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The Best Carrot Cake Ever

No seriously, ever. In fact, Matt and I both agreed this carrot cake wins top 3 cakes I’ve ever made. If you don’t believe me, come over and I’ll bake you one. I bet you won’t even be able to decide which is better – the freshly baked, super moist carrot cake or the whipped cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

And there is over 3 cups of freshly grated carrots in this cake…so it makes it healthy too.

 Just look at her. Almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.

 And there you have it…the best carrot cake ever!!! Don’t forget to check out my layered cake {tutorial here}.

Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cups carrots, grated
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
  • 1 cup raisins (optional)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 6-8 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream

Make the Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 300º F. Grease and flour two 8 inch pans, and line with parchment paper {tutorial here}.

  2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  3. Whisk together the oil, sugar, and eggs until smooth in a stand mixer.

  4. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until well combined. Add carrots, pineapple, coconut, pecans and raisins (if using). Divide evenly between pans.

  5. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack and chill in refrigerator for a couple hours, or cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Make the Frosting

  1. In a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese and butter until combined.

  2. Add extract, cinnamon, heavy cream and half the powdered sugar.

  3. Slowly continue to add the remaining powdered sugar until desired consistency.

Assemble the Cake

  1. Place your bottom cake layer on a cardboard round {to transport to a cake stand later} or directly on your cake stand.

  2. Using a piping bag, pipe a line of frosting along the rim of the cake and fill in with a thick layer of frosting.

  3. Add the top layer and spread a thin coat of frosting over the entire cake, creating a crumb coat.

  4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden the icing, allowing for a smoother second coat.

  5. Using an angled spatula on the top and a straight palette knife on the sides, evenly spread the rest of the frosting over the entire cake. Move cake to plate or stand. To create the swirls, use the back of a spoon on slowly make circles around the cake {tutorial here}.

  6. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

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Jay

Monday 6th of April 2020

I would love to make this to celebrate Easter this year (party of 1, during COVID-19...so I'll eat it for a week!). I don't have round cake pans...could I bake in square pans that are 8x8? Not sure I'd be able to get out for cake pans at this point...thank you in advance!

YDANIS

Friday 16th of May 2014

This looks so good and am making my grocery list now but is the pineapple drained of the juice?

runningmomentum

Tuesday 13th of May 2014

I made this for my husband's 30th birthday bash this past weekend, and everyone loved it!! The frosting was divine, as was the cake! There are no leftovers! Thanks for the icing tutorial, too - it came out looking so beautiful, when normally it's laden with crumbs! Congrats on sweet Caroline :)

Elizabeth @ Southern Color

Wednesday 12th of March 2014

Yum! This cake looks so tasty & pretty! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I'm going to make it next week for a friend's birthday. Carrot cake is her fave :)

Caley-Jade Rosenberg

Wednesday 12th of March 2014

I've been searching for a carrot cake recipe for ages - especially in time for Easter! And you have solved all my problems, and deliciously x