Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a simple and delicious, homemade carrot cake recipe that anyone can make and everyone will love!
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I can’t exactly remember the day I got over my irrational food-combination issues, but homemade carrot cake is one of the reasons I’m glad I did. Who would have thought that those sweet little root vegetables could make a cake taste this great??
Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Now because I’m a purist, the ingredients in this recipe for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting are simple and basic. There are no nuts or pineapple in the batter; just carrots, buttermilk, and all kinds of good old fashioned sugar and spice. You are going to love it! Once it’s chilled, the frosting will set enough that you’ll be able to cut into it cleanly with a warm knife. Just take a look at that deliciousness! The texture of the carrot cake is absolutely moist and tender and the cream cheese frosting is perfectly light and fluffy.
How to Make the BEST Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Use fresh carrots and grate them yourself. Stay away from pre-grated carrots from the grocery store as they contain a lower level of moisture than freshly grated carrots.
- Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Mixing the wet ingredients together and the dry ingredients together and then combining them will give your cake the perfect texture since all the ingredients will be evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Grease your pans well, and line it with parchment paper. Grease your pan generously for easy removal. A circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan will make removing the cake SO easy!
- Bake immediately after mixing. The leavening agents are activated as soon as the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together so for a fluffy and tender cake, bake it as soon as you can!
- Let it cool before slicing or frosting. Cakes continue to bake on the inside after you remove them from the oven, so be sure to let the cake cool in its pan for about 15 minutes before removing it from the pan to cool completely before frosting or slicing.
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Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
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2-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe: Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup canola oil
- 1 1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
For the frosting:
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 12 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp milk optional, depending on frosting consistency
For garnish:
- 1/2 cup sweetened toasted coconut
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Recipe: Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare two 9-inch round cake pans by greasing them well and lining the bottom with a circular piece of parchment paper. It's also a good idea to grease on top of the parchment paper and flour the cake pans as well.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt to a large bowl and whisk them together until combined.
- Add the shredded carrots to the dry ingredients and whisk them in until they're evenly distributed throughout the dry ingredients.
- To a separate bowl, add the eggs, canola oil and buttermilk and whisk them together well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine them with a rubber spatula just until no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cake layers comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from their pans and cool them upside down on cooling racks until they cool completely.
For the frosting:
- Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip the cream cheese on medium high speed until it's creamy and smooth.
- Add the softened butter and the vanilla extract to the cream cheese and continue to whip on medium speed until they're well combined (you might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl at this point).
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on medium-low speed until it's completely blended and thick. If at this point the frosting is too thick to spread, beat in a tablespoon or two of milk to loosen it up a little bit (add the milk a couple teaspoons at a time just to be sure you don't add too much!).
- Once the frosting has reached the right consistency and the cake has cooled completely, frost the cake with a knife or an offset spatula, making sure there's a generous layer of frosting between the layers before frosting the sides and the top.
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Everything about this screams spring to me and such a fabulous treat. Perfect for Easter
Thanks Kristen!
Carrot cake is one of my favs! Yours looks good!
Thanks so much Megan!
What did I do wrong? My oven has a built temp gauge inside of oven, so I know the temp is right. It took 50 mins. And I’m still not sure its fully baked. I’m making a back up cake now. In your prep time it said bake 30 mins. Are you sure?
Always bake to done as all ovens are not the same Yours may not be as hot as you think.
I love carrot cake! Your recipe looks perfect 🙂
Thanks so much! Me too 🙂
This carrot cake looks perfect! I have been craving carrot cake lately, this is inspiring me to make it!
Thanks Sara!! I hope you give it a try!
I love carrot cake. I usually make one every spring, for my birthday. This recipe is perfect. The coconut and toasted walnuts take it over the top!
Thanks Lucy! Let me know if you give it a try!
Carrot cake is one of my favorites! Still haven't tried cream cheese with it yet since I'm not the biggest fan, but this cake looks beautiful! 🙂
Thanks!
Made this was delicious. Used less sugar in frosting then called for and was plenty sweet. Also added walnuts and rum soaked raisins to batter.
That’s great! And those sound like some delicious additions! 🙂 Yum!
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!😊 My dad has been asking me to make a carrot cake for quite some time now. It’s his favourite and the last time I’d baked one for him was almost 10 years ago! Your recipe was perfect and dad loved it as did the rest of my family! So easy to bake and super moist! Absolutely loved it!😊👌
SO glad you loved the recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this positive feedback!
Hello 🙂
Ive been searching the net over a good couple of months for a great carrot cake recipe, found this a few days ago and decided right away to make it since it didn’t need alot of ingredients and the instructions made it so simple
My husband, sisters, mom and aunt loves this!!
