Carrot Cake

This Carrot Cake is perfectly moist, sweet and loaded with carrots, raisins, walnuts and pineapple, then topped with a delicious, delicate and easy to make cream cheese frosting. 

This is my go to carrot cake recipe that I’ve been making for years and I think it’s finally perfect after a few tweaks here and there with the ingredients. It’s the Perfect Carrot Cake! The perfect carrot cake has to be sweet, delicate, moist and beautiful loaded with fluffy cream cheese frosting.

CARROT CAKE

For me carrot cake is a must for pretty much all holidays, but it doesn’t have to be served just during the holidays. It’s really perfect for any time of the year. Did you know carrot cake has been around for a very long time but it became popular during the second World War because of rationing?

Carrot cakes are loaded with fruits. For my cake I not only used carrots, walnuts and raisins which are pretty standard when it comes to carrot cakes, but I added pineapple. The pineapple just makes the cake more moist, because many times they can be quite dry. It also acts as a tenderizer, meaning it breaks down proteins which results in a more moist cake.

The pineapple also adds a bit more sweetness to cake. Don’t knock it till you try it. It really does make it more special.

HOW TO MAKE CARROT CAKE

First of all though, this cake is really easy to make. If you don’t want to make a layered cake you could easily do this in a 9×13 inch pan. Just ice it with the cream cheese frosting and serve it right out of the pan. I’ve done it both ways many times.

I load my carrot cake with other great ingredients such as raisins, walnuts, pineapple and of course, loads of grated carrots. Carrot cake is perfect for those times when you want to clean out your pantry and use up those leftover raisins and walnuts from Christmas.

But then where would carrot cake be without that cream cheese frosting? Nowhere, I say, because I think it’s the frosting that makes the cake and the more frosting the better.

Just like in a Red Velvet Cake! This frosting is also super easy to make, all you need are 4 simple ingredients, whip them all up and that’s all it takes. Don’t be shy when spreading the frosting over the cake, use up all that frosting.

LOOKING FOR MORE CAKE RECIPES? TRY THESE:

• Cheesecake Recipe
• German Chocolate Cake
• Best Ever Pumpkin Roll
• Apple Pie Cake
• Tres Leches Cake

Carrot Cake

This Carrot Cake is perfectly moist, sweet and loaded with carrots, raisins, walnuts and pineapple, then topped with a delicious, delicate and easy to make cream cheese frosting. 

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake recipes, carrort cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 10

Calories: 660kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon ground
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups carrots grated
• 3/4 cup walnuts chopped
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 8 oz pineapple crushed, drained

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 12 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter unsalted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners sugar

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). 
• Prepare 2 8 inch cake pans. Cut out 2 parchment paper circles that will fit inside each pan and spray them with some cooking spray. Make sure to spray some cooking spray up the sides of the pans too.
• In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
• In another bowl add the sugar, eggs and vegetable oil. Whisk until it all comes together. Alternatively you could use your mixer.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk everything until well combined.
• Add the carrots, walnuts, raisins and pineapple. Using a spatula mix everything together until all the fruits are well incorporated into the batter.
• Pour the batter into the 2 prepared pans, equally.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack or a cutting board and cool completely.
• While the cake is cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the cream cheese together with the butter, then add the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Start by placing 1 cake layer onto your serving cake platter, then spread some of the cream cheese frosting, about 1 1/2 cups, evenly over the cake layer. Add the other cake layer. Using a spatula, spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the top of the cake and up the sides. 
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Video

Notes

1. To reduce the calorie count, you could replace the vegetable oil with a cup of apple sauce. The cake will still be moist and delicious.
2. Keep the cake in a closed cake container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
3. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 660kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 701mg | Potassium: 411mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 71g | Vitamin A: 139.9% | Vitamin C: 16.7% | Calcium: 9.9% | Iron: 12.8%

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Recipe originally shared Aug 7, 2012