Love easy dessert recipes? I do! If you’re looking for the perfect cake then you need to make The Best Carrot Cake recipe. Quick to whip up and oh so tasty.

Carrot Cake, what can I say about it other than it is absolutely amazing and one cake that you really cannot go wrong with. I have always loved Carrot Cake.

It took me many year but I finally perfected The Best Carrot Cake, that is why I title it this way because it is so moist, flavorful and you won’t want to put your fork down when it comes to this.

I like cake recipes in general but there is just something about a good old Carrot Cake Recipe that you really can’t go wrong with, thankfully my whole family is in on it with me.

There are so many ways to make this recipe, I’m not a huge fan of raisins so I do leave those out, you can add them if you like but we add pineapple and nuts to this one.

Again, you can leave out if you like but it really does give this cake the texture that it deserves and the flavor.

It is the frosted in a delicious cinnamon cream cheese frosting that really plays well with this tasty dessert!

If you’ve been looking for a good recipe that the whole family can enjoy, you cannot go wrong with The Best Carrot Cake!

Some of my other favorite cake recipes that we have on the site include Strawberry Ricotta Cake, Yellow Cake and Chocolate Chip Cake.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

With pantry staple or easy to find ingredients, this cake comes together quickly.
You can make this a layer cake by putting the batter in 8″ or 9″ pans.
You can customize the batter to your liking with nuts, raisins and pineapple.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):

All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Cinnamon
Salt
Sugar
Brown sugar
Butter
Pineapple
Eggs
Vanilla
Carrots
Pecans
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST CARROT CAKE, STEP BY STEP:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, butter, pineapple, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until there are no dry patches of flour, do not overmix.
Add the carrots and ½ cup of the pecans and fold them in.
Pour into the baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 35-42 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. It will be slightly browned along the edges and a dark golden brown color. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the frosting in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar and stir it in until combined. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Add the vanilla and cinnamon, stir to combine. Turn up the speed to medium and whip for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Once the cake is cooled, frost with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting and top with the remaining pecans.

DOES CARROT CAKE HAVE RAISINS?

Some Carrot Cake Recipes do, our’s does not. Like I mentioned earlier I’m not a huge fan of raisins in cake (I like them in cookies). But you can absolutely add them if you’d like.

I would add about 1/2 cup of raisins to this recipe, you can also add golden raisins instead of regular, those are used quite a bit in Carrot Cakes as well.

WHAT KIND OF FROSTING SHOULD I USE?

Traditionally this cake uses cream cheese frosting, which we do, but I’m a huge fan of cinnamon so I make a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. But you can opt out of using the cinnamon if you’re not a fan.

You can also use regular buttercream for this recipe, but it doesn’t taste the same without that delicious cream cheese frosting. It is just something that is known to go together well.

CAN I USE ANOTHER NUT?

If you are not a fan of pecans, walnuts would make a great substitute in this cake.

If you do not like nuts in general you can simply leave them out

HOW TO STORE:

The Best Carrot Cake can be stored covered with plastic wrap or foil in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Since this does include cream cheese frosting it does need to be refrigerated.

This cake can also be frozen, to do so make sure that it is baked in a pan that you don’t plan on using for a while. Wrap the cake pan in plastic wrap and then foil and place in freezer.

It should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months, to defrost place in the refrigerator overnight until thawed.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

We add pineapple and pecans to this cake, it gives it a little more flavor and texture, you can leave out the pecans but you’ll need the liquid from the pineapple for this cake.
If you like raisins you can add raisins to this, I recommend adding about 1/2 cup regular or golden raisins.
You can make a layer cake from this instead of a 9×13-inch, just place in 2 8″ or 9″ cake pans instead, cooking time will need to be adjusted.
This cake can be frozen, see my tips above on how to do that.
Traditionally carrot cake uses cream cheese frosting, you can make regular buttercream if you’d like, but highly recommend a cream cheese.

Looking for that moist and flavorful cake that is perfect for anytime? Then you need to whip up The Best Carrot Cake! It will be one you recipe you keep for years.

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If you’ve tried THE BEST CARROT CAKE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH, 2021

The Best Carrot Cake