carrot cake with maple-cream cheese frosting
Me? I made cupcakes, carrot cupcakes to be specific because carrot cake is Alice’s favorite. But do you know what I have come to realize about people who say their favorite cake is carrot cake? It’s really the cream cheese frosting (and perhaps the orange and green carrots eloquently piped on top) that they love. Or at least that’s the case with Alex.
Nevertheless, I actually have a killer recipe for carrot cake and hadn’t used it in years, which means that you haven’t been privy to it yet, and that’s not fair, is it? So without further ado, here’s the carrot cake I always fall back on. It’s incredibly moist and light and forgiving whether you make it with or without nuts and raisins or extra spices, and a great little recipe to tuck away in your files come January when the entire world is on a diet but somehow thinks that three cups of grated carrots makes these babies “health” food. I won’t tell them if you don’t.
One year ago: Pear Crisps with Vanilla Brown Butter, Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Two years ago: Dukkah-Crusted Chicken Skewers, Pecan Squares
Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
I like to grate the carrots by hand — actually, that’s a lie, I don’t enjoy it one bit — because I want it very finely grated for a soft batter. The food processor works, too, but the pieces are a bit thicker.
Makes 24 cupcakes (or one two-layer cake, instructions at end)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.
Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.
To make a carrot layer cake: Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans instead of cupcake molds. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Butter and flour paper; tap out excess flour. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, and bake the layers for about 40 minutes each, or until a tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks. Peel off waxed paper; cool cakes completely.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Chill the frosting for 10 to 20 minutes, until it has set up enough to spread smoothly.
The spazzy star decorations were created by putting the maple cream cheese frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and dolloping away. An extra layer of dollops were piped nearer to the center, to create a domed effect.
To assemble a carrot layer cake, frost the top of one cake, place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top, swirling decoratively. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set up frosting.
For the layer cake scenario, you will probably have a bit of leftover frosting, which you can tint and use for decorating, or save to smear on gingersnaps. What, you don’t do that too?
Those look totally lovely! And my favorite part of carrot cake really is the cream cheese frosting. Whenever I make it there is always extra that ends up hidden in the fridge, away from my husbands eyes and suggestions for use. Oh, and the piped dollops are wicked cute!
For those of us who are decoration challenged, can you do a post on how to frost/decorate beautifully, including tips on useful implements? BTW, I make your pumpkin muffins all the time – they are great.
My husband is going to love me in a couple of weeks when I make this for his birthday! And you’re dead on about the frosting observation–he said straight up the other day that he’d go with a pumpkin spice cake, a regular spice cake, a carrot cake, or any kind of cake, really, just as long as it had cream cheese frosting on it. This also gives me an excuse to top up our supply of the fancy maple syrup…
Whenever I get married, my groom’s cake (yeah… in Texas, we have a cake for the guy) will be a carrot cake. And it’s because of the cream cheese frosting. Been on a baking bender lately, so this will be filed away for Christmas, probably. Can’t wait to try them out, though.
Oh man! Carrot cake is my favorite! Zucchini bread right after :) I guess I’m just a fan of vegetables baked in bread products! Can’t wait to try these out.
I need to figure out if I can make Zucchini bread cupcakes….there’s a nice idea :)
This looks fantastic! If only I had time in my busy holiday baking schedule for some of these. I could use one right about now!
oh yum!! i haven’t had a good carrot cake in eons — this looks awesome and i like dollops of the frosting – very pretty!
Mouth watering, as usual!
Yeah! I am ALL about the cream cheese icing.
ohhh… carrot cake is my favorite too. Well, it’s tied with red velvet cake. yum!!
I have a question and this post seems as good a place as any to ask it. What do you think about all the healthy folks saying things like “replace your oil in baked goods with plain yogurt. No one will know the difference!” Is that true or will I totally absolutely one hundred percent notice the difference?
So, my favorite part of carrot cake is the pineapple…how do you think that would go in here?
Thanks!
Joelle
Hi Janssen — First, I would be wary of assuming that yogurt can always replace oil seamlessly, as it may play out differently in different recipes. It does work in general, but the cake dries out much more quickly than it would with oil.
Nevertheless, taking some of the fat out of a cake isn’t necessarily a *bad* thing, but it is more about an approach to dieting that follows a low-fat formula. Personally, I’m more in the “eat a smaller slice” or “eat a half a slice” camp than the “make cake healthier” camp, but I’m also not in the practice of making diet recommendations. Everyone has to do what works best for them.
