Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Best Carrot Cake Recipe {Moist, Easy & Homemade}
For my birthday, I made my favorite carrot cake again—and honestly, I never get tired of it! I’ve tried plenty of carrot cake recipes over the years, but I always come back to this one. A few years ago, my American friend Nancy-Kate made us a carrot cake that completely won me over. It was incredibly moist, packed with warm spices, and topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting. After one bite, I knew I had to get the recipe!
Of course, I asked her to share it with me, and now I’m finally bringing her original American-style carrot cake to the blog. With a few little tweaks of my own, this homemade carrot cake has everything I look for in a great slice of cake: a soft, tender crumb, plenty of freshly grated carrots, just the right amount of spice, and a creamy frosting that ties it all together.
What Makes This the Best Carrot Cake Recipe?
For me, a really good carrot cake should be moist, flavorful, and generously frosted. The grated carrots help keep the cake wonderfully tender, while the warm spices give it that classic carrot cake flavor. And then there’s the cream cheese frosting. I know some people prefer their carrot cake without frosting, but I’m definitely not one of them! That sweet, tangy, creamy topping is what makes a classic American carrot cake so good.
I’ve also made a couple of changes to Nancy-Kate’s original recipe. I added pecans for a little crunch and cut back slightly on the sugar in both the cake and the frosting. The result is a moist, perfectly spiced carrot cake with just the right amount of sweetness, finished with a rich and creamy cream cheese frosting.
If you’re looking for an easy homemade carrot cake recipe that feels a little more special than your everyday cake, this one is worth saving. It’s perfect for birthdays, holidays, or simply when you’re craving a really good slice of cake. Make it once, and don’t be surprised if it becomes your go-to carrot cake recipe, too!
Best Carrot Cake Recipe
The ingredients you do need to prepare this carrot cake recipe at home:
- flour
- caster sugar
- sea salt flakes
- baking powder and a pinch of baking soda
- ground cinnamon, if desired
- ground nutmeg
- vanilla
- fresh eggs
- vegetable oil
- grated carrots
- chopped pecans
For the frosting: cream cheese (such as Philadelphia), butter softened at room temperature, and powdered sugar, plus pecans for decoration.
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Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake
- 250 g flour
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or more
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 fresh eggs
- 120 g vegetable oil
- 4 grated carrots (approximately 300 to 350 g)
- 100 g chopped pecans
For the icing
- 250 g of cream cheese such as Philadelphia
- 50 g of softened butter at room temperature
- 80 g of icing sugar
For decoration
- 15 to 20 pecans for decoration
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients well.
- In another container, mix the oil and eggs, then incorporate the mixture into the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Peel, wash, and grate the carrots; add them to the batter along with the vanilla, then mix.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan or cake tin that has been greased and floured.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown.Check whether it is cooked by inserting a knife; the blade should come out of the cake dry.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Gently unmold the cake and cut it in half horizontally.
- For the frosting, mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
- Spread a layer of frosting over the bottom half of the cake, then place the second half on top.
- Spread the remaining frosting over the top—and optionally the sides—of the cake, then decorate with the pecans, either whole or crushed.
I took step-by-step photos of the process of cutting and frosting the carrot cake; this makes it easier to visualize—though, in truth, nothing about it is particularly complicated: you just need to cut in a straight line and ensure the result is even…
