How To Make The Cream Cheese Frosting
Secrets To Amazing Cream Cheese Frosting
This is by far the best cream cheese frosting. You can taste all that cream cheese .
- Room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Vanilla, salt, heavy cream – you need these, don’t leave them out, they add extra flavor to the cream cheese frosting.
- Whip the butter on high speed for 5 minutes to get it light and fluffy. It should be a pale color. This is a super important step, if it’s not pale and fluffy looking, keep going.
- Sift the powdered sugar! No lumps.
- Only frost a cool cake, if it’s too warm it will melt.
Tips For Making The Best Carrot Cake
- Properly measure your flour or use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
- Use a serrated knife to level your cake layers once theyre fully cooled, to make it easier to assemble and frost your cake.
- Use a microplane grater to shred your carrots into super fine pieces! Its a bit of extra work, but it gives the cake an amazing texture.
- Chill your cake layers in the freezer for about 20 minutes before assembling the cake. It makes it so much easier to stack and frost.
- Mix your cake batter just until the ingredients are incorporated. This will ensure your cake layers are tender and fluffy.
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Ingredients For Carrot Cake
The ingredients you’ll need for carrot are fairly similar to the ingredients for any other cake. You won’t find any pineapple in this carrot cake, that’s right, no pineapple. As always, for the full of ingredients and amounts, reference the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- sugar – sugar is needed to sweeten the cake, since the bulk of the cake is shredded carrots, I like to use cane sugar since it’s just a bit healthier than refined white sugar
- vegetable oil – vegetable oil is what makes the carrot cake so moist, vegetable oil is flavorless so be careful if you try subbing it out for another oil
- buttermilk – another liquid needed in making the cake extra moist
- eggs – a total of 3 large eggs, eggs act as a binder in cake recipes to hold the cake together
- vanilla extract – if you can use pure vanilla extra, not the imitation extract
- all purpose flour – this recipe calls for all purpose flower which doesn’t have any leavening agents in it, just plain flour
- salt – used to enhance the flavors of the cake
- baking powder – for lifting
- baking soda – also for lifting
- cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg – each of these spices gives the cake it’s signature flavor
- walnuts – these can always be left out if you don’t like walnuts
- carrots – fresh shredded carrots, shred your carrots using the smaller grate on your grater
This Is The Best Carrot Cake Ever
Theres carrot cake, and then theres Carrot Cake.
This is the ultimate, hands-down, over and above Best Carrot Cake Ever. Let me count the ways: fluffy, tender cake loaded with carrot and pineapple, sweetened with raisins and shredded coconut, with added walnuts for the perfect crunch. Its moist and delicious and to top it all off is a melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting thats absolutely to die for.
You can make this as a multi-layer cake, but this recipe calls for a good old-fashioned single-layer carrot cake thats simple to make and just as fabulous. The combination of flavor, moisture and texture is truly a game-changer! Be warned: carrot cake will never be the same again.
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The Best Carrot Cake Recipe Ever
Alyssa RiversJump to Recipe
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Carrot cake is moist, rich in flavor and melts in your mouth! This scrumptious dessert is what everyone will be raving about!
This truly is one of the best carrot cake recipes alone with whole wheat carrot cake bread, frosted carrot cake cookies or carrot cake cupcakes. All my carrot cake recipes are made with fresh carrots, the perfect blend of spices and a sweet, heavenly frosting!
What Makes This Carrot Cake So Delicious
This carrot cake uses oil instead of butter. Dont let that scare you! As much as I love butter in cakes, the oil creates a texture that will stay moist for days. Buttermilk also makes an appearance in the epic carrot cake! It will lend us the creamy dairy that we need, not to mention give the cake the best crumb ever! This carrot cake also uses shredded carrots and pureed carrots. The pureed carrots help to give the batter a beautiful natural orange color and you guessed it, a moister crumb. All of this, paired with teaspoons of warm spices creates an unforgettable carrot cake!
And if that wasnt enough, its frosted with layers of cream cheese frosting made with cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract.
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How To Make Carrot Cake With Different Pan Sizes
This carrot cake recipe is designed for a 9×13 inch pan. But it can be easily adapted for other pan shapes & sizes.
