What says Easter more than the Easter bunny and what says bunnies more than carrots?! Hence, today’s recipe of a carrot cake. Honestly, I am not really a fan of carrot cake. Why would I waste my calories on a cake with the main ingredient of a vegetable? That all changed when I went to my friend’s baby shower and carrot cake was serve. I had a bite of another friend’s cake and couldn’t believe how delicious it was. I traded my piece of chocolate cake in for a piece of carrot cake. Ever since then, I don’t knock the carrot cake! This was one of the best layer cakes that I have ever made (the easiest to come out of the pan, the most even, the easiest to frost, and one of the best looking), so I hope you give this recipe a try…even if you don’t think you’ll like it.
Cake Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 cups lightly packed finely grated carrots (about 6-7 large carrots)
Carrot Cake Ingredients
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
2/3 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 TSP vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Frosting Ingredients
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line 2 9″ round cake pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two side
Spray foil (This cake can also be made in a 9×13 dish just increase baking time to 40 – 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean)
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, combine vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla
Dry Ingredients, Carrots, and Wet Ingredients
Slowly stir in dry ingredients and mix until well blended
Stir in grated carrots
Ready to go into the oven!
Divide mixture evenly into 2 prepared cake pans
Bake cakes in preheat oven for 35-39 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
While cakes are baking, prepare cream cheese frosting by combining cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a bowl
Using an electric mixer, whip together
Stir in powdered sugar and mix until well combined
Remove cake from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in cake dishes before removing to a wire rack to cool
Lift cakes out of pan with foil overhang and allow to cool on wire rack completely before frosting
(you can also put the cakes in the fridge or freezer, which makes frosting MUCH easier and doesn’t crumble the cakes)
When ready to frost, cut about 1/4″ off the tops to even the cakes out before frosting
Flip cakes upside down when frosting with Cream Cheese Frosting
Sprinkle first layer with pecans, add second layer and complete frosting
Sprinkling on the pecans
Layer 2
Again sprinkle with pecans
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3 cups lightly packed finely grated carrots (about 6-7 large carrots)
- 1 cup chopped pecans (more if desired)
- 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 TSP vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line 2 9" round cake pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two side
- Spray foil (This cake can also be made in a 9x13 dish just increase baking time to 40 - 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean)
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
- In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, combine vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla
- Slowly stir in dry ingredients and mix until well blended
- Stir in grated carrots
- Divide mixture evenly into 2 prepared cake pans
- Bake cakes in preheat oven for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
- While cakes are baking, prepare cream cheese frosting by combining cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a bowl
- Using an electric mixer, whip together
- Stir in powdered sugar and mix until well combined
- Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in cake dishes before removing to a wire rack to cool
- Lift cakes out of pan with foil overhang and allow to cool on wire rack completely before frosting
- (you can also put the cakes in the fridge or freezer, which makes frosting MUCH easier and doesn't crumble the cakes)
- When ready to frost, cut about 1/4" off the tops to even the cakes out before frosting
- Flip cakes upside down when frosting with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Sprinkle first layer with 1/2 cup pecans, add second layer and complete frosting
- Sprinkle with remaining pecans
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