Carrot Cake! With a hint of cinnamon, soft crunch from nuts, ultra moist crumb and piled high with the fluffiest ever cream cheese frosting, this has the perfect texture and flavour. Easy and foolproof, absolutely to-die for!
Carrot Cake
This Carrot Cake is from a reader, the lovely Dorothy of Tennessee in the States, a long-time reader of RecipeTin Eats. She promised it was dead easy, foolproof, ultra moist with a heavenly flavour.
One bite was all it took for me to ditch the recipe I’d been using all my life up until that moment. This was The One. Hands down the best Carrot Cake I have ever had in my life!
I love it so much, in fact, that I’ve also just published a cupcake version too!
Why you’ll love this Carrot Cake recipe
The cake itself is not too sweet, with less sugar than most recipes;
The cake is moist, but not doughy or “mud-cake” like;
The subtle crunch from pecans and coconut in the cake. The textural contrast with the crumb is really terrific; and
There is plenty of frosting!!
What you need for Carrot Cake
Here’s what you need for this Carrot Cake. The “secret ingredients” in this are:
Crushed pineapple (canned) – this adds to the moistness of the crumb, as well as sweetness and flavour. We’re going to use all of the pineapple and some of the juice; and
Coconut and walnuts (or pecans) – they add a subtle soft crunch which provides great textural contrast in this cake that has a very soft crumb.
No butter! Did you know – oil makes cakes moist and butter adds flavour. In this recipe, we don’t need butter because there’s all sorts of flavour from the other ingredients so we just use oil.
How to make Carrot Cake
Just use a standard box grater to grate the carrot. Then it’s as simple as mixing the Dry ingredients, mixing the Wet, then mixing them together.
I’ve made a 2 layer cake here but you could also make one rectangle single layer cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting for Carrot Cake
There’s just no question – fluffy cream cheese frosting is the BEST frosting for Carrot Cake! Here’s what you need:
Cream cheese – use BLOCK, not the spreadable cream cheese in tubs (too soft);
Softened butter – softened but not super soft / borderline melting;
Icing sugar aka powdered sugar – 🇦🇺use soft icing sugar, NOT pure icing sugar (which is used for things like royal icing ie sets hard); and
Vanilla.
How to make cream cheese frosting
There’s no secret trick to making fluffy cream cheese frosting. Just beat, beat, beat until fluffy! It will take a good 3 to 5 minutes to make the frosting super fluffy.
TIP for even layers (without trimming)
No cake comes out of the oven with a perfectly level surface.
But rather than bothering to cut the top to make it level, just flip the cake upside down before frosting.
You’ll still get a slight dome in the middle with this cake but it’s less pronounced than if you frosted it without turning it upside down.
And so I present to you, Dorothy’s Carrot Cake, with 2 layers, though it’s marvellous as a single layer sheet pan rectangle cake – goes further and there’s a thicker layer of frosting on the surface.
Thank you Dorothy, for sharing your wonderful recipe with us!!! I’m so honoured! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Carrot Cake (Easy and ultra moist!)
Ingredients
- 440g / 20 oz can crushed pineapple , drained but RESERVE juice (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup (65 ml) reserved canned pineapple juice (from canned pineapple above)
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) milk , at room temperature (full or low fat)
- 1 tsp white vinegar (or lemon juice or other clear vinegar, (Note 2)
- 3 eggs (55g/2oz each)
- 1 1/2 cups (265g) brown sugar (loosely packed)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil (or canola)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) flour , plain / all purpose
- 2 tsp baking soda (aka bi carb soda, Note 3) (NOT BAKING POWDER)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
Stir Ins
- 2 cups grated carrot , about 2 carrots, peeled (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup coconut , shredded or desiccated (plain / unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans , roughly chopped
Frosting
- 180g / 6oz cream cheese , at room temperature (Note 5)
- 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (480g) icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted if clumpy (Note 6)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types). Grease and line two 20-22.5 cm/8 – 9" round pans OR a 9 x 13" / 22 x 33cm pan with baking/parchment paper. (Note 7)
- Drain crushed pineapple well, reserving the juice. Measure out 1/4 cup of pineapple juice.
