Super Moist Carrot Cake

Make super moist carrot cake at home with this easy recipe. It’s been passed down for generations and a must-have at our family’s Easter brunch! Super moist and super flavorful! If serving a crowd, double the recipe and make a two-layer cake!

Easter is just around the corner, folks! I love Easter because it means spring is here. After a long, dreary winter, I’m always ready for the grass to grown and the flowers to bloom. I also love Easter because, at our house, Easter normally involves a big family brunch full of lots of comfort food made from old family recipes, like this carrot cake! It has been in my family for years and it definitely wouldn’t be Easter without Grandma’s Carrot Cake.

I love a moist cake, which is why I originally loved these cupcakes so much. They are so different than any other homemade cupcakes I have ever made. Moist and melty. If you haven’t tried them yet you need to soon! They are one of the most popular recipes on our blog, as well as one of my personal favorite recipes.

Confession: I think I love this carrot cake even more than I love those cupcakes. And that’s saying something.

This is truly the best carrot cake that I’ve ever had. It’s SO good. The cake is very dense, like the best piece of banana bread you’ve ever had. It’s full of flavor and will melt in your mouth, without being mushy.  And the cream cheese frosting is the best, creamy, dreamy frosting you will ever have. Mark my words. Each bite will melt in your mouth, leaving you wanting more and more.

Frosting the cake is so easy. Just plop it onto the center of the cake and swirl it around with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. I opted out of frosting the sides of the cake because it is SO much easier to just frost the top.  I decorated mine with some pecans, but feel free to use coconut, raisins, or even more shredded carrots. Decorating the cake is almost as fun as eating it. *Almost.

Side Note:

If you are serving more than 6 people, you could easily double the recipe, both cake and icing, to make a two layer cake held together with icing in between and on the outside.

You HAVE  to make this for your family’s Easter Brunch. I promise you won’t be disappointed! It’s SO good!

Super Moist Carrot Cake

Make super moist carrot cake at home with this easy recipe. It's been passed down for generations and a must-have at our family's Easter brunch! Super moist and super flavorful! If serving a crowd, double the recipe and make a two-layer cake!

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Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk almond milk, buttermilk, and regular milk all work
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon Coconut extract optional
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups shredded carrots very finely shredded, not pre-shredded

For the frosting:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. If you do not have a springform pan, you may use an 9×13-inch pan.
• Set out the cream cheese and butter for the frosting so it may soften as you make the cake batter.

For the carrot cake:

• In a large mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs, milk, and oil. Beat in the sugar until fully combined – about 60 seconds. Mix in the vanilla and coconut extract. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the mixer with wet ingredients and mix until just combined and all flour pockets are gone – do not overmix. Fold in the finely shredded carrots. Pour into prepared springform pan.
• Bake cake for 40-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

• In a large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until soft, creamy, and combined thoroughly. Add powdered sugar and beat until thick and combined. Add vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Add more powdered sugar until frosting is desired thickness
• Store cake in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days. Carrot cake tastes best the next day after the flavors have settled and have gotten friendly with one another. It is also more moist on the 2nd day as well. **If you’d like to add raisins or pecans to the batter, I suggest using a total of 1/2 cup of raisins and/or and 1 cup shredded carrots.