Everyone should have an easy, moist, and delicious simple carrot cake recipe you can make when the urge strikes. This classic carrot cake is just that and it is perfect for all occasions.
This is my absolute favorite recipe for carrot cake and one that I have been making for years! It is one of those passed down family recipes and it always comes out amazing.
This recipe is an old-fashioned recipe with no pineapples, raisins, or nuts and it has a delicious cream cheese frosting and a wonderful moist crumb. If you grew up eating carrot cake, you know how amazing it tastes, and we can all agree that cream cheese frosting makes it.
This cake is moist and fluffy with the perfect texture and it is 100 percent kid-approved and reader-approved. In fact, it has been made for weddings, kid's birthdays, and holiday events.
It is also quick to make and the flavor is like a sugar cake of heavenly goodness with the carrots blending right into the batter.
I will walk you through all the steps to make the best carrot cake that everyone will love!
What You Will Need
Carrot Cake
- Whole carrots (not pre-shredded). Shredding your own carrots is so important. Don't buy pre-shredded.
- Eggs. I always use large eggs for baking.
- Oil. There is no butter in this cake recipe, just oil and it makes the cake amazing and moist. I like to use lightly flavored vegetable oil.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar is fine here. If you want a little extra richness, you can add a little brown sugar in place of the regular sugar.
- All-purpose flour. Try to find unbleached flour if you can.
- Walnuts (optional) for the topping only. Depending on how classic you want, you can add these or leave them out.
- Vanilla Extract. Look for a high-quality extract. Pure vanilla extract works best.
- Cinnamon. Ground cinnamon and carrots are a favorite pairing.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
Pro-Tip:
Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh. If it has been sitting in the pantry for a while it may not be good anymore and you should invest in new ones.
Cream cheese frosting
- Room temperature cream cheese. You can bring the cream cheese to room temperature by placing it on the counter about 1 hour before you use it.
- Room temperature unsalted butter. Same as the cream cheese above, place it on the counter about 1 hour before you are ready to use it.
- Powdered sugar. When making the frosting, I like to sift the powdered sugar to make sure there are no lumps. This is totally up to you.
- Vanilla extract.
How To Make Carrot Cake
You only need one bowl. Just follow all of the steps below and you will be rewarded with an amazing cake.
- Prepare 3 - 8 inch cake pans (or 2- 9 inch cake pans). For this three-layer carrot cake, you want to make sure to oil and prep those cake pans! The better your cake pans are prepared, the easier the carrot cake will be to remove from the cake pans after baking.
- Whisk dry ingredients: into a large bowl. This is the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. This allows the dry ingredients in the carrot cake to be well incorporated before adding in the other ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients: and stir it all together. I like to use large eggs when making this recipe. I use a handheld mixer for this part but you could use a whisk or stand mixer.
- Shred your carrots: on the fine side of a grater and then add that right into your batter. You want to shred your own carrots since it will add more moisture to the cake. I like to shred my carrots with a box grater and use the fine shred side. I find that the coarse shred side is just too thick and it leaves large shreds in the batter.
- Combine shredded carrots with the batter: and mix until just incorporated.
- Pour: Pour the batter into the cake pans making sure there is an even amount in all of them.
- Bake: Place the cake into a pre-heated 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes.
- Cool: Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes before adding the cream cheese frosting.
- Frost: I used the naked cake frosting method for this cake. Lots of my cakes like my Moist Chocolate Cake, Basil Cake, or Vanilla Almond Cake, I have lots of workarounds to compensate for my lack of decorating skills 🙂
As you can see it all works out even with limited decorating. The beautiful part of this cake is when you slice through it and see those beautiful layers!
Look at the closeup (below) of one of the slices of carrot cake! Those layers are why I love using three 8-inch cake pans instead of 2 9-inch pans.
Variations
- Add Nuts: If you love pecans or walnuts, you can certainly add them right into the batter if you prefer.
- Add raisins: The same as the nuts, just add them right into the batter.
- Make it into cupcakes: You can easily make this into cupcakes. You can also make this into mini carrot cake cupcakes.