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, eggs, sugar, oil and the 1/4 cup pinepple juice from Step 2.
- Stir in carrot, crushed pineapple, coconut and pecans into the Wet ingredients bowl.
- Pour Wet into Dry ingredients, stir until flour is incorporated.
- Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake round cakes for 35 minutes, rectangle cake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the cake is golden on top.
- Rest for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack. Frost once completely cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Then beat in the icing sugar in 2 batches until it is well incorporated and the frosting is fluffy – about 3 minutes on speed 7 stand mixer.
- Flip one cake upside down on serving platter (for flat surface). Spread with 1/3 frosting. Place 2nd cake upside down on frosting. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting.
Storage
- If cooler than 25°C/77°C and not humid, ok to keep cake in airtight container not in fridge. If very humid OR warmer than 25°C/77°C, store in fridge (Note 8).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published April 2016. Updated with new photos, and new recipe video added!
“Let them eat cake!” 10 classic cake recipes
Life of Dozer
Project Manager Dozer on duty for the video shoot! Quality Assurance is his speciality 😂
And here he is from when I originally published this Carrot Cake – no surprises, Dozer lurking under the shoot table! I’m not going to lie to you. He scored a big hunk of carrot cake. His bottom can afford it. Mine can’t.
Tammy Pauls says
Made this for dinner tonight. My husband thought he’d died and gone to heaven!! I had to pull the cake away from him or he would have kept eating! This is now his favourite cake.
Nagi says
It’s got carrots so it’s healthy right?! 😉
Rachel says
My daughter has requested a carrot cake for her birthday, but she doesn’t want icing (yeah, I know, what?). You mention that the cake isn’t very sweet because the icing is sweet enough. Would it work without, with maybe a dusting of icing sugar?
Nagi says
Hi Rachel, what kind of monster doesn’t want cream cheese icing!!!?? 😂 It would be great with a dusting of icing sugar – I hope she loves it!
Rachel Keyte says
Yeah, I’m not sure where I went wrong in my parenting there 😂
Sarah Turnbull says
Hello Nagi, Could I offer a correction – a “palette” is what an artist puts paint on; a “palate” is to do with taste (and is also a part of our anatomy!). Cheers, Sarah
Nagi says
Oops – I’ll have this fixed, thanks for picking it up!
Kelly says
I wasn’t sure my comment got sent through so sorry for repeating.
Does this need to be refrigerated?
Nagi says
You can keep it in the fridge, I like to bring it up to room temp prior to serving – N x
Kelly says
Hi Nagi,
I was wondering if this needs to be refrigerated?
Jane says
I just love the new look of your website. Nagi and of course even though I’m now in PNG as a volunteer (home is Adelaide) I am still cooking your lovely recipes
Nagi says
Thanks so much Jane!
Ellie says
Greetings from Norman, Oklahoma! Today marked my first day of making this cake, and let me tell you- it will go down in history! I followed the recipe word for word, and it came out a masterpiece. My family and I were in awe! Truly the most stupendous flavor combinations and textures. My birthday is in a couple weeks, so you can bet that I’ll use that as an excuse to make it again! Thank you so much for this life-changing recipe, Nagi!
Nagi Maehashi says
I’m so glad you loved it Ellie!!! And don’t be silly, no one needs an excuse for carrot cake!
Carmel says
Hi Nagi
Can I use this recipe to make a carrot cupcake instead? Do I need to omit some ingredients or can I use all of the same ingredients listed in here?
Nagi says
Absolutely! Same recipe just put in cupcake tins!
Carmel says
Thank you so much! I have always used your recipes and the results are always nice. So I can’t wait to try this out today.
