Best Homemade Carrot Cake Recipe

There’s nothing like a great Do-it-yourself Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Moist cake laced with finely shredded carrots, topped with velvety easy cream cheese, whipped into frosted perfection… These are the hallmarks of the very best carrot cake recipes and we happen to have one fantastic example right here for you, courtesy of Chef Jon Ashton.

For home-made carrot cake, you simply have to make it from scratch. Retailer-bought carrot cake simply doesn’t compare to freshly-made, freshly-frosted cake—belief us. Because of it’s secret ingredients like toasted pecans, golden raisins and crushed pineapple, this carrot cake is the next-level moist, nutty and all-around scrumptiousness. Continue reading for Ashton’s greatest carrot cake ideas (even novice bakers can put this cake together) and the best carrot cake recipe ever.

What You’ll Need to Make this Special Carrot Cake

To make home-made carrot cake from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp floor cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp floor allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon floor nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup Canola oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple
• 1 cup granulate sugar
• 1/4 cup gentle brown sugar
• 3 medium carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup of pecans
• Butter
• Flour
• Parchment paper
• Paper towels and tin foil (or store-bought cake strips)

What You’ll Need to Make The Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese
• 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp bitter cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• Paddle attachment for blender
• Palette knife for frosting

The best way to Prep the Carrots

The best technique to prep your carrots for this cake is to start by washing and drying the carrots. Then, grate 3 medium carrots with a grater for the very best shredded carrot texture for the cake.

The best way to Make Moist Carrot Cake

Ashton’s secret ingredient for tremendous moist carrot cake is pineapples! 1/2 cup of canned crushed pineapple added to your batter will make all of the difference in the world for a brilliant gentle, moist cake. And in case you don’t have canned pineapple readily available, by all means use fresh.

The best way to Make Carrot Cake

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Then, butter your cake tins and place parchment paper circles on top. You’ll then coat the cake pans with flour and tap the outside to distribute it evenly.

2. To help the cake set evenly and flatly, wrap the pan in paper towels rolled in tin foil, or cake strips soaked in water.

3. Next, whisk your dry ingredients together in a single bowl (baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and all-purpose flour) and your wet ingredients together in a separate bowl (Canola oil, eggs, orange juice, vanilla extract crushed pineapple). Add the sugars to the wet substances and keep whisking.

4. Add grated carrots, golden raisins and pecans to the wet ingredients bowl and carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Then add the cake batter combination to the cake pans, spreading evenly with spatula. Bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating pans after 10-15 minutes.

5. Use a cake tester or a toothpick to check if the cakes are done. If it slides out cleanly, they’re done.

The best way to Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Whereas the cake cool, make your cream cheese frosting by including cream cheese, unsalted butter, bitter cream and vanilla extract to a blender; whip substances with paddle attachment till good and lightweight. Add powdered sugar to bowl, then flip blender on lowest setting (no 1) to whip.

The best way to Frost the Carrot Cake

1. Refrigerate frosting for 30-40 minutes earlier than frosting your cake. To do that, take away the truffles from tins and take parchment paper off, place the primary cake on a cake stand and frost the highest with 1 cup of the frosting.

2. Add the 2nd cake later and repeat the frosting course of with a palette knife, creating swirl designs with the knife as you frost. Place the cake within the fridge for 20 minutes, then slice and serve!

Maintain-It-Easy’s Prime Ideas for Making Carrot Cake

1. Have your mise en place prepared. Earlier than you begin baking your cake, you’ll wish to have all of your substances pre-measured and close by for “setting up,” AKA mis en place.
2. Let your oven heat up. All the time pre-heat your oven half-hour earlier than including the truffles to get it as much as temperature and heat the partitions.
3. De-clump your flour. Ensure you take away any flour clumps when coating your cake pans.
4. Foil the perimeters of your cake pan. To offer carrot truffles a cleaner, flat high, wrap the pan with paper towels rolled in tin foil. You possibly can even reuse these about 5 instances, or buy cake strips for a similar impact.
5. Add crushed pineapple. This secret ingredient provides tropical taste and retains your carrot cake moist.
6. Rehydrate your raisins. Soak raisins in water for five minutes earlier than including them to the moist substances bowl.
7. Toast pecans. Toasting your pecans within the oven at 350 levels for 7-10 minutes will give them an additional nutty taste.
8. Deliver butter and cream cheese to room temperature. This may assist make the frosting good and lightweight.
9. Regulate frosting texture if want be. Add powdered sugar to thicken frosting and milk or cream to skinny it.

Is shredded carrot greatest? 

Completely. Something too chunky received’t bake as properly, so shred away along with your carrots. This may create the very best carrot cake texture.

Are you able to omit any of the add-ins, like pineapple, coconut, raisins or pecans? 

100%. In the event you don’t occur to have these substances readily available—or just don’t like all—take them out of the recipe. Not into nuts? Make nut-free carrot cake. Hate raisins? Skip ’em all collectively! The one factor we wouldn’t recommend omitting is the pineapple, since that is what helps make the carrot cake so moist.

Can this recipe be transformed to cupcakes, sheetcake or different measurement pans? 

Are you able to swap a distinct sort of frosting? 

In the event you’re not into cream cheese frosting in your carrot cake, it’s also possible to strive carrot cake frosting options like cottage cheese, mascarpone (an in depth second to cream cheese), ricotta cheese, bitter cream frosting or dairy-free or cashew/almond cream cheese.

Different Carrot Cake Variations to Attempt: