This carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is made with a deliciously moist lightly spiced carrot cake packed with carrots and is covered in a smooth cream cheese frosting.

If you're looking for more cake ideas, check these out!

For the carrot cake

This cake recipe uses typical store cupboard baking ingredients: caster sugar, brown sugar, oil, eggs, flour, and cinnamon. Plus some extras.

You start by mixing all the wet ingredients together. The mixture of caster sugar and brown sugar makes the cake light and delicious, along with the oil. The eggs give the cake it's structure.

Next you add the dry ingredients. Plain flour is a standard cake ingredient, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda help the cake to rise. The cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla make the cake taste amazing.

Lastly, add the carrots. I prefer to grate my by hand on a small grater. I find it gives the cake the best texture. You can use a food processor, or even buy them pre-grated if you prefer.

For the cream cheese frosting

This is the best part of the cake! Start with real butter, and full fat soft cheese. I highly recommend using Phildelphia. It has the firmest texture so gives the best consistency to the finished frosting. Once you've whipped the butter and soft cheese until it's really light and fluffy, you start adding the icing sugar.

You mix in a couple of spoons of icing sugar at a time, and mix it well in between. This makes sure the sugar is fulling incorporated and makes the icing smooth.

Once it's fully mixed, take a wooden spoon and beat the frosting by hand for a couple of minutes for the perfectly smooth consistency.

To assemble the cake

Once the cakes are fully cooled, place one cake layer on the cake board. Spread the cream cheese frosting over it, and stack on another layer. Repeat until you've stacked all the cake layers.

Cover the whole cake in frosting, smooth the edges and pipe any remaining frosting on top. Finish off the cake with little carrot decorations.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 12 slices 1x
Category: Cakes
Cuisine: Dessert

Print Recipe

Description

A lightly spiced carrot cake layered with deliciously smooth cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

Scale

For the cake

300 ml vegetable oil
150 g caster sugar
200 g light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
350 g grated carrots

For the cream cheese frosting

125 g butter (at room temperature)
125 g cream cheese (full-fat)
700 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

16 carrot decorations

Instructions

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for a fan oven)
Grease and line three 6-inch cake tins
In a large bowl, mix the vegetable oil, brown sugar, caster sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until combined
Stir in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg
Stir in the carrots
Divide the cake batter equally between the three cake tins
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a cake skewer inserted comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the cake tins for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack

For the cream cheese frosting

In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes
Mix in the cream cheese until combined. Gently stir in the icing sugar. Mix until light and fluffy

To assemble

Place one cake layer on a cake board. Spread some cream cheese frosting over. Repeat
Spread any remaining frosting around the outside of the cake, and pipe some swirls on top. Top with carrot decorations