I may have found a new love in this cake! Truly! Let me tell you about this classic carrot cake! It is super flavorful without being overly spiced. Perfectly moist without being stodgy. Has a great bit of crunch from the nuts. And is so wonderful on it’s own it doesn’t even require frosting. But who would ever turn down cream cheese frosting?!
When I say this cake is great on it’s own I mean it! During the testing of this recipe I didn’t bother to layer on any frosting. The cake was sooo great on it’s own I could have eaten the whole thing and not missed the frosting one bit. This was somewhat surprising to me, since I’m a chocolate girl through and through. And to be honest, carrot cake can get overlooked in my family. It just never seemed to be something we gravitated too.
But that may all change now! I’ve unlocked the magic that is carrot cake!
A few tips for the perfect Carrot Cake:
- Have all ingredients at room temperature. This holds true for a lot of recipes. But having everything at the same temperature makes it easier to incorporate separate parts of the batter, like the oil and the eggs in this case.
- Use freshly grated carrots, not pre-shredded ones from the grocery store. The carrots will provide a lot of the moisture in the cake, and the pre-shredded kind can tend to be dried out. We don’t want that.
- Do not over mix the batter. Stir just until you no longer see patches of dry ingredients.
- Chop the nuts into small pieces so they evenly distribute throughout the cake. You want them big enough for a nice crunch but not too large where they overpower things.
- To make regular cream cheese frosting follow the directions below, but skip the first step and only use the 1/2 cup of softened butter.
This cake whips up super quick! And if you go with the semi-naked look decorating will also be a breeze!
Print
Classic Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 three-layer 6″ cake or 1 two-layer 8″ cake 1x
Description
The perfect classic carrot cake recipe! Flavorful and moist without a bunch of extra add-ins. A great cake on its own, but extra special when covered in brown butter cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus ~2 tbsp more as needed
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Whole milk or heavy cream, if needed
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare two 8″ cake pans, or three 6″ cake pans by spraying with baking spray and lining the bottoms with parchment rounds.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil and both sugars until well combined and smooth. Next, whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then add in vanilla.
- Using a spatula or wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until there are no dry streaks remaining. Fold in grated carrots and chopped nuts. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.
- Bake 8″ pans for 30-40 min OR bake the 6″ pans for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 15 minutes before removing cakes from the pans. Allow cakes to cool completely before leveling the tops and frosting. (Tip: Chill the cooled cakes in the fridge for at least one hour, wrapped in plastic wrap, to make leveling the cakes easier.)
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat. The butter will bubble and foam. Continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter begins to brown in color and smell nutty. You should see small brown particles on the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer butter to a measuring cup. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the counter. Then place in the fridge until the butter becomes solid but still a soft room temperature consistency. Check the amount of butter in the measuring cup, as some of the water content will have evaporated during the browning process. Add in enough additional butter to bring the amount back up to 1/2 cup. (I needed 2 tbsp for this.)
- Using a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the browned butter and cream cheese together until smooth and well combined, at least 3 minutes.
- Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low speed at first then increasing to high speed. Add in vanilla extract and pinch of salt.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated and whip the frosting again for a few minutes until it is light and fluffy. (If needed, add in whole milk or heavy cream if the frosting is too thick, 1 tsp at a time, until you’ve reached the desired consistency.)
Assembly
- Level the chilled cakes to remove any doming. Place the first layer on a cake board or serving plate. Use an offset spatula to spread on an even layer of frosting. Repeat with the middle layer, if applicable. Place the top cake layer on with the flat side up. Spread frosting smoothly all over the top.
- For a semi-naked look, spread a thin layer of frosting around the sides of the cake. Gently scrape away the frosting with a cake scraper until sections of the cakes underneath are peaking through.
- Top cake with clean, organic fresh flowers if desired.
Notes
Store frosted cake in the refrigerator. Place plastic wrap along cut edges of cake to prevent it from drying out.
Leave a Reply