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
Followed exact. Made in a 9x13" glass pan. Came out perfect! Absolutely delicious! everyone who had it loved it! Some said it was even better the next day!
I made this for Easter and everyone I've seen since then keeps asking when I going to make this again! It was delicious and easy. I was wondering if the recipe could be halved and put in a 9" square pan for when there aren't enough guests to finish a large cake?Absolutely, Robyn! Halving it should be just fine. Annabelle@KAF
I have baked this cake several times. My son requests this for his birthday. I love it because it doesnt have raisins. Delicious.
I usually love this recipe, and have made it many times. It always sinks, but still tastes delicious. But we made it in a loaf pan, as we had no round cake pans on hand. Thought it would work. It was a disaster! It took 2 1/2 hours for the middle to bake! Every time I tested it, it was still batter. Also, it sank in the middle. We took it out of the pan and the bottom of the cake stuck to the pan! Then we covered the edges with tinfoil so they wouldn't burn, put it on a normal baking sheet, and popped it back in the oven. Disaster number two. The sides flowed outwards a bit because of the pressure from the unbaked middle. Anyways, ended up cutting off the (crunchy) edges, covered the little loaf that was left with cream cheese, and eating. It was a birthday cake, too. :-(Sounds like quite the adventurous bake! We're sorry to hear it was riddled with challenges, but it sounds like you were rewarded with a least a few delicious nuggets of carrot cake in the end. While some cakes can easily be baked in a loaf pan and turned into quick bread, others require the large surface area that cake pans provide in order to bake through fully. Carrot cake is an example of the latter, where the batter is moist and quite liquidy. You were right to think that tenting the cake with foil can often help extend the baking time, but we'd recommend sticking to two 9" round cake pans or one 9" by 13" pan for best results. Lightly grease or line your pans with parchment paper to ensure they don't stick. Bake the cake until it reaches about 210°F as measured with an instant-read thermometer to ensure it has finished baking. We hope your next bake is smooth sailing! Kye@KAF
Is this frosting pipe-able?It is, but it doesn't hold its shape as well as buttercream, so despite piping it may eventually smooth out and not show any designs. Annabelle@KAF
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.
