Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting: I am a contributor to Amanda’s Cookin’ and this recipe first appeared there as Carrot Cake.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting has cinnamon, vanilla, and 3 cups of finely shredded carrots throughout this delicious cake. It is a 2-tiered cake with smooth and sweet homemade cream cheese frosting. It's topped with optional chopped pecans and decorated with fresh, peeled little carrots.

Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hi Everyone, Do you have Carrot Cake "fever" yet?

When I think of Spring cake recipes, Carrot Cake first comes to mind.

It's perfect for Easter, Memorial Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Baby or Bridal showers, birthdays, or any time you need a delicious Spring-themed cake that really works for all year round.

It is spiced with aromatic cinnamon and vanilla and has sweet carrots throughout - 3 cups to be exact!

It's one of those cake recipes that doesn't seem overly indulgent because it has so much shredded carrot in it.

It actually seems more like a quick bread - just a different shape. 

Okay, so in my book that makes this carrot cake practically healthy food, am I right?!?

Lol, just kidding, this is most definitely a tasty treat, but one I would consider worth having 🙂

Confession time, I have to come clean...I have eaten a slice of this cake for breakfast and had zero regrets! 

RELATED: Did you see our last guest post from Amanda's Cookin'?

You can catch it here: Split Pea Soup Recipe (2019)

The Perfect Carrot Cake

This carrot cake is dense, rich, and moist.

It has a distinctive natural orange color from the shredded carrots.

The smooth cream cheese frosting is optionally topped with crunchy chopped pecans and decorated with cute, small peeled carrots.

I got those pretty little carrots from my local farmers' market, Roots to River Farm, they grow the most beautiful produce! 

RELATED: The Farm Cooking School and Roots to River Farm at Gravity Hill (2018) and Roots to River Farm CSA (2019)

Ingredients for Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake Batter

• Canola cooking spray
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or the same amount of cake flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger *optional - I highly recommend adding the ground ginger!
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups very finely shredded carrots, lightly packed *the carrots must be peeled and ends cut
• ¾ cup Canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8-ounce plain cream cheese
• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

Optional Toppings

• 12-14 small whole carrots, peeled
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Cake Decoration with Natural Ingredients

I meant for the carrots to be more of a decoration as I planned this cake but I have to say, it is refreshing to have a bite of one of these carrots after a sweet slice of cake, it's refreshing.

As far as cake decoration goes, I supposed I am more of a real food or flower cake decorator than someone who does sugar flowers/fondant flowers.

I always admire people who can do that kind of decoration (hey, maybe someday I will learn), I know it requires a lot of skill but for me, I just love using natural ingredients, like these carrots, whenever possible.

I also think it makes making a cake, like this carrot cake, more accessible to the home baker, like myself, because you can just buy the dried flowers (as in my "Red Velvet Cake Recipe"), natural sprinkles (as in the "1st Birthday Cake" recipe linked below) or in this case, cute little carrots, versus toiling over making sugar ones.

RELATED: Red Velvet Cake Recipe (2019), 1st Birthday Cake (2018)

Helpful Kitchen Tools for Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

In previous cake recipes, like my Red Velvet Cake Recipe, I have suggested using cake strips but not for this recipe, it does not need it.

During recipe testing in one of the batches I used the cake strips and the layers came out concave.

Since this cake is more like a quick bread and it has the grated carrot in it, the layers rise flatter anyway.

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Below is a list of kitchen tools for this carrot cake recipe; I link with affiliate links to all the kitchen tools that I used or similar in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• box grater or food processor
• mixing bowls
• measuring spoons and cups
• wet measure
• baking spatulas
• stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer
• 2 (9-inch) cake pans
• parchment paper
• offset spatula
• cake spinner 
• frosting comb or dough/bench scraper
• a cake carrier for storing the cake in the refrigerator
• cake spatula for serving
• cake stand

RELATED: Amazon Influencer Program Storefront (2019) and view my Amazon Influencer Store on Amazon.com here

Tips for Success for Making Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

There are some key tips for recipe success for this carrot cake:

• Carrots - The carrots must be washed, ends cut, and completely peeled. Carrot skins are bitter (something Chef Ian Knauer from The Farm Cooking School taught me during a "Knife Skills 101" class which I knew but never really factored it into my recipes - but now I do!) and since this is a sweet recipe, we do not want to throw the whole recipe off. I suggest using a box grater to shred the carrots. Usually, I love using a food processor to shred carrots for recipes but in this case, you need a fine shred to keep the cake from easily being crumbly when assembling and frosting.

• Cream Cheese Frosting - Make sure to use only the confectioner's sugar and not granulated white sugar or any other type of sugar. This ensures that the frosting is smooth and not gritty, crunchy, or granular.
• Assembling the Cake - Apply the frosting in 2 stages and make sure the frosting is at room temperature before applying any frosting. You can apply the frosting all in one step or for a more finished look you can apply it in 2 steps. For applying it in 2 steps, make sure to refrigerate (at least ½ hour) the cake after the first layer of frosting is applied, so that it can set up, and then apply the rest of the frosting. Refrigerate the cake when you are done applying all the frosting for at least a ½ hour so that you get perfect slices when cutting the cake. If you can, use an airtight cake carrier so the frosting does not dry out in the refrigerator. 
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder - make sure you have fresh baking soda and baking powder in this recipe to ensure perfectly risen cake layers.

If you make this Homemade Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe and you like it, please give the recipe a rating in the recipe card and let us know in the comments below, thank you for reading and following along!

Recipe Attribution

This recipe is inspired by "Carrot Cake" from The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

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• This recipe post was originally published on 4/30/2019
• Updated & republished on 3/28/2021, 3/29/2023