- 8×8 or 9×9 Inch Pan: Divide all the ingredients by ½. The bake time will be about the same. Just ensure that the sides of your pan are at least 2 inches tall to ensure the cake doesnt overflow.
- Carrot Layer Cake: To make a layer cake, grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, and bake for about 35-45 minutes.
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes: To turn this carrot cake recipe into cupcakes, youll get 24 cupcakes. Line 2 muffin pans, and divide the batter evenly between them. The bake time will be about 15-18 minutes. You may need to double the frosting recipe for making cupcakes if you like a lot of frosting.
- Carrot Cake Bundt Cake: For a 10-inch bundt cake, the bake time will be about 45-55 minutes. Make sure to grease and flour the pan very well to avoid sticking.
For more classic sheet cakes, try these other flavors:
- In a large bowl beat the butter until soft.
- Mix in the cream cheese.
- Add in the salt and lemon juice, then mix in the powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time. I usually taste test the frosting after adding about 1 ½ cups sugar to see if it’s sweet enough for your liking.
- Frost the cooled cake, then optionally sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts.
My Carrot Cake Modifications
If these spices create the carrot cake flavor that I know and love, why do I have to include those other ingredients I dont even like? Why cant a carrot cake recipe be a bit simpler, or have less ingredients?
That was when I took a step back, and realized I needed to come up with a new carrot cake recipe. A moist, delicious carrot cake recipe that was nut-free .
It would use ingredients I actually had in my pantry. It also could be made without using a stand mixer. Yup, this carrot cake recipe comes together in one bowl.
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How To Store Carrot Cake
For longer storage and fresher cream cheese frosting, keep your frosted carrot cake covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. This cake will also keep well on the counter at room temperature, albeit for a shorter time, about 2-3 days. Store the cake using a cake carrier or airtight container to keep everything protected!
A Classic Cake Recipe
This is a cake Ive been making for about 25 years now and its one Im known for. Ive made it literally a hundred times ! I love that its made in a single pan, fiddling with cake layers.
- This carrot cake recipe is extra moist and incredibly flavorful.
- It is fully loaded with add ins from nuts and pineapple and is perfect every time.
- Rather than making layers, we love that this easy carrot cake recipe is baked 9×13 inch pan. No layering required.
- This cake is so good and so moist, that frosting isnt needed and it can be sprinkled with powdered sugar. That being said, we all know that carrot cake deserves a good homemade Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Once baked, this cake freezes well .
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How To Make Chocolate Cake With Guinness
This cake is rich and moist. Its hard to only eat one slice!
Combine melted butter and stout beer then whisk in cocoa powder. Add that to a bowl with dry ingredients then add eggs and sour cream making it moist as ever. Easy!
Pour the batter into a cake pan then bake. When the cake has baked and cooled add the creamy white frosting. Its made with cream cheese, cream and cream. Its so creamy and delicious. In facet, we love this frosting so much, we use it for our popular carrot cake recipe.
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Recipe updated, originally posted March 2012. Since posting this in 2012, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. Adam and Joanne
How To Make To Make The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
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How Do You Ice A Cake
To begin, place one of the carrot cakes on to the cake stand or plate. Top it with about 2/3 a cup of the homemade frosting.
Use a frosting spatula to smooth out the icing. Make sure it reaches the edge of the cake. Gently place the second cake on top of the first one.
Apply the rest of the frosting to the sides and top of the carrot cake. If you want, you can place chopped pecans or walnuts on the cake as well.
Not only does it create a beautiful homemade carrot cake, it also adds a nice crunch to the dessert. However, its completely optional and not included in the ingredients.
Thats it, your homemade moist carrot cake recipe is done! Kim and I hope you enjoy the dessert and wish you all the best
About This Classic Carrot Cake Recipe
If you grew up eating carrot cake, you know how amazing it tastes and we can all agree the cream cheese frosting makes it. If you did not grow up eating carrot cake then it may sound weird the whole idea of carrots and cake.
This is a simple carrot cake recipe with no pineapples and I personally prefer it this way. This carrot cake is moist and fluffy and doesn’t need the pineapples to help with that.
