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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is homemade,  easy to make, and a favorite during the holidays. 

Traditional Cake

This recipe is a lot like the one my great grandmother used to make.  Carrot cake is a classic in my family and is often found at family reunions, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners.  Not only is this cake simple to make but it's packed full of flavor and it's super moist!

There are two ingredients in this cake that makes it super moist and flavorful - crushed pineapples and applesauce.  These ingredients really boost the flavor of this cake!

Homemade carrot cake frosted with cream cheese frosting on white cake platter.

Related: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

A slice fo carrot cake on a white plate with a red checkered napkin.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This classic cake has homemade cream cheese frosting between the layers and on top.  It's incredibly easy to make this frosting and it pairs perfectly with this carrot cake!  This recipe makes enough to fill the layers, cover the top, and it also is enough to frost around the edges.  It calls for 12 oz. of cream cheese (1 block and a half) in this recipe and 6 cups of powdered sugar.  The addition of milk helps make this frosting creamy, add a little at a time to reach the desired consistency that you prefer in a frosting.

A whole homemade carrot cake iced with homemade cream cheese frosting.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 12 servings

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Homemade carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Cooling Time 10 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 oz crushed pineapples, drained
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 cups carrots, peeled, grated

Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease sides and bottom of 2 8 inch cake pans.  I use parchment paper on the bottom.
  2. Mix together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars, vanilla, and drained crushed pineapple.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  4. Gently stir in the 3 cups of peeled and grated carrots.  Making sure not to overbeat.
  5. Pour into greased pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes.  Check center with a toothpick for doneness. 
  6. Let cool for about 10 minutes before transferring cakes to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. To make cream cheese frosting, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth.
  2. Add in the vanilla extract.
  3. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, and add 1 to 2 tablespoon of milk to reach desired creaminess. 

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 grams

Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

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Classic Carrot Cake perfect for Holiday celebrations such as Easter. Incredibly moist and delicious cake. #easter #cake #carrotcake #tradition #creamcheese #dessert #baking #scratchbaking

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