Christina says
Hi Nagi! I’m a huge fan of your recipes and would love to try this one but unfortunately, I am allergic to pineapple. Is there anything that I can substitute it with? and in what quantities? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Christina! Just leave it out 🙂 It will still be fabulously delicious! N xx
Jane Witney-Taylor says
Is my sons 20th birthday today and needed to take a cake to work for morning tea. As he requested a Carrot Cake with cream cheese icing this was perfect as I made the large rectangle version.
Smelt lovely as it cooked and you know you are onto a ‘winner’ when 3 people asked for the recipe!
Thanks Nagi and of course Dorothy!
Nagi says
Happy birthday to your son Jane! So glad he enjoyed it!!! N xx
Claire says
Is baking soda the same as bicarb soda please?
Nagi says
Hi Claire! It sure is 🙂 N x
John says
Hi Nagi,
Could I substitute evaporated milk for the whole milk?
What about using melted butter in place of the oil?
Thanks,
John
Nagi says
Hi John! Evaporated milk is fine to sub for milk, you can also use butter but the cake won’t be quite as moist. 🙂 N x
Nyss says
Hi Nagi and Dorothy. Thank you for this recipe. It’s the best carrot cake I have ever tasted. My in-laws think so too and they’re very picky when it comes to sweets. You are amazing.
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Nyss! I’m so happy to hear that! N x ❤️
marilyn says
I am waiting for it to finish baking, I made a mistake,I saved the 1/4 cup of pineapple juice,but put all the juice from the can in the mix! Oops so I added an extra egg,and no extra saved juice,ha,so extra baking time,70 min,and the last 18 min on bottom rack. Hope. I didn’t ruin it! Have you made any errors?
Nagi says
I’m sure it will work just fine! I find this type of batter very forgiving! N xx
Pam Minter says
This is the BEST carrot cake I have ever had. The icing is awesome. I have made this cake several times and each time I get many people asking for the recipe. Very easy to make also. Couldn’t get it to rate the stars but I definitely give it a 5 star rating!!!
Nagi says
WHOOT! So pleased to hear that Pam! N xx
Prakriti says
Made this today for my father-in-law in honor of Father’s Day. It was a super hit! I used a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat flour and AP flour because my in-laws are very diet conscious. In any case, this is the BEST carrot cake I have ever made or have ever had. Definitely a keeper.
Thank you Nagi (and Dorothy from Tennessee).
Nagi says
That’s fantastic to hear Prakriti! Thanks for letting me know – N xx PS And I’ll share with Dorothy too!
anna says
I give this recipe 5 stars because the cake tastes wonderful. However, I am having issues with doneness. I have baked this cake 3 times. The first time it was soggy throughout. The second time the middle was soggy, so for the third time I increased baking time by 10 minutes, but it still came out soggy around the centre though more evenly cooked than the second time. Each time to check for doneness, a skewer inserted in the centre came out clean and when I pressed the top the of cake with my finger it bounced back. These checks have failed me when it comes to carrot cake, for some reason. Please advise, Nagi. Thank you!
Nagi says
Woah! That is the strangest thing – the skewer comes out clean and the top bounces back yet its soggy inside??? When you say “soggy”, can you describe it more? Is it actually uncooked batter? This is a very moist cake!
Anna says
Hi Nagi…thank you for replying!! yes I would say it’s undercooked batter. The rest of the cake has a different texture while still being very moist and delicious.
Nagi says
That is so odd! Do you have a standard or convection/fan oven, and when you bake other recipes, do you notice that they take longer to bake?
Annita says
I made this today. I only used half the frosting as there was way too much. I’ve frozen the rest to use on the next one. Thankyou Nagi and Dorothy for an absolutely delicious recipe.
Nagi says
I’m glad you enjoyed it Annita! Yes it is generous on the frosting which I personally LOVE!
Anita says
This could be called “Irene’s ” Carrot Cake, too! My mom made this cake and also put some crushed pineapple in the frosting for the 13×9 cake… it was known as a Tropical Carrot Cake. Not too sweet, just right!
Chelsey says
It looks divine! Thanks Nagi and Dorothy 🙂 looks like Dozer likes the look of it too.
Nagi says
Seriously the most amazing carrot cake ever!!