and made it again and read the recipe carefully and it collapsed again. I have never had this happen before. What happened?
Jessica says
Hi Donna! Aw, I’m so sorry this is happening! I wasn’t sure what could be causing it, so I did a quick Google search and found this! I hope this is helpful!
Toni says
This cake was easygoing- i made some changes based on ingredients i had available and it turns out great. Thanks!
Liz hales says
This is a very easy recipe ,made it for the bake sale at church, will let you know how they liked it.it was spectacular.
Jessica says
Yay! I’m so glad that you liked it, thank you for sharing!
Cee says
What if I wanted to make this as a larger single layer cake? For example a 9×13?
Jessica says
Hi Cee! I’m not sure, as I haven’t tried that yet. I’m sorry. I do know that a lot of cakes that I make can be made either way… but the baking times just differ, so do be mindful of that if you give it a try! I’d loe o hear what you think if you do try it!
Tonya Andrews says
What kind of flour? Cake flour,all purpose or regular?
Brittney says
Hi! Salted butter or unsalted, for the frosting?
Jessica says
Hi Bittney! You should be able to use either for this recipe… depending on your preference!
T. Reams says
This recipe is my go to! Many compliments and loved by all that get to try it. I highly recommend this recipe!
Jessica says
Aww, that makes me so happy! Thank you so much for letting us know, and I’m so glad that you love it!
Christine Chini says
Are you using US cups measurement. I only have UK measurements.
Jessica says
Hello Christine! Yes, these are US cups measurements! If it’s helpful at all, I want to share this website where it converts it for you! http://allrecipes.co.uk/how-to/44/cooking-conversions.aspx
Christine says
Thanks for your help will try your receipt.
Maggie says
Ive made this cake recipe probably 10 times over the years. Its fabulous but I do remove one of the eggs and add 1/4 cup of cinnamon applesauce instead just to add even more moisture! So yummy! However, has anyone tried this recipe with cupcakes? I have a bake sale this weekend, wondering if it could be used for cupcakes, but just adjust the time?
Jessica says
Oh wow!! That’s awesome! Love that idea and I may even have to try adding applesauce too! I would LOVE to hear if you try these for cupcakes!
CC says
The cake tasted amazing. The only problem was it fell. I read someone else had the same problem but I didn’t see why. I will be making it again. Yummy
Jessica says
Hi there! Oh shoot, I’m so sorry it fell. I’m not sure why some are experiencing that! I’ve read that sometimes if cakes are added in before the oven is fully preheated, it can cause that but I’m not sure if that’s what would do it or not. Thank you for letting me know and for the kind review!! So appreciated!