Carrot Cake! With a hint of cinnamon, soft crunch from nuts, ultra moist crumb and piled high with the fluffiest ever cream cheese frosting, this has the perfect texture and flavour. Easy and foolproof, absolutely to-die for!
Carrot Cake
This Carrot Cake is from a reader, the lovely Dorothy of Tennessee in the States, a long-time reader of RecipeTin Eats. She promised it was dead easy, foolproof, ultra moist with a heavenly flavour.
One bite was all it took for me to ditch the recipe I’d been using all my life up until that moment. This was The One. Hands down the best Carrot Cake I have ever had in my life!
I love it so much, in fact, that I’ve also just published a cupcake version too!
Why you’ll love this Carrot Cake recipe
The cake itself is not too sweet, with less sugar than most recipes;
The cake is moist, but not doughy or “mud-cake” like;
The subtle crunch from pecans and coconut in the cake. The textural contrast with the crumb is really terrific; and
There is plenty of frosting!!
What you need for Carrot Cake
Here’s what you need for this Carrot Cake. The “secret ingredients” in this are:
Crushed pineapple (canned) – this adds to the moistness of the crumb, as well as sweetness and flavour. We’re going to use all of the pineapple and some of the juice; and
Coconut and walnuts (or pecans) – they add a subtle soft crunch which provides great textural contrast in this cake that has a very soft crumb.
No butter! Did you know – oil makes cakes moist and butter adds flavour. In this recipe, we don’t need butter because there’s all sorts of flavour from the other ingredients so we just use oil.
How to make Carrot Cake
Just use a standard box grater to grate the carrot. Then it’s as simple as mixing the Dry ingredients, mixing the Wet, then mixing them together.
I’ve made a 2 layer cake here but you could also make one rectangle single layer cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting for Carrot Cake
There’s just no question – fluffy cream cheese frosting is the BEST frosting for Carrot Cake! Here’s what you need:
Cream cheese – use BLOCK, not the spreadable cream cheese in tubs (too soft);
Softened butter – softened but not super soft / borderline melting;
Icing sugar aka powdered sugar – 🇦🇺use soft icing sugar, NOT pure icing sugar (which is used for things like royal icing ie sets hard); and
Vanilla.
How to make cream cheese frosting
There’s no secret trick to making fluffy cream cheese frosting. Just beat, beat, beat until fluffy! It will take a good 3 to 5 minutes to make the frosting super fluffy.
TIP for even layers (without trimming)
No cake comes out of the oven with a perfectly level surface.
But rather than bothering to cut the top to make it level, just flip the cake upside down before frosting.
You’ll still get a slight dome in the middle with this cake but it’s less pronounced than if you frosted it without turning it upside down.
And so I present to you, Dorothy’s Carrot Cake, with 2 layers, though it’s marvellous as a single layer sheet pan rectangle cake – goes further and there’s a thicker layer of frosting on the surface.
Thank you Dorothy, for sharing your wonderful recipe with us!!! I’m so honoured! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Carrot Cake (Easy and ultra moist!)
Ingredients
- 440g / 20 oz can crushed pineapple , drained but RESERVE juice (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup (65 ml) reserved canned pineapple juice (from canned pineapple above)
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) milk , at room temperature (full or low fat)
- 1 tsp white vinegar (or lemon juice or other clear vinegar, (Note 2)
- 3 eggs (55g/2oz each)
- 1 1/2 cups (265g) brown sugar (loosely packed)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil (or canola)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) flour , plain / all purpose
- 2 tsp baking soda (aka bi carb soda, Note 3) (NOT BAKING POWDER)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
Stir Ins
- 2 cups grated carrot , about 2 carrots, peeled (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup coconut , shredded or desiccated (plain / unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans , roughly chopped
Frosting
- 180g / 6oz cream cheese , at room temperature (Note 5)
- 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (480g) icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted if clumpy (Note 6)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types). Grease and line two 20-22.5 cm/8 – 9" round pans OR a 9 x 13" / 22 x 33cm pan with baking/parchment paper. (Note 7)
- Drain crushed pineapple well, reserving the juice. Measure out 1/4 cup of pineapple juice.
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, eggs, sugar, oil and the 1/4 cup pinepple juice from Step 2.
- Stir in carrot, crushed pineapple, coconut and pecans into the Wet ingredients bowl.
- Pour Wet into Dry ingredients, stir until flour is incorporated.
- Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake round cakes for 35 minutes, rectangle cake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the cake is golden on top.
- Rest for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack. Frost once completely cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Then beat in the icing sugar in 2 batches until it is well incorporated and the frosting is fluffy – about 3 minutes on speed 7 stand mixer.
- Flip one cake upside down on serving platter (for flat surface). Spread with 1/3 frosting. Place 2nd cake upside down on frosting. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting.
