With its outstanding spice flavor, super moist crumb, and velvety cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best carrot cake. Use brown sugar and toasted pecans for deeper flavor.
I don’t call it carrot cake. I call it “birthday cake.” It’s my one and only choice on my big day. I’ve adopted this tradition and make my own carrot birthday cake each year. And, of course, we never limit it to only once per year. This is always my top choice for Easter dessert recipes and I love making it for spring brunches, baby showers, and our community’s new bake sale.
In fact, this recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
And, finally, I firmly believe that the ONLY thing that competes with carrot cake is a batch of carrot cake cupcakes.
What Does This Carrot Cake Taste Like?
This carrot cake sets the standard for carrot cakes everywhere. It’s deeply moist and filled with toasted pecans (or walnuts, if you prefer). Most of its flavor comes from brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and carrots. Ginger adds the most delicious zing, but it isn’t overpowering at all. The cake is dense, but each forkful tastes super soft and extra lush. If made ahead, the flavor intensifies and the cream cheese frosting seeps into the layers, creating an even more tender bite.
So if you’re looking for a make-ahead cake whose taste and texture won’t be compromised, make this! It’s a total classic and 1 taste converts everyone, even those silly people who “don’t like carrot cake.” Who ARE you people?! 😉
Let’s Make It!
This carrot cake is pretty easy, but let’s walk through the process together. You can also use this detailed how to assemble and decorate a layer cake post and video as a guide.
Begin by toasting pecans in the oven. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake for about 6–8 minutes. Toasting the nuts is optional, but you won’t regret doing it. Toasting pecans creates an unparalleled deep nutty flavor—I love using them in my hummingbird Bundt cake and pecan pie cheesecake, too. Let the nuts cool down for a couple minutes, then start the carrot cake batter. Begin with 2 mixing bowls. Whisk the dry ingredients together in 1 bowl, then the wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine the two, along with shredded carrots and half of the toasted nuts. You don’t even need a mixer for the cake batter!
Instead of a layer cake, you can bake this recipe in a 9×13-inch pan. It’s also perfect as the bottom tier for a homemade wedding cake!
How to Make Carrot Cake Moist
If it isn’t stick-to-the-back-of-your-fork moist, it’s just not worth it. So I worked to create an EXTRA moist carrot cake. Don’t skip these ingredients:
- Brown Sugar: I’ve come across a lot of carrot cake recipes that are sweetened with mostly granulated sugar. That’s great, but granulated sugar doesn’t do much for the cake besides sweeten it. Brown sugar not only sweetens cake, it produces so much flavor and moisture. It’s just… the best!
- Oil: Cakes need fat to make them soft and tender. When preparing cakes without super strong flavors such as vanilla cake and white cake, I prefer to use butter as the fat. Butter also gives them flavor. But for cakes like chocolate cake and carrot cake that have flavor from other ingredients, I find flavorless oil is the best choice.
- Applesauce: To prevent the cake from tasting too moist (wet) and oily, I add some applesauce. You could even use crushed pineapple, too! These flavors pair beautifully with brown sugar and spices.
- Freshly Shredded Carrots: My #1 tip for carrot cakes is to shred whole carrots at home. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry. You need about 4 large carrots for this recipe. And when you grate them, you’ll notice how wet they are. That is PRIME moisture for your baked cake and you don’t want to skip it! Same principle applies when using zucchini in my zucchini cake, too.
Cream Cheese Frosting
The carrot cake frosting? Well, that’s easy too. It’s so smooth, tangy, and glides on the cake seamlessly. I call it spreadable cheesecake and it tastes unbelievable with this cake’s deep spice flavor.
Ingredients: You need brick-style cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. The salt helps offset the sweetness.
If you’re looking to pipe decoration with this cream cheese frosting, chill it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour first. This guarantees the creamy frosting will hold its shape.