Joelle — Some people add 1 (8 ounce) can crushed of pineapple, drained to their cakes. I haven’t tested it with this recipe but see no reason it wouldn’t work.
Ok, more questions.
Can vegetable oil be substituted for the canola since that’s what I have (for another cake recipe) and I want to make this Right Now?
If I don’t have a stand mixer will a hand mixer do? or is there that big a difference?
And I’m enchanted with the pineapple idea. Would you just add the pineapple without tweaking anything else?
Thank you and yum! What an excellent use for the CSA carrots that have taken up residency in my fridge!
Whoa, these are so beautiful. Really elegant and perfect. Can’t wait to try!
oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. These look soooo fantastic. I never tried carrot cake or cupcake – can you belive it??? But these look too good. I LOVE how you did the frosting. Gorgeous!
Those cupcakes look heavenly! I must try adding maple syrup to my frosting when I bake my next batch of cupcakes…
Lovely Post,
Hayley
Mmmmmm … maple cream cheese … curse working for a company that doesn’t have a kitchen stocked with the ingredients and equipment I need to satisfy an immediate craving while on the clock. (And we just had a bake sale today, too – what is my thing about sweets today….)
Love the dollops. And I’m a maple fiend. So I will try this frosting! Thanks.
Carrot cake is my very favorite of all cakes. I have a killer recipe too that calls for sweet local heirloom carrots and a mixture of dried fruits so the flavors are a little more complex than normal. But, yes, I’m convinced it’s all about the cream cheese frosting. Much like pumpkin cupcakes…warm spices somehow taste so much better with that frosting. :)
My recipe is here, btw: http://straightfromthefarm.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/whats-up-doc/
super thin and tiny carrot bits. i’m totally digging it deb! i made carrot pancakes a while back and i found my grated carrots were just too much. now i know that i can use the tiny side of the cheese grater. DUH! and thanks for the maple cream cheese recipe too… you’re a dream boat!
I love carrot cake, not just because of the cream cheese frosting. I do have a couple of caveats 1) the cake MUST have nuts, walnuts are HIGHLY preffered and 2) NO raisins. I like raisins, but the do not belong in carrot cake.
Mmm, carrot cake is one of my faves, thanks for sharing the recipe ;) I like to soak my carrots for about 20 minutes in 1 cup sugar before adding the mixture into the batter. It makes for a super moist carrot and I like to think it adds more carrot flavor. I wonder if anyone else does this?
err “super moist cake” (not carrot)
You are out of control with your cute icing these days! Not to mention the leaf garland on your pie. Cute, cute, cute.
I could eat a tire covered in cream cheese frosting!
Creamcheese is my favorite frosting and I can just imagine how much better it tastes with maple syrup. Have you ever tried using Grade B maple syrup? Even more mapley flavour:-)
Oh my-I think I just stumbled upon something great! My mother’s birthday in on Christmas and my aunt and I have been struggling with thinking of a birthday cake to make her. She loves carrot cake and I think cupcakes would be such a cute alternative-definitely bookmarking this recipe!
Love the update on a retro favorite. I’ve added maple syrup to cream cheese frosting before and had trouble keeping the frosting pipable (is that even a word?) so I think I’ll have to try your recipe and see what I can learn.
I love these! I will definitely make them and report back :D
Yuuuum! Have you tried this with mascarpone frosting? I recently made a carrot cake with a lemon zest-flavored mascarpone frosting it was untraditionally divine. Maple cream cheese sounds like it could be dangerously good.
Oh my!!! Those look delicious!!! and they look so pretty too!! Can’t wait to try them :)
So. Damn. Cute.
Oh these little treasures were divine! Oh God did I enjoy all THREE that I had. Mmmmmm good.
Maple cream cheese frosting!? I HAVE to try that!
Janssen/Deb – first I was laughing at Deb’s health food reference and then I noticed the question about substituting for oil. I usually sub half the oil with unsweetened applesauce and have learned from experience that it’s worth straining out the measured amount to get rid of extra liquid. While I agree with Deb that I’d rather be restrained and eat the real thing, if cutting fat is important to you, don’t take it ALL away. Even Cooking Light recipes retain some butter or oil.