Storage
- If cooler than 25°C/77°C and not humid, ok to keep cake in airtight container not in fridge. If very humid OR warmer than 25°C/77°C, store in fridge (Note 8).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published April 2016. Updated with new photos, and new recipe video added!
“Let them eat cake!” 10 classic cake recipes
Life of Dozer
Project Manager Dozer on duty for the video shoot! Quality Assurance is his speciality 😂
And here he is from when I originally published this Carrot Cake – no surprises, Dozer lurking under the shoot table! I’m not going to lie to you. He scored a big hunk of carrot cake. His bottom can afford it. Mine can’t.
Hi Nagi,
I came across your website whilst searching for Bill Granger’s corn fritters recipe and WOW! What a fabulous collection of recipes and photos you have! THANK YOU SO MUCH for your time, effort and passion.
Nagi, I was wondering with this glorious carrot cake, what size rectangle pan did you use?
Hi Diane! I am so sorry about the late response, this got caught up in my filter 🙁 I made this in a 9 x 13″ / 22 x 33cm pan (it’s big!) but you could also make it in a 20cm/8″ springform pan which will make a tall cake to cut in half and fill with frosting (there is enough frosting) OR a giant single layer 25cm springform pan. Works for all! Oh – OR 2 x lamington pans. 🙂
Great recipe Dorothy, I made this according to instructions but there was no mention of using the crushed pineapple,
Do you just use the I/4 cup reserved juice from the can ?
The cake didn’t rise much. Is it because there was no pineapple added and the amount of baking powder used?.
The ratio of baking powder is 2 tsp per cup of flour, according to the label on Mckenzies baking powder.
Why not use self raising flour instead ? I’m confused.
The picture second from the top is what my cake turned out like.
Hi John – I am SO SORRY ? I forgot to include the crushed pineapple in the instructions, it is to be stirred in with the carrots. I’m so so sorry. I’d send you a carrot cake if you’re local!!! Regarding the rising, the reason it did not rise much is because you used baking powder, not baking SODA (bicarb soda) which is what the recipe calls for. Baking powder is diluted baking soda which is why it didn’t rise much. But if your cake looked like the photo, then it sounds like it worked out pretty well!! N x
Thank you Nagi for your speedy reply. Must have misread the baking soda bit, cake turned out fine despite
the pineapple being omitted. I would’ve loved the cake offer but too far to send to Cairns.
I will repeat this recipe again, once I have finished eating the other one.
I have tried a lot of your recipes and they all turned out with pleasing results. Keep up the good work.
You have quite a few good recipes I still have yet to try.
I have a few Eastern European recipes I would like to share with you, if your interested.
All the best.
John
Hi John! I would love to! I must say Eastern European isn’t a cuisine I know well, though the little I have tried I love! My email is nagi.maehashi@gmail.com 🙂
Thank you Dorothy! Love carrot cake but finding an GOOD recipe can be tough. Will have to make this soon, thanks for sharing the recipe Nagi. And thank you for all the comments while I was ‘away’ xoxoxox
I know exactly what you mean Evelyne! Too sweet or too oily or TOO dense are the problems I’ve encountered in the past. No more! 🙂
Moist and dense is exactly how it should be 🙂 I’m going to try this for my husband– carrot cake is his favorite, and he is always asking me to make it. I make the one from Elana’s Pantry, because I am gluten intolerant (its made with almond flour), but I don’t eat it anyway, and it costs so much money to make with all those specialty ingredients in Malaysia!
Oh gosh yes, I remember being floored at the prices of GF ingredients when I was in Japan!!! I expect it’s the same much throughout Asian 🙁
When the email said that you were sharing a recipe from Dorothy, I instantly wondered if it was Dorothy Dunton and it is!!! What an amazing woman she is and we have so much in common, Dorothy and I. She lives not far from where I lived in Tennessee for many years and our cooking style is very similar. I’m so glad you shared this recipe!
I’m due for surgery in a week and a half and my husband is still blind in one eye so life is a struggle at the moment. I’m sorry I haven’t been a better blogger but you just wait until I can get around better. 🙂
Oh Maureen, I think of you often. You have to call me if I can do anything to help!!! Promise me!
Had an amazing slice of this cake at my quilt meeting today, to die for! But she would not give out the recipe so thank you for this one, will try it out!
There’s my 6th sense in action again…. te he he!!
The carrot cake looks delicious! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Linda!!! 🙂
I love carrot cake, and that one looks perfect! I also heartily agree with the ratio of frosting to cake! (PS cream cheese frosting is my favourite!)
ME TOO!!! 🙂
5 stars for Dorothy from Tennessee! Her cake looks and sounds amazing of course Nagi who is better to capture that, then you. With Mother’s day right around the corner, I am hoping that my kids take the big hint if I just start sending them links of recipes like this delicious carrot cake. Happy Happy for poor little Dozer, he is very patient and deserves a little treat every now and then. Wishing you a super weekend Nagi, Take care.