And if you’re not a fan of cream cheese frosting, these vanilla frostings will work just as well: vanilla buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream, and not-so-sweet whipped frosting.
There’s no emotion quite like the sadness you’ll experience when that last slice is gone!
Carrot Cake Success Tips
- Line your cake pans with parchment. Place your cake pans on a large sheet of parchment paper. Trace the bottom of the cake pan with a pencil, then cut the circles. Grease the pan and the parchment paper. Parchment paper rounds guarantee the cakes won’t stick!
- Make it ahead. One of the BEST parts about carrot cake is that it gets better with time, even after 1 full day. The flavors mingle, the moisture prevails, and the cream cheese frosting sets into the layers. It’s ridiculously good! You can make and frost the cake 1 day in advance. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving.
- Use freshly grated carrots. Grate them yourself for the freshest, best result.
My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With its outstanding spice flavor, super moist crumb, and velvety cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best carrot cake. Use brown sugar and toasted pecans for deeper flavor. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) chopped pecans or walnuts (1 cup for cake, 1 cup for garnish)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (226g/240ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)*
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (180g) smooth unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups (260g) grated carrots (about 4 large)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces (452g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
- Toast the nuts: Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Spread the chopped pecans (or walnuts) on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 6–8 minutes, or until fragrant. Give the pan a shake halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10–15 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Grease two or three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla until combined and no brown sugar lumps remain.
- In another large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and, using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the ingredients together until just combined. Fold in the carrots and 1 cup (about 120g) of the toasted nuts. (The rest of the nuts are for garnish.) Pour/spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If using three cake pans, this takes about 20–25 minutes. If using two cake pans, this takes about 30–35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Run a knife around the edges to help loosen the sides, remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment, and place on the rack to finish cooling. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes until completely combined and creamy. If the frosting seems a bit thin and runny, refrigerate it for 30 minutes before using.
- Assemble the cake: (For extra help with this step, see this video & post on how to assemble a layer cake.) First, using a large serrated knife or cake leveler, slice a thin layer off the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake layer on your cake turntable, cake stand, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with 3/4 to 1 cup (180–240g) of the frosting. Top with the second cake layer, upside down, and spread the same amount of frosting as on the first layer. Top with the third layer, right side up, and spread the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Garnish with the remaining toasted nuts. Refrigerate the cake for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting. If you refrigerated the cake for longer than 4 hours, take it out of the refrigerator 2 hours before serving so it can mostly come to room temperature.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to use a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, covered, and stored at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared, then covered and refrigerated overnight. When ready to decorate, let the frosting sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 15 minutes, then give it one more mix with the mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute before frosting cake. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving. See this post on how to freeze cakes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Box Grater | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Wooden Spoon | Silicone Spatula | 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Nuts: Feel free to omit the nuts for a nut-free carrot cake. No other changes to the recipe required.
- Applesauce: Instead of applesauce, you can use 3/4 cup crushed pineapple if desired. Slightly drain the canned crushed pineapple first. You want it the consistency of applesauce—not too watery. You could also use 3/4 cup mashed bananas, sour cream, plain yogurt, or canned pumpkin puree.
- Carrots: My #1 tip for carrot cakes is to grate whole carrots at home. Do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots because they are hard and dry.
- Oil: If using melted coconut oil, make sure all of the other cake batter ingredients (carrots included) are room temperature. Otherwise, the melted coconut oil will begin to solidify before the batter goes into the oven.
- Cream Cheese: Use bricks/blocks of real cream cheese, not cream cheese spread in a tub.
- 9×13-Inch Cake: Simply pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured 9×13-inch pan and bake for 40–45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Carrot Bundt Cake: Use a 10–12-cup generously greased Bundt pan. Bake for 55–75 minutes. All ovens and Bundt pans are different, so that’s why the bake time varies. Keep a close eye on it.