Yogurt (again either strained or Greek style) is a better substitute for sour cream in my experience.
I love the maple touch in the icing:)
These could be some of my favorite pictures you’ve put up. The detail of the icing and the contrast of colors. Really beautiful. And anything to get us to eat our veggies, right?
Love your blog! The pictures are stunning. We just started a new food blog too. It’s pretty fun.
I made this once, and I was SO. ALLERGIC. Ugh.
Thank you for releasing this recipe from the dark shadows of your recipe box. It looks delish!
These are beautiful! The recipe itself sounds wonderful, but the little dribbles of frosting look cute like that too!
Carrot Cake is my most favorite cake recipe. Yum!
Yum! I would LOVE those! What grabbed me though, was how you did the frosting. That looks very attractive and so much better than the usual smear-the-icing-on-with-a-spatula look! I’ll have to remember that! I think you also had done some cupcakes with the frosting piped on as roses. So beautiful! Amazing how something as simple as a cupcake can be turned into a WOW!
Damn! A week late and a carrot cake short! My son’s birthday was just last week and carrot cake is his favorite…so I made him a chocolate cake. What a Mom, huh? My carrot cake recipe is just okay, and I didn’t want to have to eat the rest of it (forever) because he would only eat one piece or two under duress. If I had had this recipe then..his hearts desire would have been fulfilled, mine too. Damn!
Is there really such a thing as eloquent piping? :)
I love carrot cake – the cake and the frosting! This version with maple sounds divine. I actually think my recipe sounds better, though – it has pineapple in it and a few other secrets – from the Fiddlehead Cookbook.
I have a Canadian husband who loves carrot cake. I think this will make the perfect birthday treat for him this January! Thanks!
Amy
Nomnomnom. I am totally going to try baking something for the first time since…um…that bake sale three years ago? (In my defense, the whole deal WAS homemade, so I was very proud.)
But I’m thinking, I really love carrot cake frosting. And while Smitten Kitchen’s samples are lovely, I think they need more frosting.
Can you layer them like a cake?
I mean, could you cut the cupcake part in half and putting a layer of frosting in between? I bet you could, though the cupcake wrapper would get messed up.
Whatever, I’m going to try. Family Christmas dinner, here I come!!
I totally LOVE the way you piped the stars on top of the cupcakes, and will be stealing that idea for many cupcakes in future. Thanks!
I like the cake, but I don’t think I would like it as much without the frosting. Same goes fro zucchini bread/cake. However, I do eat red velvet only for the frosting. Because, you know, cream cheese icing rocks! I had 2 cakes at my wedding because I couldn’t make up my mind. Want to know what they were? Carrot cake torte (more frosting) and red velvet.
I’m in college right now, so you’re describing EXACTLY what I’m going through right now, with studying and all that – it’s quite stressful!!! :-(
Gorrrrgeous carrot cake!!
These look amazing! I make a carrot cake with coconut and pineapple that adds an additional depth and texture. I’m going to try this recipe because of the maple syrup. We love maple syrup here in Canada!
they look absolutly perfect!! *_*
Carrot cake is one of my favorites as well and the creme cheese frosting definitely ads to the liking! I love the idea of making muffins out of the mixture. Great for parties.
About how many carrots do you use to grate 3 cups worth?
Funny that you mention it. It will depend a bit on how coarsely you grate the carrots. Thicker gratings from bigger holes, you might only need three large ones. Thinner gratings like mine, I needed 5 big carrots.
this is my dads favorite cake too! I think I know what i’ll be making him for christmas this year!
These are the. cutest.
Seems like you’re a good friend. Lucky Alice.
It would be great to see more recipes for cakes which rely on vegetables as a source of moisture and texture, e.g., courgettes (zucchini), etc. Carrot cake is no longer considered counter-intuitive but there must be lots of other exciting possibilities out there.
Nice!! Just curious, do you add the raisins and walnuts?
With 3 cups of carrots, there is a healthy factor that can’t be denied! :)
If anyone’s interested, I have here a post for the carrot-zucchini-yogurt (+molasses+wheat germ) muffins I just made. Now these are seriously healthy, but taste delicious! They won’t do when you’re craving these gorgeous carrot cake cupcakes, but are spot on for a yummy breakfast treat!
This is very similar to my carrot cake recipe. Like many of the other commenters, I also add pineapples and sub some of the oil for applesauce.
