If you are looking for an easy, delicious cake to bring to a dinner party that has a wow factor, this is your cake! This carrot cake is moist, bursting with warm flavors and topped with a classic cream cheese frosting. Adding pecans into this cake takes it to another level.
How to make carrot cake
- Start by softening your butter and cream cheese a couple hours ahead of time by letting it sit on the counter at room temperature.
- Prep your dry ingredients by combining them together and setting aside.
- I recommend shredding your carrots, and chopping your pecans at this time so they are ready. I chopped my pecans a little more coarsely which made for a nice texture in the cake, but you can chop them finer if you desire.
- Prep your pans by adding parchment rounds, greasing, and flouring them. I typically grease pans with shortening instead of butter. Shortening has no flavor and is pure fat; which means you wont get any extra butter flavors into your cake and is also more effective at preventing cakes from sticking than butter.
- Now that you have everything prepped; beat eggs, oil, white sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl, and then slowly mix the dry ingredients into it.
- Add the carrots, and pecans, and then pour evenly into the two prepared cake pans. You can use a scale if you want exact same sized layers, or you can eyeball it. I personally eye ball it as I’m usually pretty accurate. (If you make one bigger than the other; put the bigger layer on the bottom of the cake followed by the smaller layer on top.)
- Bake both cake rounds at the same time in the oven for 30-35 minutes at 350F. Mine actually took closer to 43 minutes to bake. After the 30 minute mark; keep a close eye on them checking every few minutes so they don’t over cook. Remember they will continue to cook in the pans from residual heat for a few more minutes after removing from your oven.
- Once your cakes are done, remove them from the oven, and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. After that 10 minutes are up, invert onto wire racks to cool completely or wrap tightly in saran wrap and pop them in the freezer. This will lock in the moisture, and make it easier to frost!
- Make your frosting. I like to make the frosting just before I’m ready to frost the cake to ensure the freshest frosting possible is going onto the cake.
- When you are ready to frost your cake; place one layer on a serving dish, and frost with approx. 1 cup of the frosting. put the second cake layer on top and then frost the sides. Try to get a nice even layer on the sides, I use an inverted spatula to put the frosting on, and then use a bench scraper to smooth the sides out. of course you don’t have to have nice smooth sides, its completely up to you how you want your cake to look. Add the remaining frosting on the top. The top doesn’t have to be pretty as you are covering it up with the remaining pecans.
- Last but not least.. enjoy!
Carrot Cake
Prep Time
20 min
Cook time
35 Min
Serves
18
INGREDIENTS
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups carrots, grated
- 2 cups pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 – 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper and grease and dust flour. Tap out any lose flour.
- Mix together flour, baking powder, baking coda, cinnamon and salt, set aside.
- Beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla in a large bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and sir to combine.
- Stir in the shredded carrots, and 1 cup chopped pecans.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 30-35 minutes.
- Cool in pans 10 minute, then invert onto wire rack to cool completely.
- For frosting, add butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla into an electric mixer. beat until smooth and creamy.
- Put 1 cake on a plate or serving dish, frost using an offset spatula, top with remaining cake and frost top and sides. Sprinkle with remaining pecans.
Store the frosted cake cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Nutritional Information (Servings Per Recipe 18):
Calories 575 Fat 9g Sat fat 9g Cholesterol 69mg Sodium 347mg Carbohydrates 46g Fiber 2g Sugars 50g Protein 5g
Recipe source: allrecipes-carrot-cake-iii
Prairie Sweets & Eats 
It was truly the best cake I have ever eaten!!! Thank you sooo much!
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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