The best Carrot Cake Recipe you will ever try. This homemade carrot cake is bursting with flavor and moisture! But one of my favorite things about this cake is (in my opinion) the best cream cheese frosting on the planet.
How to Make the Best Carrot Cake
Once you have added the flour to the wet ingredients you want to be very gentle with the batter. I recommend removing the bowl from the stand mixer and mix all dry ingredients in by hand.
If you do not want to add pineapple, you can add 1/4 more oil and omit the pineapple. You can also make other substitutions or changes like adding sweetened coconut (1/4 cup should do!) or using a little brown sugar.
Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling the cake. I like to use a chilled cake for assembly and a room-temperature frosting.
Tips for the Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting:
So the ingredients for this frosting are pretty basic. Butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners sugar. But it’s how you put them together that makes the difference! And it is important that your cream cheese and butter are room temperature. If your cream cheese is chilled it will be lumpy and those lumps are impossible to get out!
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING FOR PIPING: You will want to get all the wet ingredients combined before adding the sugar. The trick is to NOT overbeat the cream cheese. The more you mix the creamier it gets and the harder it is to pipe. I add my sugar 1 cup at a time so that I can gauge the consistency as I go.
CREAM CHEESE FOR FROSTING CAKES: When covering a cake with this cream cheese frosting you can beat for 3-5 minutes additional minutes in your stand mixer. This results in the creamiest cream cheese frosting you will ever have.
Everything about these recipes is perfection. The flavor of this homemade carrot cake recipe is delightful. The texture was exquisite. It’s the world’s best!
I think I just talked myself into making another one. I hope you enjoy this Homemade Carrot Cake recipe!
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
¾ cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions:
Beat eggs and sugar and then add vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with additional chopped walnuts or pecans. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Buttermilk Glaze
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often for five minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (250 grams or 8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (125 grams or 4 oz) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.