- Add-Ins: If you’d like to add raisins or coconut, reduce the pecans to 1/2 cup (or leave them out). Add 1 cup of raisins or shredded coconut. Stick to around 1–1.5 cups total add-ins. Or you can leave the cake plain without any add-ins.
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20–22 minutes. Yields about 24 cupcakes. Or try my carrot cake cupcakes recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I love this recipe, however I use at least 100 grams less sugar in the cake and only use about 100 grams if that in the frosting plus I add lemon juice into the frosting
Fantastic!!! I actually used this to make a 9X13 sheet cake, and it turned out PERFECTLY! I did have to cook it for a little bit longer since it was a bigger pan. I also “borrowed” enough batter from the batch to make 4 cupcakes, and they turned out so pretty – but more importantly, moist and delicious! I WILL be making these again, and can’t wait!!!
(i used my new food processor to shred the carrots and measured them by weight – after seeing some concerns about how to measure them in the comments)
Sally! I bake something that you are promoting for my Bridge group on Fridays. Last week when I was leaving I said what kind of cake? Carrot. Of course, I looked up your Favorite Carrot Cake. I get lots of compliments whenever I make something from your website. The cake was DEVOURED!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! My mom used to put pineapple in her carrot cake. Would it be okay to use 1/2 applesauce & 1/2 crushed pineapple? What measurement of each would you suggest? Thanks!
Hi Maria, instead of applesauce you can use 3/4 cup crushed pineapple, or you could do half an half if you would like!
I’ve made this carrot cake one other time and everyone LOVED IT! One even said it’s the best they’ve ever had! My question is – I was wanting to make this recipe into cupcakes. Is there anything I would need to adjust? I’m so paranoid of it drying out since cupcakes are smaller in size.
Hi Becca, we recommend using this recipe for carrot cake cupcakes instead!
Adding my rating to my comment.
This is hands down the best carrot cake recipe I have tried, by leaps and bounds. I have made it a few times alone. The flavour is exquisite! Thanks for sharing this great recipe, Sally!
I have made so many carrot cakes over the years, and this is hands down THE absolute favorite! Because of a nut allergy in the family, I omit the pecans and the result is still delicious.
I love this recipe. But with the egg crisis, what can I use in place of the 4 eggs? My friend wants me to make this but I’m not comfortable bringing home eggs because I have pet birds and don’t want to bring the bird flu home and they are expensive where I live.
Hi T y, we haven’t tested this recipe with any egg substitutes, but we’ve heard that using aquafaba or a “flax egg” can work in a pinch. Would love to hear how it goes if you you give it a try!
hi, quick question. is it ok if I don’t add the pecans? my brother is allergic.
Definitely. Happy baking!
My colleague brought this to work and we went crazy for it. He gave me the recipe, and of course, it was Sally! I am a fan. He recommended I double the carrots, and he made it in one pan. So easy and delicious. Your cakes are the best!
I’ve mad this cake a couple of times, and it is moist and delicious. My problem is the frosting. I live in Spain and I can’t find Philly in bricks, it’s all spreadable and it makes the frosting too soft, then I keep adding sugar and it’s too sweet. Last time I added more butter and if I keep it in the fridge that’s fine. I can’t find cream of tartar. Any suggestions???
Hi Constance, we know this is an issue for bakers in other countries, and know it’s frustrating! Look for a soft white cheese with around 33% fat content. Also, some people have reported that they strain off excess liquid from the tub type of cream cheese before using. And we’ve also had readers report that they’ve had success subbing half mascarpone for half the cream cheese. (And using more butter than cream cheese is probably a good solution, too, which you said you’ve tried.) If you try any of these, please let us know how it goes!
Could I halve the recipe to make 2 6-inch cakes?
Hi Annie! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
Hi if you wanted to backe this in a 2lb loaf tin what would you half the quantities? Thanks in advance. Love the recipe
Hi Rach, Here’s our carrot cake loaf recipe.
My favourite carrot cake recipe! always comes out amazing.
