CLASSIC CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

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CLASSIC CARROT CAKE!

Oh, carrot cake, I love you. Over Easter weekend I made not one, but two carrot cakes! I made my first ever carrot cake from scratch at my birthday last year and it was delicious so I decided to make it again for Easter. For my birthday cake and the second cake made over Easter, I used a recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. For the first one over Easter, I used this recipe. We definitely preferred the Hummingbird one so I'll post that one below. The other one was yummy but it was much drier than the Hummingbird one and I'm all about moist cakes!

the best carrot cake

CLASSIC CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/4 sunflower oil
  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • About 3 carrots grated

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups cream cheese (1.5 bricks), room temperature
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325.
  2. Put the sugar, eggs and oil in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until well incorporated. Slowly add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and vanilla and continue to beat until well mixed.
  3. Stir in the grated carrots (and nuts/raisins if you want to add those) by hand until they are evenly dispersed.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans (3 8 inch or 2 9inch, lined with parchment paper) and smooth over. Bake in the preheated over for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and the cake bounces when touched. Let the cake layers cool slightly in the pans before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. While the cake is cooling, make cream cheese icing by beating the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer for 1 minute on medium speed until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and salt and continue mixing. Add in powdered sugar and beat at med-high until smooth (add more powdered sugar if it's too runny).
  6. Once the cake is cooled completely, transfer the layers to a cake stand and ice away!
  7. Enjoy :)

 

So there you have it, my favourite recipe for carrot cake!

XO,
laura