Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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This carrot cake is packed with all the good stuff.  There’s sweet raisins, chewy coconut, and crunchy walnuts in every bite! Moist, flavorful, and topped with a rich, tangy cream cheese frosting, it’s the kind of classic dessert that disappears fast.

Ok let’s talk about cake today.  I love a good cake and I’m often asked to bake cakes for my friends and family whenever there is a birthday, life event, or holiday party.

So when my dad retired it wasn’t even a question as to who would make his cake.  I knew it was going to be me.  The only question was what type of cake I was going to make.

One of my favorite cakes is a Brown Sugar Cake with Peach Filling.  The Spring Watercolor Cake may be the prettiest cake I’ve made over the years.  Another popular one with my family is Blackberry Lavender Cake.  My dads current favorite is Coconut Cake but I wanted to make him something different for this occasion.

What I finally decided on was carrot cake.   Carrot cake is such a classic dessert but it can be made “plain” or with all the add ins depending on what you like.

What is Carrot Cake?

Carrot cake is a soft, moist dessert cake made with grated carrots mixed into the batter.  It’s a little sweet, a little spiced, and super tender.  It often includes walnuts, raisins, or coconut.

Because carrot cake is a moist and dense cake it often sticks to the pan.  In fact, the first time I made this cake it stuck and broke into a ton of pieces and I couldn’t use it.  After that I learned to make some adjustments in order to make sure I could get this cake out of the pan.

How do you make sure the carrot cake doesn’t stick to the pan?

My biggest trick is lining the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper rounds.  You can either buy these or cut them to size.  Stick them in the bottom of the pans and then spray them.  Make sure to spray the sides of the pans as well.  Using springform pans instead of regular cake pans helps with getting the cakes out of the pans as well.

While this carrot cake includes raisins, shredded coconut, and walnuts, you don’t have to add them all.  Add in what your family likes and remove what they don’t.  You can also make some substitutions if you prefer.

What else could I add into this carrot cake?

If you don’t want to add regular raisins you can add golden raisins or dried cranberries to the batter.  Instead of walnuts try chopped pecans.  For the coconut you can either add it or just leave it out, it’s a personal preference.

After making the cake it was time to make the frosting.  While you could frost this cake with an American buttercream, a cream cheese frosting is traditional for a carrot cake and I made sure that I made one that was firm enough to hold up to the decorations I was planning to put on this cake. 

Ingredients:

• all purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• spices (I like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom but use your favorites)
• salt
• carrots (you can shred your own carrots or buy matchstick carrots)
• walnuts (you can use pecans if you prefer)
• sweetened shredded coconut (optional)
• raisins (I like to use a combination of regular and golden raisins)
• granulated sugar
• vegetable oil
• salted butter (or unsalted if you prefer)
• eggs
• vanilla extract

To make the cake preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 10 inch cake pans with cooking spray.  Place a parchment round in the bottom of the pans if you would like.  I find this makes it super easy to get the cakes out of the pans. 

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a medium bowl combine the carrots, nuts, coconut, and raisins.  In another bowl cream together the oil, butter, and sugar.  Add in the eggs and mix until well combined.  Stir in the vanilla. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Fold in the carrots, nuts, coconut, and raisins.  Divide the batter between the two pans.  Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes. 

Remove the cake from the pans and frost with cream cheese frosting. 

This cake turned out to be incredible.   It ended up being my dad’s favorite cake at his retirement party and it was the only cake that was totally gone at the end of the night.  Everyone loved the combination of fruit, nuts, and carrots that filled this cake.  

The cream cheese frosting was tangy and delicious.  It worked well with the spices in the carrot cake.  The walnuts add a bit of crunch while the raisins and coconut add texture and flavor. 

For his retirement party I decorated the cake like a golf course but you can decorate yours however you would like.   Since this has become a family favorite I usually make it two or three times a year for parties. 

My favorite way to decorate this carrot cake is to cover the cake with frosting and pipe a border on the top.  On the bottom edge I usually just press chopped walnuts into the cake. 

On top I pipe carrots with the cream cheese frosting.   People usually love the decoration and it makes it easy to cut as each carrot on the top of the cake is where I cut one piece. 

How do I store Leftover Carrot Cake?

I tend to store decorated cakes in either a cake dome or a cake carrier because it keeps them fresh.  If you don’t have either of these you can put a few toothpicks on top of the cake and then tent it with either plastic wrap or foil.  The toothpicks will keep the frosting from being destroyed by the wrapping.  The cake will last for up to 4 days in a cake dome or cake carrier or 2-3 days covered with foil or plastic wrap. 

If you’ve tried my Carrot Cake or any other recipe on  Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This carrot cake is packed with all the good stuff.  There’s sweet raisins, chewy coconut, and crunchy walnuts in every bite!

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Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Author: Hezzi-D

Equipment

• 3 mixing bowls
• 2 10 inch cake pans
• 2 Wire Cooling Rack

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoons cardamom
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 stick butter softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 10″ round cake pans and flour the insides.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a medium bowl combine the carrots, nuts, coconut, and raisins.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the sugar, butter, and oil together on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until the batter is smooth. Mix in the vanilla.
• Reduce to mixed speed to low and add in the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Remove the bowl from the bowl and fold in the carrots, nuts, coconut, and raisins.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes and remove them from the pans.
• Invert the cakes and remove them from the pans. Invert and cool to room temperature.
• To make the frosting combine the cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the frosting is smooth. Beat in the vanilla.
• To assemble the cake put one layer on a cardboard cake round. Spread frosting on top of the cake then place the second layer on top. Frost the sides and the top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Top with chopped nuts or coconut if desired.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking:  From My Home to Yours