This truly is the Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! The cake is supremely tender, moist, and bursting with great carrot cake flavor. The frosting is creamy, smooth, and decadent. Perfect for birthdays, holidays, and craving days.
It’s finally officially spring. Though the weather can be somewhat of a finicky unknown during spring in this neck of the woods, nobody’s complaining.
Yeah, there can be the occasional snowstorm (did I say that out loud?) and loads of puddly mud, but it’s definitely on the upswing.
Plus, Easter is right around the corner. The boys still eagerly go egg hunting and hop towards spingy festivities in the community, church, and school.
Not to mention festive pancakes… or just cake.
Can carrot cake be any more apropro?
I can hardly think of a better time than now for this Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Not trying to brag, but this is really the best carrot cake and luscious cream cheese frosting combo we’ve ever sunk our sweet little teeth into.
The frosting is finger-licking great. Check it…
Creamy, smooth, cheesecakey in flavor, and the perfect frosting to layer in between this here below.
This moist, tender, soft, carrotful cake. Times two mouthwatering layers.
The cake portion is scrumptious enough all by itself, in all its golden glory.
This cake is chock full of carroty goodness, but when it’s all baked up, even picky eaters won’t doubt.
The carrots lend an amazing moistness to the texture, but aren’t overpowering at all.
All the flavors of the cake swing and jive so well together.
Simply ridunkulous. The Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
I love this cake so much, I make it for birthdays, holidays, and when I want cake for breakfast. Just sayin’.
Enjoy!
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This is truly the very Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting we’ve ever had the pleasure of sinking our sweet teeth into! The cake layers are super moist, tender, soft, and delicious. The cream cheese frosting is smooth and velvety, like a bit of cheesecake heaven. *This cake can be made a day ahead, and actually tastes better the next day!
Ingredients
- For the Cake;
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable or olive oil
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and grated (I did half using large holes of box grater and half small holes)
- 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, liquid drained and squeezed out of the fruit
- For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 12 oz regular cream cheese, softened
- 6 TB salted butter, softened
- 4 tsp regular sour cream
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioner’s (powder) sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Line 2 (9 in) round cake pans with parchment paper on bottom. Grease parchment paper and sides of pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat both sugars with eggs on medium high until combined, 45 sec. Reduce to medium speed and add oil gradually. Increase to high speed and mix until light in color, 1 min. Remove bowl and using a rubber spatula, fold in the carrots and pineapple. Gently fold in dry ingredient mixture just until no flour streaks remain; do not over mix.
- Scrape batter, divided evenly, into prepared cake pans. Smooth top to release air bubbles. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few tender crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes.
- Remove pans and cool cakes completely in pans on a wire rack (at least several hours.)
- Meanwhile, make the frosting. In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, mix the softened cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed until combined, 30 seconds, scraping down as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, 1 minute. Keep chilled until ready to use.
- Be sure cakes are completely cooled. Run thin knife around edge of cakes to loosen and invert one round cake onto serving platter. Tap back of pan to remove cake and gently peel off parchment paper. Spread half of the cream cheese frosting on top of cake. Repeat with second layer of cake, placing it gently over the top of frosting. Spread remaining frosting on top, and garnish however you like (I use walnuts) but no garnish necessary. Cake may be covered and chilled 1 day ahead.
Source: Chew Out Loud, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook
Here are a few of my bestest cakes to bake and eat:
1. Best Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake – This moist, tender cake is easy and bursting with berries and bright flavors to cheer up anyone’s day. Super easy, too!
2. Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – This is a super duper easy carrot cake in a pan that doesn’t involve layers but involves lots of moist flavor!
3. Banana Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting. An easy pan cake that is always moist, soft, and perfect for any time of day.
4. Banana Chiffon Cake. This light, spongy, airy cake is moist and tender all the way. So good and addictive, you can almost eat the entire thing all by yourself.
5. Best Ever Angel Food Cake. I never tasted real angel food cake until I tasted this. It blows away any store bought version.
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I made this cake today and my family loved it I only added half a cup of shaved coconut and and half a cup of crush pecans, thanks for sharing it with us I will continue making it.
Yay, love to hear it, Ellie! Nice job, so glad your family loved it 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know! Hope you’ll continue finding recipes you enjoy here at COL 🙂
I don’t remember carrot cake having pineapple but it’s been awhile..
This cake was truly moist and delicious, but if the cake is cut into 8 slices, I calculated almost 1100 calories per serving! Next time I might try subbing applesauce for about a cup of the oil, and Neufchâtel for the cream cheese for starters, but I honestly can’t see making it again as written.
Somebody would like me to make this for their wedding cake! Do you have any suggestions for baking 8” and 6” cakes?
Dalynn,how exciting! For an 8″ you might need to increase the bake time a little bit (if the batter reaches up higher than with the 9″)… start testing at the original bake time, and remove when toothpick inserted in center comes out *almost* clean with a few tender crumbs attached. With a 6″ you’ll likely need to shorten the bake time. Start testing maybe 10-15 minutes earlier, again until toothpick comes out with few tender crumbs. Congrats on being the cake baker! 🙂
Just made this for a baby shower. It truly is THE.BEST.CARROT.CAKE.EVER. Everyone at the shower raved. And it was super easy to make as well. Thank you for the recipe!
Can I make this with pineapple juice instead of the chunks?
You can omit the pineapple rather than subbing with juice. If you sub with juice, you’ll be adding liquid to the batter, which will alter your dry to liquid ratio. Hope you truly love this cake as much as we do 🙂
can make cupcakes instead of layer cake using this recipe?
Yes, just alter the cooking time. For small cupcakes 10-15 mins, for bigger cupcakes 12-20 mins (depending on your oven)