Bake

Carrot Cake

by:
February 27, 2020
18 Ratings
Carrot Cake
Photo by Rocky Luten. Prop Stylist: Brooke Deonarine. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog.
Author Notes

Some say our modern-day carrot cake spawned from the British “carrot pudding” (a boiled carrot stuffed with spices, nuts, and/or fruits), while others think it to be a mid-20th-century, ration-provoked recipe (supposedly, during a time when sugar was scarce, carrots were used as a sweetener instead).

Regardless of its history, carrot cake tastes little of carrots and mostly of its accompanying spices, nuts, and/or fruits. It can be as simple as a moist, spongy cake perfumed with warming spices, or as rabbit-y as a trail mix tenuously bound by cake batter. The recipe below offers up a more austere, elegant version—but if you demand the addition of nuts (whether walnuts or pecans), or raisins, or both, there are some suggestions below. Fine-grating with a microplane yields carrot shreds—even wisps!—that better meld with the batter, and make for a more ubiquitous carrot flavor, without the salad-y texture.

The addition of cream cheese frosting is a wholly contemporary, but delicious, addition to this cake. Two parts butter to one part cream cheese keeps the frosting ultra-fluffy, while the sneaky additions of vinegar and salt keeps it from being too sweet. Adding heavy cream thins the frosting to a spreadable consistency.

For a more in-depth look at how to level and frost a cake, go here. Leveling cake layers, while not totally necessary, does make for a more structurally-sound, sharp-looking layer cake. And for that extra attention and care, the baker gets rewarded with cake scraps snacks. —Coral Lee

  • Prep time 35 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Makes 1 (9-inch) double-layered cake
Ingredients
  • Carrot cake layers:
  • 2 2/3 cups (319 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 3/4 cup (160 grams) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
  • 1 1/2 cups (320 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 4 medium carrots, unpeeled and finely shredded (about 211 grams shredded)
  • 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
  • Cream cheese frosting:
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces/113 grams) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces/226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 4 cups (1 pound/454 grams) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
In This Recipe
Tools
Set a Timer
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line 2 (9-inch) cake pans with 2 rounds of parchment paper. Whisk together all the cake’s dry ingredients.
  2. Beat the oil, sugars, and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium until it looks like wet sand. Reduce the speed to low, add in the eggs one at a time, then increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly thickened and lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 installments. Fold in the carrots—and nuts and raisins, if using—with a spatula.
  3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake until a cake tester or thin chopstick emerges clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely in their pans.
  4. While waiting for the cakes to cool, make the cream cheese frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until ethereally fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the mixer off, then carefully add the sugar. Cover the stand mixer with a large, dampened tea towel, and turn the mixer back on to low. After 2 minutes remove the towel, crank the speed back up to medium-high, and whip until again very, very fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add salt, vinegar, and heavy cream. Use the frosting immediately, or store it in the fridge until you’re ready to decorate. (If you end up refrigerating the frosting, just re-whip for a few minutes in the stand mixer on low before using.)
  5. Using a long knife, level the cakes, if desired (and eat the scraps!). Place one cake layer upside down on a large plate or cake stand. Plop on 1 1/2 cups of frosting and spread evenly with an offset spatula or butter knife. Top with the other cake layer, right side up. Cover the entire cake with a thin, see-through layer of frosting (this is called a crumb coat). Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or until the frosting has hardened. Frost the cake all over with the remaining frosting, and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
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  • Jodi P.
    Jodi P.
  • Anne-Marie De Martini
    Anne-Marie De Martini
  • Coral Lee
    Coral Lee
  • rlinden
    rlinden
Coral Lee
Coral Lee is an Associate Editor at Food52. Before this, she cooked food solely for photos. Before that, she cooked food solely for customers. And before that, she shot lasers at frescoes in Herculaneum and taught yoga. When she's not writing about or making food, she's thinking about it. Her Heritage Radio Network show, "Meant to be Eaten," explores cross-cultural exchange as afforded by food. You can follow her on Instagram @meanttobeeaten.