FAQS
Carrot cake is fine left out for the first day it is made but after that, it is best to store it in the fridge since it is made with dairy.
Oil is always preferred when making carrot cake because it helps to keep the cake moist.
You will know when the cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (without any crumbs on it).
A neutral flavored oil like vegetable oil is best for baking carrot cake.
Storing
I like to make this cake ahead of time and store it with parchment paper between the layers until I am ready to frost it.
Once the cake is frosted, it will store well on the counter loosely covered or under a cake dome for one day. After that, I like to refrigerate it to keep it fresh for up to one week. Make sure the cake is covered when you refrigerate it to prevent it from drying out.
What to serve with this
I love serving this classic carrot cake during the holidays. Here are some ideas:
More Delicious Cake Recipes
If you love this recipe, you may also love these:
Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 3 8 inch round cake pans or 2 (9 inch round pans)
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups finely grated carrots About 1 pound. Make sure to use the fine side of a box grater (see post for picture).
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cup vegetable oil (that is one cup plus ⅓ cup)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt if using regular salt, just use half the amount
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces softened cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 cup toasted walnut halves
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to to 350 degrees
- Add all your dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix well2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- Now add your vegetable oil and vanilla to your dry ingredients and mix it all in.1 ⅓ cup vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Next beat in your eggs one at a time into the mixture.4 large eggs
- Grate your carrots. See post for how to finely grate the carrots. I like to grate a bunch of carrots (usually about 4 large ones) and then scoop that into a measuring cup to measure out the 3 cups. You do not press the shredded carrots into the measuring cup when measuring.3 cups finely grated carrots
- Now add your 3 cups freshly grated carrots to the batter and gently mix it in until incorporated.
- Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 8" round cake pans - try to make each pan have the same amount of batter.
- Bake for approximately 30- 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cakes. If you are using 9 inch cake pans then add a few more minutes. It will be ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Take pans out of oven and let the cakes sit in pans on cooling racks to cool for approx. 5 minutes.
- Then turn out cakes carefully & let cool completely on the racks.
- Once cooled you can frost your cakes right way or store them with parchment paper in between the layers if you are making the cake a day ahead of time.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl add your softened cream cheese, room temperature butter, powdered sugar and vanilla16 ounces softened cream cheese, ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Mix on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes until it is all light and fluffy
Frosting the cake
- Take ¼ of the frosting and place on one layer of the cake. Spread evenly over the cake with an offset spatula or knife.
- Place the second layer of your carrot cake evenly on top of the frosting.
- Repeat the step above with ¼ of the frosting and spreading it evenly over the cake.
- Now add your third layer of cake on top.
- Add the remaining frosting to the top of the cake.
- Gently spread the frosting over the top of cake working from the middle out to the edges.
- Gently push the extra frosting from the top of the cake over on to the sides.
- Frost the sides of the cake until all the sides are covered in frosting, being careful not to drag the cake itself into the frosting.
- Once the sides are all frosted, gently scrape away a little of the frosting from sides until you can start to see the carrot cake.
- Touch up any imperfect frosting areas on your cake.
- Now add your toasted walnuts to the center of your cake.1 cup toasted walnut halves
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Meg says
Can’t wait to try this!
Melissa Oleary says
I hope you enjoy it!
Deb Pravecek says
I got this recipe shortly after I was married, 52 years ago - it was in a newspaper and titled 14K Cake. It is the best carrot cake recipe out there and I always get rave reviews when I serve it.
I have also make it adding raisins, coconut, or ground walnuts. I like it best without these additions, however.
I also think its best served cold, because I prefer the texture of the frosting when cold.
Thanks for sharing the recipe with others.
Melissa Oleary says
Love hearing that! Maybe that is where my family got it from too! My daughter prefers the frosting cold too 🙂
Lee says
Looks/sounds delish, can I add raisins to the recipe and if yes, how much, thanks in advance
Melissa Oleary says
Hi Lee. If you would like to add raisins, I would suggest about 1 cup folded right into the batter. This should give you a nice even amount throughout the cake 🙂
Mary B says
This cake itself is delicious! I did not use the frosting from this recipe. I used a recipe for mascarpone frosting.
