This easy carrot cake is made with a moist and easy one bowl carrot cake and is topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting.
This cake is made with simple ingredients and is so moist and tender. It has the softest crumb from the oil and shredded carrots. It has the perfect balance of sweetness and spices.
If you like carrot cake recipes, check out our carrot loaf cake, simple carrot cake, and carrot cake cupcakes.
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Why this recipe works
- This cake is made in a 9 by 9 inch pan for the perfect serving size if you don't want to make a layered cake.
- This cake is soft and moist and has a delicious crumb.
- It is topped with a creamy and delicious cream cheese frosting.
- This cake is filled with delicious spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
- This is a one-bowl recipe! Which means fewer dishes to wash.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Carrots- use fresh carrots for this recipe! Not canned carrots and not pre-shredded carrots, to get the moist cake use fresh carrots and grate them yourself.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. We used a combination of butter and oil for this.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Baking soda – to allow the bread to rise. 1 teaspoon of baking soda is what you will need for this recipe. Don't replace baking soda with baking powder!
Brown sugar- we like using brown sugar for this recipe, the brown sugar adds extra flavor and tastes amazing with fall spices.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Eggs– To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Vanilla extract– Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for baking.
Cinnamon- use ground cinnamon for this recipe, the cinnamon adds so much flavor so don’t skip it.
Nutmeg- use dried ground nutmeg or freshly grated nutmeg.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Salt– We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste.
For the cream cheese frosting
Butter- make sure you are using room temperate butter.
Cream cheese- make sure that you are using whole-fat cream cheese that is at room temperature. We highly recommend using the famous Philadelphia cream cheese.
Powder sugar- is known as confectioners sugar. For a smoother buttercream, sift it before adding it to the butter.
Pinch of salt- to balance the sweetness.
Instructions
Prepare an 9 by 9 inch pan with parchment paper and preheat an oven to 180c (350f).
Into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, melted butter, kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until well combined.
Add the grated carrots and mix with a whisk until well combined.
Add the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined and there are no patches of flour visible.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared 9 by 9 baking pan, and bake in a 180(350f) preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let it cool completely.
Make the cream cheese frosting
Into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Then add ½ of the powdered sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powdered sugar cloud).
Add a pinch of salt, and the vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
Top the cake with the cream cheese frosting and make a wave pattern with an offset spatula. Top the cake with chopped walnuts or hazelnuts. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. You must use room-temperature ingredients like eggs, cream cheese, and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as soon as it's ready. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before frosting the cake. This step prevents the frosting from melting.
Faq's
Yes. If you would like to consume less sugar or less sweet carrot cake, reduce the amount of sugar by ⅓ cup.
We use all-purpose flour for this cake. Cake flour will work great as well.
The carrots give this cake a moist and tender texture. It also adds sweetness to the cake as carrots are naturally sweet.
Storing
Store this cake in the fridge (because the frosting contains dairy) covered with plastic wrap or foil, or stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freezing
This cake is very easy to freeze. After baking, let the cake cool to room temperature, transfer it into a freezer-friendly Ziploc bag, or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw: place the cake in the refrigerator overnight or place it a room temperature for a few hours.
I recommend frosting the cake after defrosting it and before serving. This way it will stay creamy and flawless.
Substitutions
There are a few substitutions that may be helpful for your diet:
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Oil- if you don't want to use vegetable oil or canola oil for this recipe, swap it with melted butter or melted coconut oil.
Variations
Toppings- this cake can be topped with cinnamon buttercream frosting or maple cream cheese frosting. Use your favorite toppings that you like to make the most!
Add-ins- make this recipe your own and add your favorite add-ins: chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks, etc.
Spices- add your favorite spices for cinnamon-spiced desserts! Like nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin spice, ginger, etc.
More easy cake recipes
Banana coffee cake- This banana coffee cake is made with soft cinnamon banana cake, filled with a cinnamon swirl filling, a cinnamon crumble topping, and a delicious glaze.
Honey cake- This honey cake is moist, rich in flavor, and full of spices that will make your house smell like autumn. We make this cake every Rosh Hashanah, it's our favorite time of the year.
Orange cake- This orange cake is fluffy, light, and extremely moist. It is made with 9 simple ingredients and topped with powdered sugar.
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If you liked this recipe
📖 Recipe
Easy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot cake
- 3 Eggs
- ¾ cup Vegetable oil
- 80 g Butter melted
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 2 ½ cups Carrots grated
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking soda
Cream cheese frosting
- 115 g Butter softened
- 230 g Cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 ½ cups Powder sugar
Instructions
- Prepare an 9 by 9 inch pan with parchment paper and preheat an oven to 180c (350f).
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, melted butter, kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the grated carrots and mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined and there are no patches of flour visible.
- Pour the cake batter to the prepared 9 by 9 baking pan, and bake in a 180(350f) preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let it cool completely.
Make the cream cheese frosting
- Into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Then add ½ of the powdered sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powdered sugar cloud).
- Add a pinch of salt, and the vanilla extract and mix well until smooth.
- Top the cake with the cream cheese frosting and make a wave pattern with an offset spatula. Top the cake with chopped walnuts or hazelnuts. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs, cream cheese, and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as soon as it's ready. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before frosting cake. This step prevents the frosting to melt.
Misriya says
This cake turned out soft and nice. Unfortunately the baking soda was overpowering and my grankids didn’t want to eat it after the first bite. Maybe they’re sensitive to the taste and smell of bs.
RichandDelish says
It must be that your grandkids are sensitive to baking soda since every carrot cake is made with baking soda.
Padmini says
Can I skip the eggs? I dont consume eggs. What is the option
RichandDelish says
Hi! I didn't try these without eggs, but you can try swapping them with flax meal.