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    17 Reviews

    rlinden
    rlinden December 18, 2020
    This bad boy is in the oven and I’m very excited. Just wondering if the recipe should have said 220g of packed light brown sugar, not 320? 220 measured out to a cup and a half and it’s all I had so...here’s hoping!!
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. December 19, 2020
    Hi rlinden! 320g is what I and the test kitchen tested as 1.5 cups, but I would guess dropping to 220g is just fine. The frosting will provide a (literal and figurative!) moisture and sweetness cushion.
     
    rlinden
    rlinden December 19, 2020
    Came out so delicious. Thank you for the great recipe! This is only my second ever layered and frosted cake, I'm glad it was a yummy success!
     
    Jodi P.
    Jodi P. December 6, 2020
    I made this lovely cake yesterday for my husband’s birthday. I chose to include walnuts and golden raisins. I used a medium-sized micro plane to shred the 4-medium carrots and used 2 c, which was roughly equivalent to the suggested weight in grams. Next time, based on personal preference I would double the amount of spices and use a 2 to 1 proportion of cream cheese to butter rather than the opposite as the recipe suggests. Again personal preference only. The recipe is great and the instructions are accurate. Will make again, thank you!
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. December 19, 2020
    Hi Jodi! Love the suggestion of bumped spices (and I too personally prefer a cream-cheesier frosting!).
     
    Anne-Marie D.
    Anne-Marie D. September 15, 2020
    This was the first carrot cake I have ever made. I made half the recipe because we are two adults and two kids under five. By accident I forgot to half the spices, but i think it enhanced the cake. It was elegant tasting. I didn't make the icing, it really isn't necessary.
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. December 19, 2020
    Glad to hear you enjoyed it; thanks for making the cake, Anne-Marie!
     
    soph831
    soph831 May 10, 2020
    I made this for Mother's Day and we were all very impressed with the frosting, however the cake was very dry. I checked the recipe to make sure I put enough oil and so forth and it all checked out. We were disappointed :(
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. May 11, 2020
    Hi there! Sorry to hear that your cake turned out dry... do you think it may have gotten a bit over baked?
     
    Sarah M.
    Sarah M. April 12, 2020
    My mom and I made this yesterday to have today for my 20th birthday, and it turned out beautifully! Everyone in my family that eats carrot cake mentioned how delicious it tasted! Thanks for giving me something happy to remember about my birthday in a time like this!
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. April 16, 2020
    Sarah, thanks much for your sweet note! Happy birthday month to you; I'm so very glad the cake could offer some much-needed sunshine.
     
    Angie
    Angie March 15, 2020
    I was searching for a great cream cheese frosting to go with my own version of carrot cake. This is it! Just wondering how long does it last in the fridge? Thanks!
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. March 15, 2020
    Hi Angie! Buttercream will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge, in a tightly sealed container. Though, I froze this buttercream while testing, and used it a month later with no problem. Just plop the buttercream in a stand mixer and whip for a couple minutes on medium to revive it. Good luck!
     
    tresbonne
    tresbonne March 13, 2020
    Thanks for answering my question! Looks delicious-- I will be baking this tomorrow.
     
    Paula
    Paula March 12, 2020
    My cake sunk in the middle! Any guesses why?
     
    Author Comment
    Coral L.
    Coral L. March 12, 2020
    Oh no—sorry to hear, Paula!

    Could have been a couple of things (assuming your oven temp is accurate): did your cake bake all the way through? Sometimes an under-baked cake can fall (and this one is already very moist as is). Alternatively, you may have whipped slightly too much air into the batter? You're not looking for the batter to get *uber* light yellow and fluffy, just slightly thickened and smooth.
     
    Paula
    Paula March 12, 2020
    Thank you so much for your response! I haven’t cut into it yet but the tester I put in came out clean. It fell the minute I put it in the oven. I bet it was over beating the batter. It looked right at about two minutes but I let it go till three minutes.