Carrot Cake

From Live Well, Bake Often

What You Will Need

While there are quite a few ingredients in this recipe, I promise it’s fairly simple. I won’t cover every single ingredient, but I wanted to touch on a few important ones:

• Spices: There’s a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. All three spices add such a wonderful flavor to this cake, but aren’t too overpowering. Feel free to add more spices, if you prefer though.
• Oil: Any kind of neutral-flavored oil is fine to use here, but I typically use vegetable or canola oil. You may also use melted coconut oil, just make sure all of your other ingredients are at room temperature so that it doesn’t solidify.
• Applesauce: This adds the perfect amount of moisture, so you end up with a moist cake that isn’t greasy. I always use unsweetened applesauce whenever I make this recipe. If you can only find sweetened applesauce, just reduce the granulated sugar by 2 to 3 tablespoons.
• Sugar: I use a bit more brown sugar than granulated sugar because it adds more moisture and flavor to this carrot cake.
• Carrots: I don’t like to skimp on the carrots when it comes to this recipe, so there’s 3 cups of grated carrots. Make sure to use freshly grated carrots here too. Avoid using a bag of pre-shredded carrots as they are often too dry and thick for carrot cake.
• Cream Cheese: Make sure to use a block of cream cheese. Avoid using cream cheese that’s either whipped or in a tub, it’s typically too thin and will result in a runny frosting.

How To Make A Carrot Cake

Make The Cake Layers

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 9-inch round cake pans well with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottoms of each pan with a parchment paper circle. This will make it much easier to remove your cake layers from the pan!
2. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt to a large mixing bowl and give it a good whisk.
3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together your oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
4. Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Adding them at this point will ensure that they are fully incorporated into your batter and prevent you from over mixing it later on.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Make sure not to over mix your batter! This can overdevelop the gluten and cause the cake to turn out dense/gummy. Trust me, no one wants that.
6. Divide the cake batter evenly between both cake pans. Tip: If you want to get perfectly even cake layers, I recommend using a food scale to weigh your cake batter.
7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly in the pans, then remove the cake layers from the pans and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix Together The Cream Cheese Frosting

1. 8. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the butter and continue mixing until well combined.
   9. Lastly, mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. If needed, stop and scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure that all of the frosting ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.

Assemble & Frost The Cake

1. 1. 10. Level the tops of each cake layer. You may use either a large knife or a cake leveler for this step, I personally love this cake leveler. It’s a great option for beginners too!
      11. Place one of the layers on a cake stand and scoop a little over 1/2 cup of the frosting on top, then smooth it out evenly.
      12. Place the other cake layer on top and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. An angled spatula or even the back of a spoon works great for this step! If you want to add a little something extra, feel free to toast some chopped pecans or walnuts and sprinkle them around the top of the cake.

Frequently Asked Questions