I wish I could give her 10 stars for this cake! Seriously, it is THAT GOOD!
As it often happens, when I open your emails, you would have the recipe for the very thing that my body is craving. And my body is craving some delicious, delicious carrot cake – my all-time favourite cake of all the cakes in the world! (I’m not entirely sure you can call the cakes from BreadTop “cakes”, as they seem too light and fluffy and more like “dense mousse” than cakes.)
I am looking forward to baking a huge pan of this glorious cake and incredible frosting and diving head first into it! Thank you, Dorothy, for an amazing recipe, and thank you, Nagi, for sharing it with us!
PS – I didn’t even blink about the 1.5 cups of brown sugar. This cake has carrots in it, so the veggies cancel out the sugar. I’ll keep tell myself that when I’m onto my third helping.
I love your logic Gloria!! Now – can you help me justify the nutrition of a double fudge chocolate brownie please?? 😉
Yes, yes I can. Chocolate is a vegetable, and we need 5-6 serves of vegetables a day. Double fudge chocolate brownies = vegetables. Problem solved. 😀
I adore Dorothy!!! I always look forward to her entertaining and insightful – she’s the real deal. You know, like this cake! And may I say bravo on the cake to frosting ratio – just how I like it!!
I know!!! She always makes me LAUGH! 🙂
Nagi ,Yes your friends Carrot cake is great half cup oil is fantastic all others had a lot more , and Dozer is as beautiful as ever , okay golden hands , always look forward to your recipes, lily gar,, Montreal
Aww, thank you Lily! And YES I agree 1/2 cup of oil is all that’s required! I know that some people have carrot cake recipes they say are “super moist” but all they do is increase the oil. I think the secret to this being so moist with only 1/2 cup of oil is the crushed pineapple. 🙂
I normally don’t make a lot of cakes but I trust you and now I trust Dorothy 🙂 I’m like you, the frosting is going to give it that special touch. Mmmmmm! I can almost taste the smoothness and then a little crunch. Thank you and thank you Dorothy for sharing! Have a great weekend.
P.S I gave it 5 stars — I know it’ll be great!
Hope you had a great weekend too Marisa!! is it warming up??
OK… I don’t do a lot of baking but, I just put a fluff cake in the oven to pair with the peach compote I made last night..
Now I find that I just have to bake a carrot cake next… Good thing we insist upon a dessert most days… ;o)
Thanks to you and to Dorothy… :O)
Oooh! Peach compote! I can’t wait until spring rolls around here…. *jealous*
Isn’t Dorothy just a gem? I sent her a photo of you, Marissa and I when we were at the FBC conference. I need to get a pic of her and Gary sometime.
We’ve all been conversing for a few years and I still don’t know what she looks like, but what a sweet, woman. Like her cake here. Holy Frosting Gods! Me loves that ratio and will Pin to try this later. Wow! Thanks for sharing and I love the recipe name, too. ;).
I remember!!! OK yes, I will ask her for a photo!! 🙂
YAY DOROTHY~ I do see her comments all the time! What a fantastic and loyal reader you have 🙂 and this looks AMAZING!!!! So yummy and delicious!!! Love me a good carrot cake. And Nagi I love that you actually take your readers recipes and dive into why they are so great!
She is so COOL! Can’t think of a better word to describe her!! <3 N x
Hi Nagi! I am thrilled that my cake passed your tests and that you posted it! Happy dance here! It is truly a foolproof recipe, Gary (he who does not bake) even allowed that he could make it! Your approval means a lot to me my friend! 🙂
There really wasn’t much chance that I wouldn’t love it, we have such similar tastes!!! I keep hearing feedback from all the people I gave the cake too, everyone LOVES it Dorothy!!! From people with real hardcore sweet tooths to those who don’t like overly sweet cakes e.g. my mother. It’s such a crowd pleaser, it’s fantastic!!!
Hi Nagi! Gary wanted to know if your homeless gentleman got some…he has to be the best fed homeless person! You are so kind!
He got a massive slice of each the round one AND the rectangle one!!! AND I’ve been asked to bring the carrot cake to a lunch this weekend too – I’ve never had so much hype about a recipe before!!!
I can’t wait to try this one. I’ve been trying more dessert recipe, and I love your recipes because the steps are easy and give some room for little mistakes for an amateur like me. LOL. One question, in the recipe you said “note 8” but then I couldn’t find any note 8 about cooling rack. Thanks, Nagi!
Oh Vidya!!!! Thank you for picking that up! I’ll fix it right now. Hope you had a wonderful weekend! N x
What a great story Nagi. It is so nice of Dorothy to share such a treasure of a recipe with you.
Carrot Cake is one of the Mr.’s favorite cakes. . .so I am dying to make it for him once he gets back from Shanghai. And my Pinta will probably assume the very same position as your Dozer. She is the clean up crew after all. 😉
Isn’t it so cool having a live in hoover??? Hope you had a great weekend Lynn! N x