This Moist Easy Carrot Cake is the absolute BEST! It's made with a whole pound of carrots, loaded with warm spices, frosted with the most divine cream cheese frosting, and garnished with crunchy toasted pecans.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Cooling Time1 hourhr
Total Time2 hourshrs5 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Easy Carrot Cake
Servings: 12
Calories: 806kcal
Author: Garnish and Glaze
Ingredients
For the Cake:
2cupsall-purpose flour
1tablespooncinnamon
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonground ginger
1/4teaspoonground nutmeg
4eggs, beaten
2cupsgranulated sugar
1cupcanola or vegetable oil
2teaspoonsvanilla
2cupsfinely shredded carrots, (1 pound)
28 ouncecans crushed pineapple, well-drained (or 2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce)
3/4cupsweetened coconut (optional)
1/2cupbaking raisins (optional)
1/2cuptoasted pecans (optional), chopped
For the Frosting:
3/4cupsalted butter, room temperature but still firm (~30 minutes on counter)
12ouncescream cheese, room temperature but still firm (~30 minutes on counter)
4-5cupspowdered sugar
1.5teaspoonsvanilla
3/4cuptoasted pecans, finely chopped (toasted)
Instructions
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease two 9″ cake pans with shortening or spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper (trace around pan and cut) and grease again. Add about a tablespoon flour and rotate pan around to lightly coat the bottom and sides. Shake out excess flour.
Spread pecan halves on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes until fragrant. Remove and allow to cool completely before chopping.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients into the liquid until combined. Stir in the grated carrots and pineapple until evenly dispersed.
Divide batter equally between the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-37 minutes until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and then invert over a wire rack. Give the back of the pan a good pat and it should release. Remove parchment paper and let cakes cool completely.*
Frost cooled cakes- Place on round on a platter or plate. Spread frosting on and then place second cake upside down on top. Apply frosting to sides and top of cake and then garnish with toasted pecans.
Store in an airtight container (or covered in plastic wrap) in the fridge for up to 5 days.
For the Frosting:
With an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer with paddle attachment), beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes).
Add the vanilla and 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, mixing on low speed. Once combined, increase speed to high and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes. Remove and mix on low speed (or by hand with a rubber scraper or wooden spoon) briefly and then spread on cake.**
Notes
*When completely cool, I prefer to wrap my cakes twice in plastic wrap and place in a large freezer bag and freeze overnight (or up to 3 months). Once the frosting is made, I pull the cakes out and frost while frozen. It's so much easier to frost a frozen cake!**Thicken frosting by adding more powdered sugar or chilling longer.