King Arthur's Carrot Cake
Moist, dense, and flavorful — who doesn't love carrot cake? Especially when it's topped with rich cream cheese icing. This much-requested recipe is easily customized to taste. We've used all nuts, you can use any combination of add-ins you like, including raisins or coconut; just keep the total of any (or all) additions to 1 1/2 cups.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- 3 cups finely grated carrots
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
Frosting
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
- one 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla OR 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
- 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9" round layer pans, or one 9" x 13" pan.
- Beat together the oil, sugar, salt, eggs, spices, and baking soda. Stir in the flour. Add the carrots and nuts, and mix until just blended. Pour into the prepared pan(s).
- Bake the cake(s) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Allow the cake(s) to cool completely before frosting. If you're using round layer pans, remove the layers from the pans after about 15 minutes, and place them on a rack to cool.
- To make the frosting: Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla. Beat in the sugar. Add a teaspoon of milk or cream if the frosting is too stiff to spread; add additional sugar if it's too thin.
- Frost the sheet cake right in the pan. For the layers, frost the top of one layer, top with the second layer, and frost the top and sides of the cake.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 146g
- Servings Per Batch 16
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 580
- Calories from Fat 342
- Total Fat 38g
- Saturated Fat 9g
- Trans Fat 1g
- Cholesterol 75mg
- Sodium 420mg
- Total Carbohydrate 61g
- Dietary Fiber 1g
- Sugars 47g
- Protein 6g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
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Reviews
I followed the recipe exactly and took the advice to press the moisture out of the carrots and toss them with flour before adding to the batter and using light colored metal cake pans. I decorated the cake with candied pecans, so yummy. The cake was perfect!
Awesome recipe. My recommendation is to double the frosting, though - The ratio simply wasn't right!! :)
Way, way too oily for my tastes. I tried a slice 20 minutes ago and still have that oil slick feeling on my tongue. It took over 50 mins to bake through, so the edges were burnt and I had to do a lot of trimming to make it presentable. Plus, there just wasn't that much flavor! Fortunately, I was using the cake primarily as a conduit for cream cheese frosting (made a double batch) and it that respect it was successful :) I'm an experienced baker and KA has never led me astray...so maybe better luck next time?Hi Nikki, we're surprised to hear about the oily texture and we're wondering if perhaps a heavy oil (like olive oil) was used. We tend to prefer baking with neutral oils (like canola), so they don't change the flavor or texture of the cake too much. It's also possible that the flour wasn't able to "hold" the oil if another flour aside from King Arthur All-Purpose Flour was used. As for the edges darkening before the center was fully cooked, we recommend using a light colored metal pan for baking if you're not already doing so. Glass or ceramic pans insulate heat differently and tend to cause the outside edges of the baked good to be done before the center. We hope these tips help you make a perfect carrot cake next time. Kye@KAF
Made this for Easter. Everyone loved it, even the children. We tend to like things a bit less sweet, so I used only 1 1/2 cups sugar. I also used only one tsp of vanilla in the frosting because I ran out, but, as I said, everyone loved. It was delicious, without feeling too heavy or sweet and it looked beautiful. I'll definitely make this one again.
Best carrot cake I've ever made! I'm an avid baker and this was a total standout. Would absolutely recommend.
Loved this recipe so much! I don't bake much normally and honestly expected this to turn out really badly but it actually survived and still looked halfway decent. It was a perfect birthday cake for my all too picky brother and he loved it!
First of I'm not a baker. I only started dabbling in baking because I wanted a healthier sandwich bread, which I found on King Arthur's website, Classic White Sandwich Bread. That was about 5 months ago. I decided to give this carrot cake a try because I wanted to challenge myself. I wasn't expecting much as I was pretty sure I was going to mess it up. To my surprise this cake came out delicious. My husband was amazed as he's pretty picky about cakes. I followed the recipe and used a scale to weight most of the ingredients. I didn't try to be creative and substitute anything (other than cutting down the sugar for the frosting). Well I guess I couldn't be creative because I didn't know what to substitute. lol. The cake was nicely moist, even after refrigerating. I do have a question...can this recipe work to make cupcakes/muffins?Cupcake away, Edis! The temperature will be the same, bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Happy baking! Annabelle@KAF
Wonderful recipe! I've tried a couple of recipes before without the additional spices, and they were just lackluster. This has the perfect flavor, exactly what I want when I think of carrot cake. Moist, delicious, and perfect with cream cheese frosting.
I made this cake last weekend, it got rave reviews. My father in law doesn't like carrot cake, and he loved this. It was very moist, the spices in this and amounts made this the best carrot cake I and my family ever had. My husband took half of the cake to work with him, it was done in minutes. I will be making this many more times.
This is a delicious carrot cake! Tastes amazing! It does tend to sink whenever I make it, though. I don't know why. I follow the recipe exactly every time, but it still sinks. Why? But the sunken parts can easily be covered with plenty of cream cheese icing! Great recipe, I would recommend it. Thank you KAF for another wonderful recipe!!!There are a few reasons why this cake might sink in certain spots. First, be sure you're using a strong, high-quality flour. We recommend using King Arthur All-Purpose for White Whole Wheat for best results, as our brand has a higher protein content (and therefore gives baked goods more structure) than most other kinds. If you're already using one of these two options, then it's possible there's a bit of extra moisture in the batter from the carrots. Trying pressing them through a strainer or in a tea towel to release any excess moisture. It may also help to toss the carrots in a few tablespoons of flour from the recipe before incorporating them into the batter. We hope this helps, and keep that frosting-hiding trick handy! Kye@KAF
