Best Ever Carrot Cake is simple and delicious. Everyone always raves about this perfectly moist recipe, which is frosted in the classic cream cheese frosting.

I’ve been making this homemade cake recipe for years, and it has the best secret ingredient that no one ever guesses. Instead of shredded carrots, I use carrot puree, making this cake extra moist and delicious. If you want the best carrot cake, you have to try it!

A slice of carrot cake.

I was never a huge carrot cake fan until I married into the McCollum Family. Jake’s cousin, now one of my dear friends and cousins, has the best carrot cake recipe.

She has a few tricks up her sleeve and finally shared them all!

Recipe Tips

  • Now, you could use any carrot puree, but friends, what makes this recipe is carrot baby food. While it might be unusual, it makes an amazingly moist cake.
  • The carrot baby food makes this cake rich in color and beautiful.
  • This recipe requires no grated carrots!
  • This cake is frosted with only cream cheese frosting, with a nice layer of nuts on the outside, but you could easily leave those off.
  • If you aren’t serving the carrot cake immediately, keep it in the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing.
  • Store the leftover cake in the refrigerator.

While I love this cake fully loaded with raisins, walnuts, coconut, and frosting, my kids prefer it simplified. They don’t understand why adding raisins to anything makes it better. 

 a close up shot showing the walnut coating on a slice of cake.

The key to a fantastic carrot cake is the cake itself; it must be moist.

Then, the type of frosting you pick and additional add-ins matter, too. With this cake recipe, you could easily add walnuts, coconut, and raisins, but I make it without raisins and coconut.

We love a slice of homemade layer cake at our house; this is the only recipe I use. It’s simple and delicious – the perfect centerpiece for a celebration or holiday meal.

a close up shot of a slice of frosted carrot cake.

Ingredients

  • Carrot baby food – or you can puree plain cooked carrots, but I use the baby food every time.
  • Large eggs
  • Canola oil or vegetable oil
  • All-purpose flour
  • Granulated sugar
  • Salt
  • Baking soda
  • Maple syrup
  • Cinnamon – this is used for the cake and the walnut topping.
  • Room temperature butter
  • Room-temperature cream cheese
  • Powdered sugar
  • Milk
  • Chopped walnuts or pecans

Carrot Cake Layers

If you want to add an outer layer of walnuts, I suggest following the next steps. I love these walnuts; they are so much better than just chopping up raw walnuts.

Start with melting butter in a skillet. Add the walnuts and cook them in the butter for three to five minutes or until they are toasted. Add the cinnamon and stir to combine.

Transfer the walnuts to a bowl or container and chill them while you make the frosting and frost the cake.

a close up of the side of the cake with the walnuts.

Once you have baked and cooled the cake, remove it from the pan and place one of the cakes on a cake stand or plate.

Make the cream cheese frosting, and top the first layer of the cake with frosting.

the cake layers with frosting in between.

Place the second cake on top and repeat the layers. Once the layers are complete, frost the entire outside of the cake. Then, chill the cakes for five minutes so the frosting firms up.

the whole cake frosted.

Now, if you want to add an outer layer of walnuts, this would be the time to do that.

My cousin Amy’s secret ingredient, carrot baby food, makes this cake so good – you must try it! And when you do, prepare for the compliments to roll in because everyone will love it.

a sliced of frosted cake on a plate with a fork.
close up of a fork with a bite of cake with the rest of the slice behind it.

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slice of carrot cake two images with recipe title in between the images

Best Ever Carrot Cake

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 593 kcal
This Best Ever Carrot Cake is simple & delicious. Perfectly moist and frosted in the classic cream cheese frosting, everyone always raves about this recipe.
a slice of carrot cake.

Ingredients
 

Carrot Cake

  • 32 ounces carrot baby food or 1 3/4 cup carrot puree. I use the baby food everytime
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup butter room temperature
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Walnut Topping

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
  • sprinkle cinnamon

Instructions
 

Carrot Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees, gently spray 3 – 9 inch round baking pans with cooking oil and set aside.
  • Mix all of the ingredients listed above together until smooth and there are no chunks. Pour batter into the prepared pan, making sure to divide evenly.
  • Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack until completely cooled.
  • While cake is cooling prepare frostings. Make German Chocolate Cake Frosting first, so that it has time to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. 
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Set in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cinnamon Walnuts

  • In a skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add chopped walnuts and cook for 3-5 minutes or until ljust toasted. Watch it carefully and stir constantly so they don't burn. Sprinkle with cinnamon as desired and remove from heat. Chill completely.

Cake Assemble

  • Once cakes are completely cool, remove from pans. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or serving plate.
  • Top with cream cheese frosting. Top with the second cake, I place the cake in the fridge for 5 minutes so the middle layer can set and be a little firm.
  • Frost the outside of the cake with the remainder of the frosting. Press cooled walnuts onto the sides if desired. Place in the fridge and remove the cake 30 minutes before serving and bring to room temperature. If serving soon after frosting you are fine to leave it out.
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 593kcalCarbohydrates: 70gProtein: 6gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 367mgPotassium: 268mgFiber: 2gSugar: 52gVitamin A: 11281IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 2mg
a slice of carrot cake.
Tried this recipe?Let us know what you think!

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11 Comments

  1. I’ve never made carrot cake before but decided to make this recipe as I had an overabundance of carrots and homemade applesauce. Will for sure make it again! Thanks!

  2. A question: The recipe says two layers while the photographs all show three rather thin layers. Which should it be? It will matter to the length of time the layers should be baked.

    1. You are correct, thank you, made the adjustments. My cousin uses 2-9inch pans, I adjusted it to 3 because I love the layers, you can make either way, thank you for catching that.

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