Can you make this cake into a tiered cake? Would it be strong enough?
Definitely, with the proper supports.
What is the yield? Two or 3 layers of 9” cake pans
3 layers, Susan.
Any idea how I can convert to 10” pans? I need 3-4 layers.
Hi Joleen, Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
How should I make this in a layer cake with 6 inch pans?
Hi Lauri, our carrot cupcakes recipe actually makes the perfect amount of batter for a three layer 6 inch cake. You can read more about using cupcake recipes to make 6 inch cakes here.
Made this cake three times all with only two layers. It is wonderful! I would love to add a picture but doesnt look like this allows pics. Happy Baking!
My husband is requesting carrot cake for his birthday but we have a carrot allergy in the family. I know. But is there anything I can sub the carrot for? Butternut squash? What has the same water content? I really want to try this one! I almost never stray from Sally’s recipes for important events because they’re all fabulous!
We recommend trying this zucchini cake or even this spice cake instead.
I really wanted to try THIS specific recipe even though the spice cake is almost the same. I used shredded butternut squash with a 1:1 replacement ratio and no other adjustments. It was great and you could still see shreds of orange which is what I wanted! Thanks for the recipe.
If I leave the nuts out, will it effect the cake very much? Can I substitute pineapple instead?
Hi Karyn, You can leave the nuts out wit no other changes. Instead of applesauce you can use 3/4 cup crushed pineapple, see recipe notes for details.
Hi Sally. If I don’t have apple sauce and sub it with pumpkin puree, is it still a 1:1 ratio?
Yes!
Thank you so much Sally for making my mother’s birthday so special.
We have a strained relationship, but she’s been trying to get better. She told me her favorite cake was carrot cake ! She’s never had anything but boxed, a wonderful recipe and a cake later, she’s crying over it and saying she’ll never go back to boxed.
Thank you for allowing me to reconnect with my mother over something so sweet.
I have been looking for ages to find a proper recipe for carrot this is by far the best I have come across!!
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST CARROT CAKE RECIPE
This recipe was perfection. Just the right amount of sweetness.
Absolutely delicious for 70th birthday party – made with crushed pineapple and black walnuts. Question: Are the grated carrots very firmly packed (aka squiparty into measuring cup with no air) or loosely packed to make up 2 cups? I grated 4 medium carrots, and even after packing fairly tight into 2 cups, I ended up with 2 cups of extra grated carrots that I put aside. Cake was moist and carrot flavor and visual shreds were very apparent, so did not suffer without the extra 2 cups from the 4 carrots. Cake was so good and moist that it doesn’t even need the icing (and extra calories) to be a tasty sweet treat for me. Thanks very much.
Hi Sandy, do you have a kitchen/food scale? Measuring out 260g of shredded carrots is the best way to ensure accuracy. Glad the cake tasted great no matter how you measured the carrots!
My carrot cake became a little dry after a day of baking. Any tips?
Hi Amina! Cover leftover frosted cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but the cakes will start to dry out, yes. Make sure the cake is tightly covered.
Can I pour all Batter in one pan and slice in half after baking?
We don’t recommend it. Such a thick cake would be difficult to bake through properly.
If I make this in a 9×13 pan, do I cut the frosting recipe in half. It seems 16 oz cream cheese is a lot for 9×13
This was perfect! I didn’t have applesauce, so I used pumpkin puree, then used most of the rest of the can in a pumpkin cream cheese frosting. It was ridiculous, v thank you!
Decided to do just a sheet cake with this recipe. Need advice for bake time
Hi Asra, You can make this into a quarter sheet cake (9×13-inch pan) and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I don’t have unsweetened Applesauce and I was planning to sub mashed Banana’s. Will it change the taste of the cake and make it taste like banana.
Hi Sofia, 3/4 cup mashed bananas can be used in place of the apple sauce. See recipe notes for more details. We hope you love this one!