Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

There's no bad moment for carrot cake. This Easy Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting is perfect for anyone and any occasion. And it comes together in just a few hours!

My take on this recipe is based off of Gimme Some Oven's BEST Carrot Cake Recipe. Which Ali's truly is.

However, that's a three layer cake and typically I don't have enough people around to warrant a three layer cake. So I took Ali's incredible recipe and converted it into a two layer cake.

Warning: you'll have a bit of cake and frosting leftover from this recipe. You can either snack on it or save it to make cake pops -- which I highly recommend. (Grab the recipe for Leftover Carrot Cake Pops here)

The secret to this cake is in the balance of the tart from the cream cheese and the sweetness from the cake itself. Which coincidentally also turns out perfectly moist, but not too dense or oily, every time from the shredded carrots.

Every bite is packed with nutritious carrots (tons of Vitamin C and Vitamin A). Plus, it has what every good carrot cake has:

An explosion of warm spices swirled throughout the batter so that each and every bite is a dream.

When it comes to desserts, I'm almost exclusively a chocolate girl. I can say no to almost anything that doesn't involve chocolate, except for carrot cake. And this one is perfect.

How to Make Carrot Cake

We'll start by combining all the dry ingredients and all the wet ingredients, then combining them. Then fold in what will seem like a crazy amount of carrots.

Separate into cake pans and bake. Then make sure to cool the cakes entirely before frosting so that the cream cheese frosting doesn't melt.

To create an even cake, you'll slice off any dome that may have formed while the cakes baked. This makes for a delicious snack or save in the fridge to make cake pops the next day.

Then make sure the cakes are entirely cool before decorating so that the frosting doesn't melt at all.

How to Store Carrot Cake

Carrot cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer, tightly wrapped for up to 2 months.

To serve, remove from the fridge 15 minutes before eating or from the freezer 30 minutes before eating.

(You don't know pure joy until you find carrot cake in the freezer that you forgot you stashed there!)

Print Pin

Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword easy carrot cake recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Resting Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups grated carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 (8-ounce) bricks cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup 1 sticks salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar or more, if needed to thicken

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round baking pans.
  
  
• In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
  
  
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cloves until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth. Fold in the grated carrots.
  
  
• Hint: make sure that your cream cheese and butter are removed from the fridge and coming to room temperature at this point to make your frosting more quickly! I always forget this step, so a friendly reminder!
  
  
• Pour the batter evenly into the prepared baking pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove pans from the oven and let cool on a wire baking rack. Cool to room temperature, then use a butter knife to loosen the cakes from their pans, flip upside and tap to release the cakes on the wire rack. Let cool completely.
  
  
• Once the cakes are entirely cool, use a cake leveler or a bread knife to slice off the rounded tops of the cakes so that they are completely flat. (Hint: save that extra cake for cake pops or snacking!)
  
  
• To make the frosting, combine the room temperature cream cheese, butter and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Whip until combined and smooth. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar until it is completely combined and your desired consistency. You want it thicker than whip cream, but not too thick to make spreading a nightmare.
  
  
• Place the first cake on your serving platter. Tuck small pieces of wax paper or parchment paper around the edges of the cake to make for easy clean up after frosting. Add a large scoop of frosting to the first layer of cake and spread it out and extend a bit over the edges. Top with the second layer of cake and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and frost around the edges of the cake.
  
  
• If you're serving it the same day, cover and place in a cool, dry place. If not, cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Notes

Adapted to create a two layer cake from Gimme Some Oven's three layer The BEST Carrot Cake Recipe (which is truly is).