Easy Carrot Cake
Description: This is the best carrot cake recipe I’ve made. We prefer to use a hand grater when preparing the carrots since it creates delicate shreds that melt into the cake batter. We like using granulated and brown sugar in this recipe. If you only want to use one, choose brown sugar since it has the necessary acid to react with the baking soda. For cupcakes, see our carrot cake cupcakes recipe. 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). See the tips section below for a more traditional frosting.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (260g)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda, important to level the teaspoon, see tips
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil (295ml)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar (190g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups grated peeled carrots, 5 to 6 medium carrots (300g)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (120g)
- ½ cup raisins (70g)
- 8 ounces block cream cheese, at room temperature (225g)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, optional
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar (140g)
- ⅓ cup cold heavy cream, not plain whipping cream, see tips (80ml)
- ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans, for topping cake (50g)
Instructions
- Bake Cake
- Heat oven and prepare pans: Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). 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.
- Prepare dry ingredients: Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until very well blended.
- Prepare wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one.
- Make the batter: 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. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.
- Bake cake layers: Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake pans. 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.
- Cool them: Remove the cakes from the oven, and leave them in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully turn the cake layers out onto cooling racks. Remove the parchment paper and cool completely before frosting. 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.
- Frost Cake
- Prep dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together the cornstarch and powdered sugar. Set this aside.
- Beat cream cheese: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until very smooth, whipped, and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Combine ingredients: With the mixer on low speed, add the cornstarch and powdered sugar to the cream cheese, a heaped spoonful at a time, until thoroughly combined.
- Add the cream: Pour in the cold heavy cream. Beat on medium to medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until the frosting is whipped and creamy. If it is not whipping, chill in the fridge for 15 minutes, and try again. This frosting resembles the texture of whipped cream. Chill covered until ready to frost the cake.
- Assemble the cake: When the cake layers are completely cool, frost the top of one cake layer and place the second cake layer on top. Add the remaining frosting to the top of the 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.