If you are skeptical about eating carrot cake, I promise you, you are not actually tasting the carrots. This is like a sugar cake of heavenly goodness and those carrots just blend right into the batter.
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What Makes This The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
This is the best carrot cake you will ever make and I dont say that lightly! Its moist, but not too moist, and its FULL of flavor! The perfect blend of spices, carrots and depth of flavor. I not only tested it against all the different versions, but also against some other popular versions. Taste testers all agreed this was the best! Its a great dessert for Easter and any time you get a craving for carrot cake. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
- Prep Time:2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time:47 minutes
- Total Time:3 hours 17 minutes
Why Are Bundt Cakes So Moist
Because of a Bundt pans unique shape, recipes must be extremely moist, as plenty of the cakes surface will be exposed to higher temperatures than normal. Bundt pans also require every nook and cranny to be well-greased and floured to make the transferring process easier and to prevent uneven cooking distributions.
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How To Make Moist Carrot Cake
- Start by greasing and flouring your cake pan or simply line it with parchment paper.
- Whisk together dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients in a large measuring cup. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, then fold in carrots. The batter will be thick.
- Pour batter onto prepared baking pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in a few places comes out clean.
- Make frosting by beating together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy. Spread over cake. Chill cake until ready to serve. Top with chopped walnuts or pecans before serving.
How To Shred The Carrots For The Carrot Cake
The one important step that you need to make sure you follow is to grate your own carrots and not buy pre-shredded carrots.
When you shred your own carrots they will be moist and not dry. Make sure to shred them right before you are ready to add them to the batter.
This step will ensure you have a delicious and moist carrot cake.
I also like to shred my carrots with a box grater and I use the fine shred side. I find that the coarse shred side is just too coarse and it leaves large shreds in the batter.
You want the carrots to blend into the batter during baking.
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How To Frost And Speckle Your Cake
First and foremost, do not frost your cake until it is COMPLETELY cooled. After theyve cooled in the pan, pop them onto a cooling rack for about 20 minutes. Then, wrap your layers in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This makes stacking your cake much easier.
When frosting the cake, spread about 1/2-3/4 cup of frosting between each layer. Once stacked, place it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes so that the frosting layers can firmed up. For more information on how to frost a cake using cream cheese frosting, check out my Cream Cheese Frosting 101 post.
Continue frosting the outside of your cake. Smooth out your sides and place the cake back in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Now with the remaining frosting, separate a few spoonfuls into two dishes.
In one dish, add one to two drops of green gel food coloring. I high recommend gel food coloring because it gives you the biggest color pay off with a minimal amount of dye. To give it a more natural green hue, dip a toothpick in brown gel food coloring and add a swatch to the green.
Do the same using orange and brown gel food coloring to dye the other bowl of frosting. Place the bowls in the refrigerator to thicken while the cake chills.
Transfer the colored frosting to two separate piping bags, each fitted with a small around tip. First pipe on the carrots in a scattered and random pattern. Then follow them up with two tiny lines of green above each carrot, which act as the stalks.
Tips For The Best Carrot Cake
- Finely shred carrots. This offers a perfectly uniform texture, cleaner slices and no large visible chunks of carrots.
- Use freshest carrots if possible for best flavor.
- Precisely measure ingredients . If you have a kitchen scale use that for the most accuracy.
- Dont over-mix the batter after adding in flour and after adding in carrots. Otherwise cake can be spongy and may not rise as high.
- Properly prepare cake pans. Dont forget to grease pan, line with parchment and dust with flour. No risk of cake sticking and falling apart.
- Use cake strips to wrap around cake pans if you have them for more even layers and a higher rise. Be sure to soak in water a while before using.
- Bake just until cooked through. Under-cooked and cake will collapse, over-cooked and cake will be dry.
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What Ingredients Really Gives Carrot Cake Its Flavor
Most of the delicious flavors we associate with carrot cake comes from the spices that are added into the batter.
Ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and cinnamon are the dominant flavors in most carrot cake recipes. Some recipes also call for molasses or brown sugar, which pairs so well with these warm spices.
While the additional ingredients do add to the texture of the cake, I dont really love the mouth feel they create.