The Best Carrot Cake
Meet The Best Carrot Cake, layered with almond-scented cream cheese frosting. An easy, versatile dessert perfect for Easter.
Warm cinnamon spice, naturally sweet carrots, and a subtle hint of coconut come together to create The Best Carrot Cake. This homemade classic is the perfect spring dessert. Serve it at a backyard barbecue, a festive potluck, or as the grand finale to Easter Sunday dinner. The crumb is moist and slightly dense, yet every bite is unbelievably soft and melts in your mouth. The flavors are simple, balanced, and never overpowering. This Easter dessert is perfectly spiced and comforting. Even if carrot cake isn’t usually your first choice, this recipe just might change your mind.
THE BEST CARROT CAKE
What really brings this carrot cake together is the rich cream cheese frosting generously spread between the layers and over the top. For an extra-special touch, the frosting is infused with almond flavor, adding a subtle richness that beautifully contrasts the warm cinnamon spice and tender carrots. I really do take saying recipes of mine are ‘the best’ very lightly, so just know I am very serious when I say that this is the best carrot cake I’ve ever made! But don’t just take my word for it, try it out for yourself, and you’ll see exactly why I’ve deemed it the best! 😉
Find my expert tips on how to make a homemade carrot cake below! Don’t forget to tag me in all of your creations @lifeinthelofthouse on Instagram and Facebook. Let’s stay connected. ❤️
Why You’ll Love This Amazing Carrot Cake Recipe:
- Moist & Tender Carrot Cake: Thanks to freshly grated carrots and just the right balance of oil and eggs, every bite is soft, rich, and perfectly textured.
- Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting: A luscious, smooth frosting with a hint of almond takes this cake to the next level.
- Classic Spring Dessert: Perfect for Easter celebrations, birthdays, holidays, and brunches, this cake recipe always impresses.
Ingredients
The Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups freshly grated carrots (peel first before grating) (about 5 large carrots)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Almond-Scented Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
For The Carrot Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, oil, and eggs with a hand mixer on low speed until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in the carrots and coconut.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the cake edges with a knife. Carefully invert each layer by placing another rack directly over the layer and turning it upside down. Tap on the pan to loosen the cake onto the rack. Cool cakes completely on the racks.
For The Almond-Scented Cream Cheese Frosting
Sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat with a hand mixer, on low speed, until well-blended and smooth enough to frost the cake with.
How To Frost The Carrot Cake
Place one layer top side down on a cake plate/platter. Spread the top with half of the frosting. Place the second layer on top, top-side down. Frost the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Note: I don’t frost the sides because I love the look of it.
Slice the cake and serve. Enjoy!
Servings
Serves 12.
Storage
Store the carrot cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 30–45 minutes before serving. To freeze, wrap tightly and freeze for up to 2–3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge.
Holly’s Tips for The Best Carrot Cake Recipe:
- Use Freshly Grated Carrots: Don’t use pre-packaged shredded carrots for this cake. They are usually dried out and won’t taste as good. For the most moist cake, I recommend getting 5 large carrots and peeling them, then grating them.
- Line Your Cake Pans: I recommend you line your cake pans with parchment paper for this carrot cake recipe. This guarantees easy release and picture-perfect layers.
- Don’t Overmix: Mix just until combined to keep the cake tender and prevent it from becoming dense.
- Mix Wet & Dry Ingredients Separately: This ensures all the ingredients are blended smoothly; mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Then fold them together (using a rubber spatula) until they are fully combined, and no more flour streaks can be seen. Then gently fold in the carrots and coconut after.
- Separate The Batter Evenly Into 2 Cake Pans: This will help the cakes bake faster, and so you can layer them. I love the classy, simple look of a layered cake. Add a nice, thick layer of frosting in between and on top.
- Make It Your Own: Don’t love almonds? Simply omit the almond extract when you’re making the homemade almond cream cheese frosting. You’ll still get a decadent cream cheese frosting, just without that hint of almond. Find more flavor substitutions below!
