October is my birthday month and I got the most beautiful Mosser glass cake stand from Food52 as a present. It’s a large grey swirl cake stand and I absolutely adore it!
The minute it came, I knew exactly what cake I was going to plate on it – my absolute favorite carrot cake! It’s such a gorgeous looking cake and it’s so delicious! Everyone was so excited when I told them – I was too. š
Carrot cake can either be too dry or too moist. It’s so hard to get just right. But this recipe is honestly the perfect one! It’s so flavorful and has the perfect amount of moisture and spice. It’s especially festive this time of year with all the warm flavors and I absolute adore it.
This cake does have a lot of steps to make it but in one hour, you’ll have the most perfect carrot cake there ever was. To me, that’s worth the effort!
I hope you like this cake – let me know what you think in the comments below!
The BEST Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Carrot Cake
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 cups (295 ml) canola or other vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 grams) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups (300 grams) grated peeled carrots (5 to 6 medium carrots)
- 1 cup (100 grams) coarsely chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup (65 grams) raisins
For the Frosting
- 8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (140 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) coarsely chopped pecans, for topping cake
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper then grease the top of the paper. Or, grease and flour the bottom and sides of both pans. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and the cinnamon until well blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake until the tops of the cake layers are springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.
- Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, peel off parchment paper and cool completely. (If you find that a cake layer is stuck to the bottom of the pan, leave the cake pan upside down and allow gravity to do its thing).
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time until fluffy. Pour in cream and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Chill covered until ready to frost cake.
- When the cake layers are completely cool, frost the top of one cake layer, place the other cake layer on top. Decoratively swirl the top of the cake with remaining frosting, leaving the sides unfrosted. Scatter nuts on top. Enjoy!
Season Generously 