This is my favorite carrot cake as it’s both moist and decadent, and topped with smooth cream cheese frosting!
I can’t believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Where does the time go? Before you know it, Christmas and New Year’s will be upon us. I don’t know about you, but I am pumped for 2017.
Coming back to today’s post (and more importantly, cake), I’m sharing my absolute FAVORITE carrot cake recipe. I found the recipe on SAVEUR when I was looking for a carrot cake to make for my mom’s boyfriend’s birthday.
Needless to say, he loved the cake and so did I. I found myself pining for more slices as I left the cake at my mom’s house. Now, I’m making it for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and I am so excited to get this cake in my belly.
The last time I made this, I manually grated the carrots using a cheese grater. NEVER AGAIN. I have since purchased a food processor and it made things easy peasy this time around. I am so thankful for food processors.
After frosting the cake, I topped the whole thing with fall-themed sprinkles because let’s face it – there is never a reason to *not* use sprinkles. I highly recommend having a slice (or two, I won’t judge you) with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee. Mmm, comfort food.
Another thing I’m really excited about is that I will actually have a legitimate container to transport this in! Knowing that I would have to bring this cake over to my mom’s, I purchased a cake carrier and even though it’s massive, I’m glad the days of smushed frosting are behind me. Baby steps, you guys!
Anyway, I’m really looking forward to chowing down on stuffing and turkey tomorrow. And from there, I will be in full food coma mode — cue the upside down smiley face emoji. Let me know if you’ve tried making this cake and how it went by dropping a comment/rating the recipe! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Your least favorite?
PrintMy Favorite Carrot Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 85 minutes
- Total Time: 105 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
A moist and decadent carrot cake, topped with a generous helping of cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 4 cups grated carrots (*about 3 large carrots)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 12 ounces full-fat block cream cheese
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray two 9″ round cake pans with non-stick spray (I use the kind that contains flour).
- In a large bowl, using your hand or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir the first nine ingredients (up until the salt) together until just combined.
- Add the oil and the eggs, and beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth.
- Chop/grind the carrots in a food processor until broken up into tiny chunks. Alternately, you can use your cheese/box grater to grate the carrots.
- Add the carrots and beat at medium-high speed until combined.
- Divide the batter into the cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once removed from the oven, set the pans aside on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the cakes from the pans and place them on the rack, so they can finish cooling off while you make the frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract together at medium-high speed.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time and beat at medium speed until smooth.
- Place one of the cakes on a plate and spread 1/3 of the cream cheese frosting on top. Place the second layer on top and use the rest of the frosting to ice the cake.
- Decorate to your heart’s content — you can add some ground nutmeg on top, chopped pecans, or shredded coconut!
Notes
Store the cake at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving.
Original recipe posted on SAVEUR.
SarahJean
Girl, you just changed my life. Why am I hand grating carrots for carrot cake when I have a food processor?! And I really dig the carrot confetti look that processing gives the cake (opposed to grating).
Ann
YES GIRL. Food processors for life.
Claire
I’ve never made a carrot cake before, but I am going to now I’ve seen this, looks delicious!
Totally hear you on the food processor, I used to grate apples by hand for baking and it’s a CHORE! Never again 🙂
Ann
Yes!!! Do let me know how it goes 🙂