I was asked repeatedly if I bought it!
cant wait to try your other recipes
I’m so glad you all loved it! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
I chose this recipe for its ingredients and simplicity, as i was looking for something that didn’t overdo things due to it being a 1yr old’s birthday cake, and wanted them to enjoy it as much as the adults.
It took longer to bake, about double the time, as i recently moved and didn’t have multiple cake tins – a standard expectation. As i was putting it together, i thought it may have been a little oil-heavy, but it ensured that the cake stayed perfectly moist – not overdone at all. I have generally had bad experiences with carrot cakes, and I wanted to thank you on the success of this genuinely delicious classic cake. Even the non-veggie eater, and non-sweet eaters in the family loved it! Not to mention 1yr old had a fantastic time discovering its flavours 🙂
The only thing i did differently was to replace the sugars in the frosting with a large dose of honey, which turned out lovely, and omited the trimmings (only for choking worries). I love cottage cheese baked in carrot, and the cream cheese frosting was the perfect compliment to such a cake.
Thank you so much!
Thanks so much! Glad you liked the recipe!
Hello, I have a quick question. I live in Canada, and canadian 1 cup equals to 250g. Is your 1 cup 150g? Or 250g.
Thank you!
1 cup is the American measurement – it doesn’t translate to an exact measurement in grams because it depends on the ingredient (ex: one cup of flour is approximately 120 grams and 1 cup of sugar is approximately 200 grams).
Great recipe! I was a little nervous after adding the carrot to the dry ingredients cause it all clumped together but it turned out delicious in the end! Will def be making this again!
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Glad you loved it! 🙂
This cake looks delicious! Will it work with whole milk instead of buttermilk?
Yes, you can use whole milk, but please add a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to substitute for the acid in the buttermilk. Or the cake won’t rise properly 🙂
Can I make this in a 9X12 pan instead of 2 round ones? If so, how long would you think I should cook it for?
Yes, you can. I would keep the same bake time but use the toothpick test to ensure the cake is done before removing it from the oven.
This was my first time making a carrot cake and this recipe is amazing! The cake was so delicious. I will definitely be making this again
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Hi! Made this last week and it was amazing. Want to make it again this weekend but as cupcakes, will it work if I do everything the same but in 24 cupcakes? Maybe lessen the time, 25mins at 350? Thanks!
Sure! Check out my recipe for the cupcake version of this delicious cake https://thebusybaker.ca/best-ever-carrot-cake-cupcakes/ Happy baking!
This is a hit! I get requests a year after making this cake. I mix walnuts and pecans inside the cake batter and outside. I swear the buttermilk makes a huge difference. When you want a tasty carrot cake this is it!
So glad you love it!! 🙂
I found this recipe in 2018 and have made it for my and my son’s shared birthday every year since. It’s easy and SO delicious that I’m sometimes tempted to make two so that everyone can enjoy more of it.
That’s so nice of you! Thanks so much Lindsay!!
Hello Chrissie, this looks amazing and I’d love to try it, but us Brits weigh everything out, so I still don’t really get the cups measurements! How do you measure a cup of butter, soften and squash it into a measuring cup? You normally provide metric measurements as well – is there possibly a version of this with weighed out ingredients? That would be amazing, thank you so much!
We’ve converted all of the ingredients for this recipe and you can access them by clicking on the metric button at the bottom of the ingridients list. Enjoy and happy baking!☺️
Thank you so much !
Can you add rum to the cake and I don’t mean rum raisins I’m talking about the cake itself
Feel free to add a splash of rum if you’d like!
Can this be baked in a Bundt pan? Thanks. I’ve made your recipe and it’s very delicious.
I have never tried it myself so I couldn’t tell you, but if you do try, please let us know! You might have to adjust the baking time. Happy baking ☺️
What did I do? My icing isn’t getting thicker? The cake is delicious but the icing is a bit thicker than water
Make sure you’re using full fat cream cheese. The light variety contains too much water and using it results in a liquid frosting
Tried this recipe and the cake turned out amazing, however the cream cheese frosting turned out quite runny. I followed the recipe so I’m not sure what I did wrong? I didn’t even add the milk that the recipe mentions if the frosting is too thick.
Make sure you’re using full fat cream cheese, the light variety tends to contain more water that melts the sugar and gives you a frosting that will never have a stable texture.
This cake is AMAZING – so flavourful, moist and delicious. Ever since discovering this recipe I make it every year for my husbands birthday. I have printed off the recipe and put it in a binder- I will never need another carrot cake recipe, this can’t be beat! Thank you!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. And Happy Birthday to your husband!
It looks delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.