On an unrelated note, Deb, at some point, would you please put up a list of your top five places to eat in the city? People who cook well generally eat well, whether at restaurants or at home, and I am sure that you and Alex find great restaurants. We’re going up to visit my brother during Christmas and he isn’t much of a gourmand, so I’m trying to seek out yummy places to eat while we’re there. :)
I love carrot cake and I have found that if you process the carrots with the steel blade in the food processor it works out really well. I used to grate them by hand, then in the processor but one day I thought I would try to cut them into chunks and grind them up and it worked really well. Sometimes lazy is a good thing.
Hi Akila — I really don’t get into restaurant recommendations because what I like and what other people like may not be the same. I am also not an avid restaurant-goer. We check out great places from time to time, but in no way make a science of getting to them and I don’t really analyze the meals–I just enjoy them.
I could live on carrot cake… yummy… And these are decorated so beautifully!
I love the slightly different take on the cream cheese frosting. As a carrot cake devotee, I’ve got to try this!
I absolutely love everything you make! And these cupcakes are no different, they look just gorgeous and the piped topping is so cute!
I read that as “carrot cake with nipple-cream frosting.” And then I saw the pictures, and I thought, “Well, they do kinda look like nipples…” then I reread the title. >_<
You are KillingMe/TotallyAwesome!
I know we don’t know each other, but I have to ask, did you read my mind?
And yes, I LOVE carrot cake and it is mostly due to the frosting. And did I mention I love maple. Just bought some Vermont maple syrup from Formaggio.
Too funny…I saw “nipple cream” as well. Which is decidedly inappropriate for the holiday season and for these cupcake, which look scrumptious!
Ember – OMG I did the same thing! Deb, did you do that on purpose? A little play on words/photo for us? You are clever :-)
Re: pineapple. One Christmas break during college I worked at my town’s country club working all the holiday banquets – ugh – but the perk was that I got to pick the pastry chef’s brain and write down some of her recipes. She put crushed pineapple in EVERYTHING where oil would be – specifically a 1/4 cup of it in her amazing carrot cake and German chocolate cake. I was stunned. I don’t even like pineapple on its own that much, but it adds a ton of moistness without the flavor becoming overbearing. One of the previous posters mentioned it giving extra texture as well – so true. If you hear it from a pastry chef, you know it’s a good tip.
WOW!! I just discovered your blog via Digg. The photos are gorgeous. I love those little spiffs of maple cream cheese on top of your cupcakes. Can’t wait to try the recipe, thank you for sharing it.
RE: pineapple – There is a great cake that I make for my daughter’s birthday called Hummingbird Cake. Originally out of Southern Living (I think) it is similar to a Carrot Cake, but made with bananas and pineapple – perfect for a toddler. And of course, the cream cheese frosting makes it even more delicious.
Those cupcakes look so tasty … I covet them. I truly do. I like the idea of a maple cream cheese frosting. I had never, I am ashamed to admit, considered it. Now I am antsy to taste it.
These look delicious – and the cream cheese frosting is the best!
Love how your frosted the cupcakes. Very cupcake-chic.
How about for a cream cheese frosting purist–do you have a favorite recipe without the maple syrup?
You can actually just skip the maple syrup or you can replace it with a quarter-cup of powdered sugar. Miraculously, all methods work. If you skip the maple syrup, you shouldn’t need to chill the frosting to make it spreadable.
I love your frosting techniques on the cupcakes, Deb! Gorgeous! Oh, and thanks for not including the walnuts and raisins in the cupcakes. I’ve never understood why people feel the need to mess with a good thing like silky carrot cake batter by throwing in all that other junk. About the only add-ins I ever like in my baked goods are chocolate ones. :)
LOVE your Blog! The recipes & photos are equally amazing! How do you do that? Make food look so EXCITING?! Wow! Just WOW!
One little thing for you to try….my mom used to cater weddings and people would call her all the time to make carrot cake for them. We used to laugh when they’d add: “I *HATED* Carrot Cake until I had yours….how do you make it so moist!” Well, she’s now telling her secret so I figure I can too…..
THE SECRET IS: Boiling/steaming the carrots until they are cooked BEFORE adding them to the cake mixture (drain them first of course). The reason this is important is that it doesn’t pull the moisture from the other ingredients to cook them. I swear it makes a HUGE difference! Try it & tell me what you think!
Keep up the great work!!
~Melanie
What perfect timing! There was a work potluck today so we made these last night. For some reason, cakes made with oil instead of butter never turn out right for me. It’s like the oil never gets absorbed and they look very shiny and greasy and leave a heavy taste in my mouth. I made the Ina Garten Lemon-Blueberry cake from a while back and had to toss it because it was such an oily mess, which made me so sad because of all the fantastic reviews. Therefore, I was nervous to try these and used only 3/4 cup of oil with 1/2 cup of applesauce. They were still very shiny, but after frosting and some time in the refrigerator they turned out quite delicious. Co-workers loved them. Thank you!
These look fabulous!!
How did you know I really wanted to make carrot cake? Thanks!
These look fabulous. Would you be able to upload a photo of carrots to smug mug for me? I found it in your flickr account. It is called “Nugget Carrots”, in the greenmarkets section of the eats collection. Thanks!
your blog is very good…
Lecia – thank you for the reference to a cookbook in my cupboard that I rarely use! I immediately found the recipe and think the frosting looks inviting! I have both maple syrup and orange marmalade – Oh, what’s a poor woman to do? MAKE BOTH! And try them on pumpkin muffins too!
do you think this would work as a carrot bread?
I am sure it would work. It might be a little on the light side for a “bread”-style loaf though less so if you include the dried fruit and nuts.
I want these. Now. And I am totally one of those people who just really love the cream cheese frosting. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh my goodness, I am drooling! Carrot cake is absolutely my favorite, and with carrot cupcakes you do get even more cream-cheese-frosting-goodness (Maple nonetheless!) with every bite. I do have one question: I would love to post about these cupcakes on my parenting blog (with a link to the recipe here, naturally) – could I possibly use a photo or two to tempt my readers? Regardless, I can’t wait to make them myself. Thank you so much.
Deb~
I have been following this website daily for several months and have printed off certain recipes that have created a pile 3′ tall in my office corner. Yesterday, being snow bound, I took the plunge and made your carrot cake cupcakes. Beyond wonderful. I am now even more addicted to your site and vow to start in on testing recipes from that 3′ pile. Do you have any suggestions for Christmas dessert? Something chocolate. Something with mousse? Thank You!
these are definately going on my “to make” list. love how orange they are!
Wow. Those carrot cake cupcakes look so delicious. I think I’ll have to try them out.
oooh that maple frosting looks good enough to make- and eat- all on its own.
I made this as an 8-inch layer cake this weekend, and it was a big hit at a party. Very moist and a lovely texture. I particularly like the addition of the maple syrup to the cream cheese frosting. I did find that I had to bake it longer than specified, but that’s probably because I used smaller pans. It did take about 5 large carrots to get 3 cups using the small holes on my grater (and a lot of elbow grease) :-) I will definitely make this one again. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Wonderful recipe! I’m going to make them as Christmas presents for my friends :D
I’d love to ask just a couple of things, if you don’t mind, as I’m not American and get all confused with the US measurements. In the frosting recipe, you quoted “Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened”. Is 8 ounce the total weight of the 2 packages, or the weight of one package so total = 16 oz?
And how much is 1 1/4 cups of canola oil? I can easily convert from volume measurements of all kinds to milliliters, but when it comes to cups I’m at a total loss. I don’t even know what a US measure cup looks like ;__;
Thanks for your attention!
i made these cupcakes this weekend for our holiday party. they were a hit! the frosting is incredible!
Kudos! I made this as the 9″ layer cake this past weekend and it was amazing. I can’t believe the texture – so light. The best carrot cake ever.
When I saw these I knew I had to try them! They were DELICIOUS! I took them into work at my school and they all gone by morning recess – they received rave reviews! Thanks for sharing!
I have all these ingredients in my pantry right NOW! uh oh. Dare I???
these look delicious! I can’t wait to try them.
Claudia- it is 16 ounces total of cream cheese. For the canola oil 1 cup equals 8 ounces- I’m not sure what that is in milliliters though. Hope that helps.
>Rachelle
thank you very much, it helped a lot :)
Hi Deb! I made a layer cake out of this recipe late last night. I didn’t have enough carrots so I bulked it up with shredded zucchini. Used half dark brown sugar, half melted butter (but only 1 cup total fat) and I toasted and finely chopped (almost ground) the nuts. Okay, so I didn’t really make this recipe, but mine is adapted from this one, so I thought I’d report it because the spices really are what is so good about your recipe and they made mine all the better.