Melissa Oleary says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Mary, and the mascarpone addition sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing!
Casandra says
Turned out perfect!! Made the cake for my husbands birthday and it was a total hit! Made it with two 9” rounds and it was perfect. Super moist, great classic flavor, and the icing wasn’t too sweet! Will definitely make again 🙂
Melissa Oleary says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Casandra! thank you for sharing 🙂
Fe says
Hello,
I was planning on making this tomorrow, but I was only going to do one pan, not the three layers. Do you have the measurements for making only one cake?
Please let me know!
Melissa Oleary says
Hi Fe. You can 1/2 the recipe by going to the top of the recipe card area and clicking the "1/2" box. This will automatically convert everything to half the amount. I would not divide it in thirds though because of the amount of eggs needed in the recipe which will not convert to that. Instead of using an 8 inch pan, you can use a slightly larger 9 inch pan and add a couple minutes of cooking time. Just check the doneness often so it does not over bake.
Hope this helps 🙂
Pam says
I have made this cake three times and the first time it came out perfectly. Moist, fluffy, the best carrot cake that I’ve ever had! The next two times, it was very dense. I don’t know what I’m doing differently. Any thoughts on what I may be doing wrong?
Melissa Oleary says
Hi Pam. if I had to guess I would say it has something to do with the flour. Make sure you fluff the flour before measuring. Also, flour varies by brand and by the year it was grown. Have you switched brands of flour? The gluten content is different in different brands of flour. If it is not any of those things, it could just be the wheat changes from year to year (sometimes wheat is drier one year compared to the previous year which affects quality of the four).I hope this helps 🙂
Elizabeth Parambi says
If I had to make this in two 7 inch pans.. Should I make 2/3rds Or half of the recipe?
Melissa Oleary says
Hi Elizabeth. I have not tried it this way but I would suggest leaving the recipe the same and adjusting the cooking time for longer. If you decide that you want to adjust the recipe I would half it and then cook for less time. This will give you thinner cake layers though. I hope this helps 🙂
Rosalva says
I’ve made this cake several times and it’s always a hit!! I have one question can I make it in a Bundt pan?
Melissa Oleary says
Hi Rosalva. I am so glad to hear that you are enjoying the cake! I have not tried using a bundt pan but it should not be a problem. I don't know how long the bake time would be exactly but I would just start checking it at 45 minutes and keep checking every 5 minutes thereafter until the cake is fully baked. I hope this helps 🙂
Donald Kennedy says
I added the zest from half an orange and about 1.5 tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice to the frosting and its amazing.
Last time I made a cake and everyone loved it, this time I made cupcakes and have to fight the kids off.
Thank You
Melissa Oleary says
Love those additions! It sounds amazing. So glad everyone is enjoying it 🙂
Sophia says
Followed the recipe exactly and it was amazing. Very easy instructions and I had all of the ingredients (yay!)
Can’t wait to make this again
Marilyn says
At first, I made a carrot cake that didn't rise using an eggless recipe. Short on time, I needed an easy fool-proof recipe that could be made quickly. Running out of flour, I chose the cupcake version. I used slightly less than a cup of sugar & added golden raisins. Half of the batch had walnuts added. I used neuftchel cheese as a substitute for cream cheese frosting. It was a hit for my son's12th birthday while at the water park! It was small enough to smuggle in an insulated shopping tote too!
Melissa says
I am so glad everyone it enjoyed it 🙂 Hope your son had a wonderful birthday!
Melissa says
Love hearing that 🙂
Melissa says
So glad you enjoyed it Kayla!
Rachel says
Made this yesterday for a friend’s birthday. Added about 2/3 cup chopped pecan nuts to the cake for nutty crunch. The best recipe. So moist and tasty, not overly sweet, just right.
Melissa says
So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Alison says
This came out really nice and it was very easy to make. Followed the recipe exactly. Can’t wait to make it again!
Melissa says
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