Easy Carrot Cake Recipe

This is my favorite carrot cake recipe.  The cake is so moist, flavorful, delicious and healthy.  Made with simple pantry staple ingredients. 

The cream cheese buttercream complements perfectly, making this cake  the perfect treat for Easter Day. The use of oil, shredded carrots and brown sugar make this cake rich, soft and moist. If you are vegan you can replace the ingredients as directed in the recipe.  You can also decorate your cake as you like. Here in this post you will find two types of decorations ideas. For this cake I melted cookie butter and drizzled it around the edges of the cake.

This recipe is simple and quick to make, you put all the ingredients in one bowl, mix and bake. The batter is not runny like a regular cake but don’t worry the cake will turn out amazingly moist and delicious.

RECIPE TUTORIAL VIDEO:

When I was gathering  the ingredients, I didn’t have larger carrots so I shredded 2 cups of tiny carrots and it worked great.  For the cream cheese frosting, you can adjust the amount of confectioner sugar, depending on the consistency you need. If you are decorating a simple cake just use two cups. But, if you are decorating the cake like in the picture below you’ll need 3 cups for a firmer consistency.  For this decoration I used rose buds, which are edibles.

This recipe is also great for baking cupcakes or a layered cake. The time for baking the cupcakes is 18 minutes and for a layer cake depending on the size. Don’t forget to always use an oven thermometer to make sure you reach the right temperature. For example, my oven reaches 350 degrees when it’s set up to 355. 

I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!

Here’s the recipe:

Easy Carrot Cake

Serving: 10-12

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 50-55

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. all spice seasoning
• 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
• ½ cup dried cranberries or raisins
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar or replace for ½ cup of truvia
• 3 large eggs or replace each egg for ¼ of applesauce
• 3 carrots, peeled and shredded

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour a 9” round cake pan (or a 6×3” if making my lamb cake.)
3. Cut circle out of parchment, then place in bottom of pan and grease.
4. Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
5. Add wet ingredients one a at time, whisking slowly to combine.
6. Fold mixture into carrots until all the ingredients are incorporated.
7. Bake until center of cake back when lightly pressed, 50 to 55 minutes. Let it cool for 30 minutes, then carefully flip cake and transfer to a wire rack; let it cool completely.

For the Buttercream:

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened (replace for Vegan)
• 6 tbsp. butter, softened (replace for vegan)
• 2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 splash of milk if needed (I used almond milk)

Instructions:

Combine cream cheese and butter.  Cream for a few minutes using an electric or hand mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. If you are decorating the cake with a special decoration, I suggest you adjust the consistency based on your needs.

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