The Best Carrot Cake Recipe From Scratch
Out of experience, it is safe to say that trying new cake recipes is either a hit or miss. You will either have your taste buds suffer from a dry texture infused with clashing flavors, or enjoy a cloud-like moist piece of cake topped with creamy frosting. Well when it comes to my Carrot Cake recipe, it is definitely the latter! This Carrot Cake recipe presents a melt-in-your mouth texture, with swoon-worthy flavors, and a bright orange picturesque presentation. So be ready, because I am bringing you a new recipe you will soon realize you carrot (lol) live without!
Carrot Cake Recipe from Scratch
This ultimate carrot cake with pineapple is homemade from scratch. Its divine spicy flavor, deliciously moist crumb, and velvety frosting makes it a top candidate to steal your heart tonight! Although carrot cakes are usually associated with Easter, it is safe to say that this recipe is perfect all year long, and its balanced level of sweetness makes it a family favorite. The bright orange color counterbalanced by the creamy white frosting crowns it the star of every kitchen counter runway!
What Does It Taste Like?
This question does not have a straightforward answer. If you are craving a good well-made carrot cake, then don’t expect one that exudes the vegetable taste. It is quite confusing considering carrots are the main ingredient of this recipe, but a good carrot cake provides you with just a subtle taste of carrots in comparison to other ingredients. You will find that the flavor of carrots takes a back seat in the presence of brown sugar, cinnamon, and cream cheese.
Now, when it comes to texture, a good piece of carrot cake should be mess-free and has a slightly crumbly feel. Although the cake is a bit dense, each bite is super soft and lush. And in the rare occasions where you can withhold from enjoying a luscious piece and allow the cream cheese frosting to seep between the layers of the cake, then you will be left with intensified flavors and tender bites.
How Can You Enjoy a Carrot Cake?
You have probably heard of a thousand versions of the carrot cake recipe. My creative people are turning a classic into some crazy sweet things! You can take a carrot cake recipe to another dimension by transforming it into cupcakes, cookies, cookie bites, oatmeal, honey loaf, pancakes, muffins, and jam. Now when it comes to our classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, you can enjoy a fluffy bite with fresh fruits, mainly a good old berries-mix. You can also relish a piece with hot steaming cup of your favorite coffee, hot cocoa for the little ones, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an icy kick!
BAKING TIPS FOR THE BEST CARROT CAKE:
- Don’t add extra flour. Don’t randomly scoop out the flour out of the container, instead measure it correctly using a spoon to add flour to the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- I highly recommend not using pre-grated carrots. Buy standard organic carrots, peel, and grate them with a grater for the best results. The beautiful orange color and fresh flavor in this cake are what make this cake awesome!
- Feel free to add chopped pecans or walnuts to this carrot cake: I suggest roasting your nuts before adding them to the carrot cake. If you are looking for an extra fruity flavor, add raisins or dried fruits to the carrot cake mix as well.
- My carrot cake doesn’t contain coconut, but if you are feeling extra today, you can add about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to the mixture.
Frequently Asked Questions:
It is totally up to you! I didn’t include any raisins and nuts in my recipe because I was out of raisins the day I baked this cake. Suppose you like raisins, pecans, and walnuts, feel free to add them in the last step. If you want to add nuts, I recommend toasting them beforehand, and then adding them to the cake batter right before transferring the batter to the cake pans.
You are probably wondering whether a slice of carrot cake will put a dent in your healthy lifestyle. Well, it can be healthy if you wanted it to be. My carrot cake has 1 lb. of grated organic carrots, and only 1 cup of granulated sugar. However, you can replace it with coconut sugar, stevia, or any of your favorite healthy sweeteners.
If you are eating your carrot cake on the same day it is made, then you can keep it at room temperature without the need to refrigerate it. However, any longer than that and you would have to refrigerate it in an airtight container. That way, it will hold up for about 5 days.
If you haven’t toasted nuts before, don’t worry because it’s super easy! Just spread them out on a baking tray and bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until they smell nice and fragrant. Remove from the oven after 5 minutes and move around on the baking sheet so they toast evenly.
Bake. Share. Repeat!
Ingredients You Need:
This moist Carrot Cake recipe with cream cheese frosting stands out from the rest of the recipes for an important reason: I use yogurt and freshly cut pineapple pieces. The rest of the ingredients for this carrot cake are typical ingredients that you most likely have on hand already.
Carrot Cake:
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- salt
- oil
- yogurt
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- granulated sugar
- chopped pineapple
- freshly grated carrots
- chopped nuts and raisins (optional)
Cream Cheese frosting:
- butter
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- salt
- vanilla
- heavy cream or milk
How to Make Carrot Cake From Scratch:
Make your cake:
- In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, all spice, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, and salt.
- Add grated carrots to dry sifted ingredients and use your hand to incorporate the carrots with the flour.
- In another bowl, cream together eggs, sugar, vanilla, yogurt, and oil. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the carrot mixture and fold until everything is well incorporated.
- Lastly, add pineapple and fold again.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Use three 6’’ cake pans or one large 9×13 cake pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t over bake.
- Allow carrot cake to cool down and then transfer to a wire rack. Let carrot cake completely cool down before frosting and assembling.
Make the frosting:
- In a large bowl using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter for 1 minute and then add cream cheese and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed until smooth.
- Add sifted powder sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla, beat for three more minutes on medium speed until all combined and creamy.
- Lastly, add heavy cream if the frosting is too thick. Make sure frosting is soft and not runny.
- Store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before assembling the cake.
Assemble and Frost Your Carrot Cake:
- Use a cake leveler or a large serrated knife on your serving plate to level the cake.
- Cover the top of your cake with frosting. Add the second layer and add more frosting, then add the 3rd layer and more frosting.
- Spread the rest of the frosting all over the sides and top of the carrot cake. Decorate the top with piped cream cheese frosting.
- Refrigerate your carrot cake for an hour before slicing into it.
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Other Recipes for You:
- Glazed Lemon Pound Cake With Pudding
- Chocolate Bundt Cake with Cake Mix
- Milk-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
- No-Bake Nescafe Cake
- Chocolate Chip and Walnut Banana Bread Recipe
- Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe from Scratch
- Russian Napoleon Cake
The Best Carrot Cake Recipe From Scratch
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 lb. freshly grated carrots
- ½ cup oil
- ½ cup yogurt
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup chopped pineapples
Cream cheese frosting
- 1 cup butter softned at room tempture
- 16 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Carrot cake:
- In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, cream together eggs, sugar, vanilla, yogurt, and oil. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Add grated carrots to dry sifted ingredients and use your hand to incorporate all the carrots with the flour.
- Add the wet ingredients to the carrot mixture and fold until everything is well incorporated.
- Lastly, add pineapple and fold again.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Use three 6’' cake pans or one large 9×13 cake pan.
- Bake at 350 Degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t over bake.
- Allow carrot cake to cool down and then transfer to a wire rack. Let carrot cake completely cool down before frosting and assembling.
Cream cheese frosting
- In a large bowl using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter for 1 minute and then add cream cheese and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed until smooth.
- Add sifted powder sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla, beat for three more minutes on medium speed until all combined and creamy.
- Lastly, add heavy cream if the frosting is too thick. Make sure frosting is soft and not runny.
- Store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before assembling the cake.
Assemble and frost carrot cake:
- Use a cake leveler or a large serrated knife on your serving plate to level the cake.
- Cover the top of your cake with frosting. Add the second layer and add more frosting, then add the 3rd layer and more frosting.
- Spread the rest of the frosting all over the sides and top of the carrot cake. Decorate the top with piped cream cheese frosting.
- Refrigerate your carrot cake for an hour before slicing into it.
