My Aunt Diane shared this recipe with me. She’s the baker in the family. And I’ve been making it for years ever since.
When I was a pastry chef, during Restaurant Week, I baked these into hundreds of mini cakes, generously frosted them, and then coated the sides with chopped, salted pecans. They were a hit.
When my now-husband and I first started dating, I turned this into a four-layer cake that weighed about 50 pounds 😉, wrapped it in a pink box tied with a plaid pastel ribbon, and casually dropped it off at his family’s house for their Easter celebration. After that effort, there was no hiding I was into the guy.
And back in 2008, I featured the recipe in one of my weekly articles I wrote for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Clearly, I’m a fan.
I hope you are, too.
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(If you prefer, I also love this Gluten Free Carrot Cake, made with ground almonds.)
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Aunt Diane's Carrot Cake
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Cake
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
A classic carrot cake recipe with no crushed pineapple, no shredded coconut, no dried fruits, no nuts and not a lot of spices. Just simple and delicious.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 g)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400 g)
- 1 ½ cups mild-flavored oil (such as vegetable oil)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups peeled & grated carrots (12 oz)
For the Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (16TB, 8 oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 lb powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x13 pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil. Add the eggs and whisk to emulsify. With a spatula, stir in the flour mixture until almost, but not quite, combined. Then stir in the carrots just until everything is well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, ~40 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan, then frost and enjoy!
For the Frosting:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until completely smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add in the vanilla. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and smooth.
Notes
- You can use either a glass or metal baking pan for this recipe. My aunt recommends baking the cake in a glass plan. I used a metal pan. 😉
- If you intend to flip out the cake from the pan and then frost, vs. frosting, slicing and serving from the pan, I recommend lining the bottom of the pan with parchment.
- To grate the carrots, I used the large holes on a box grater. I would think a food processor with a shredding attachment would be faster and easier - but also require more clean up. I used 4 large carrots.
- When making the frosting, be sure the butter, and especially the cream cheese, are at a very soft room temperature. It's near impossible to beat out lumps from cold cream cheese.
- Powdered sugar can get clumpy. As I hate sifting it (it takes too long and is messy), I like to use an unopened 1-pound box for this recipe. Since no air/moisture has affected the powdered sugar, there's no sifting required!
- This recipe would also make 24 frosted cupcakes. Yum. (Bake 18 - 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.)
Amanda
Delicious! I tend to think of carrot/spice cakes in cooler weather, but I baked this on the Fourth of July and it was gobbled up! It has a good spice balance and, well, cream cheese frosting is always a winner. The recipe made a large amount that was great for sharing with neighbors and still left enough to indulge without feeling too guilty. I'll definitely bake this again!
Sarah Marx Feldner
Sharing this carrot cake with the holiday + neighbors sounds perfect! And the cream cheese frosting definitely helps makes this a desert you can celebrate with all year. Thank you! 🧡
Ariel
This cake is delicious! I'm not usually a big fan of cream cheese frosting, but this wasn't as heavy as some are and it was the right amount to frost the cake. We didn't line the pan with parchment and were even still able to flip it out of the pan! C wrote Happy Birthday on top of it with thin slivers of carrot :).
Sarah Marx Feldner
Hi Ariel! What an honor that you made this cake for a birthday celebration. Thank you! And the "Happy Birthday" carrot writing is incredibly clever! 🎈