- Turn It Into Cupcakes: Place 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pans. Make the batter, then fill about 2/3 of the way in the cupcake liners. Start by baking them for 15 minutes. If the tester inserted does not come out clean, then bake for another few minutes and test again. Make sure you allow the cupcakes to cool at least ten minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
- Allow Cake To Cool Before Frosting: Frosting a warm cake will melt your cream cheese frosting and make it slide.
- Chill Before Slicing: Refrigerating the frosted cake for 30–60 minutes makes slicing cleaner and enhances flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Absolutely. If you love to have pecans, walnuts, raisins, or pineapple in your carrot cake, go for it! I would say stick to only adding about ½ cup.
While I don’t use either of these in my cake, I know a lot of other carrot cake recipes call for it. The ginger adds a little zing to the cake and just that extra flavor, so if you prefer it, add it on! I would only add ¼ to a ½ teaspoon. A little goes a long way!
To make this Carrot Cake vegan, replace the 4 eggs with either 4 flax eggs or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce for a slightly denser texture. The cake itself is otherwise dairy-free since it uses oil instead of butter. For the frosting, substitute the cream cheese with an 8-oz block of vegan cream cheese (such as almond- or cashew-based) and use vegan butter in place of the salted butter; everything else (powdered sugar, vanilla, almond extract) stays the same.
To make this Carrot Cake gluten-free, use a high-quality 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend that contains xanthan gum (such as a cup-for-cup style blend). If your blend doesn’t include xanthan gum, add ½–¾ teaspoon to help with structure. Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off (don’t scoop) to avoid a dense cake. Since carrot cake is naturally moist from the oil and carrots, it adapts beautifully to gluten-free flour with no other changes needed. Just bake as directed, checking for doneness around the 35-minute mark, as gluten-free cakes can sometimes bake slightly faster.
Similar Recipes
Craving something similar? Try my Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Wanting something more filling? My Carrot Sheet Cake is ideal for large gatherings and Easter celebrations.
Can’t get enough of spring desserts? Try my highly-rated Coconut Cream Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting, Lemon Loaf Cake, and Raspberry Cream Cake.
Have you made The Best Carrot Cake recipe? 🥕
Leave a review, and don’t forget to tag me in your creations on Instagram and Facebook! @lifeinthelofthouse! #CarrotCakeRecipe #LifeInTheLofthouse
The Best Carrot Cake
Ingredients
The Best Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups freshly grated carrots (peel first before grating) (about 5 large carrots)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Almond-Scented Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- FOR THE CAKE: Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.In a large bowl mix together sugar, oil and eggs with a hand mixer, on low speed, until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in the carrots and coconut.
- Divide batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the cake edges with a knife. Carefully invert each layer by placing another rack directly over the layer and turning upside down. Tap on the pan to loosen the cake onto rack. Cool cakes completely on the racks.
- ALMOND-SCENTED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: Sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract. Beat with a hand mixer, on low speed, until well-blended and smooth enough to frost cake with.
- TO FROST CAKE: Place one layer top side down on a cake plate/platter. Spread top with half of the frosting. Place second layer on top, top-side down. Frost top of cake with remaining frosting. (I don't frost the sides because I love the look of it.)Slice cake and serve! Cover and store leftover cake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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Highly recommend! I made this cake for my daughter’s 18th birthday and it was delicious. I followed the cake recipe exactly as written and it was full of flavor and very moist and delicate. Follow Holly’s tips if you wish to add or delete an ingredient. For example, you may choose to add nuts, pineapple, raisins, nutmeg and/or ginger…I did not add any of that. I believe the cake gets better the longer it sits in the refrigerator. I do not care for almond so I simply doubled the amount of vanilla extract in the frosting. Holly, thank you for such a scrumptious recipe. This is a keeper!
This cake is unbelievable! The best carrot cake we have ever enjoyed. The cream cheese frosting is wonderful with the almond extract!
tried the recipe for fun initially….. and then every single person who tried it professed to this being the best carrot cake they have tasted and they want more.. so thank you for sharing your recipe.. i have followed it to the tee except the icing bit where i halfed the sugar.. and did cut down on the almond as that is an acquired taste.. .. its the best recipe ever! tq again