I only had the lighter cream cheese and it is way too soft for a frosting..short story: I added some butterscotch fudge to fix it and it didn’t really work as well as I had hoped but it was outstanding in flavor. I will use it next time instead of my grade A maple which was indistinguishable. So..thanks for sharing your recipe.
Just made these tasty cupcakes today and they were fabulous. Of course the frosting stole the show, but that’s to be expected, I think. Especially from me! Great recipe – thanks so much for sharing. Oh, and I was doing great with the hand-grating of the carrots until I got to about 1 1/2 cups and then I was so ready to be done!
I made this as a 9×13 sheet cake. Wow! The cake was so moist and flavorful. The last time I had carrot cake was like, when I was really little. That cake was chunky and what I would term “weird.” I grated the carrots by hand though and had almost a carrot puree. I think it really made a difference (though I cut my finger really badly on the grater). My boyfriend is also really impressed.
My only complaint is that I can’t really taste the maple in the frosting. I added 1/2 cup because I couldn’t taste it, and I still can’t really. I think the cream cheese just overpowers it or something. Still, very very good!
Made this yesterday; fabulous! I poured the batter into our bundt pan, then we just cut off slices and spooned frosting over. Me, my husband, and our 16-month-old all loved it! (We also couldn’t really taste the maple, so next time we’ll just go without, but that didn’t stop us from having seconds!)
Could be the best carrot cake recipe I’ve tried Cupcakes are moist and delicious without being oily. Be sure to finely grate the carrots as recommended; it makes a huge difference in texture and evenly distributed flavor. I had extra maple cream cheese frosting, so saved and used a week later on vanilla cupcakes – excellent!
Can I use this recipe with the oversized Wilton cupcake pan?
I have never used it. I don’t see why not. You’ll, of course, get fewer cupcakes and have to bake them longer…
I just made these cupcakes, although no where near as cute as yours, for my mom’s birthday this weekend. They turned out amazing! Thanks!
I made these for my office for Valentine’s Day (by request). I made a maple buttercream a few weeks ago for my boyfriend’s birthday that I like a little better – but these are quite good.
I made these for Valentine’s Day and they were a hit! Shredded the carrots in the blender and used evoo instead of canola oil but otherwise, followed the recipe to a T. I ended up with A LOT of cake though; 24 cupcakes plus half a loaf! Thanks for the great recipe!
Does anyone have a suggestion for substiting eggs? I HAVE to make this recipe – it looks fabulous – but I’m allergic to eggs. Thanks!
I just have a quick question about the icing… did you use a cookie press? The packaging of my cookie press say it can be used for icing, but nowhere on the package or in the instructions does it elaborate at all!
Oh well nevermind! I need to start reading the entire post before commenting. Do you think a cookie press would do the trick though?
The cupcakes look mucho bueno..
I like to add crushed pineapple to my carrot cake though..
makes for a really moist cake..
=]
Ginger — The frosting was done with a piping bag with a star tip.
I made these cupcakes a month ago and they are light and delicious. Today I doubled the recipe to make cupcakes for my daughter’s classroom birthday celebration tomorrow, and they came out like hockey pucks! What went wrong??? I’m not giving up on the recipe, but I’m totally puzzled…
These cupcakes were so yummy- and the frosting was perfect, although the cupcakes sunk- should I have altered the recipe for high altitude? It was easily covered with more frosting (which nobody was complaining about!!) but is there anything I can tweak? Thank you!
Yes, baking recipes always have to be adjusted for high-altitude. However, I live at sea level and have little advice to offer! If you have the Joy of Cooking, I do remember that they have a nifty little section on how to adapt recipes for high altitudes. I used their suggestions when I was staying in the mountains and was successful in both baking endeavors.
I made these cupcakes (minus walnuts and raisins) for my daughter’s 1st birthday and they were amazing!!! And of course I doubled the frosting so I could put big ice cream scoop sizes on top of the cupcakes, and have some left over to dip animal crackers in, to spread on cantaloupe, and then when I ran out of dippers- I just used my finger- mmmmm!
I made these muffins today and was a little disappointed because they weren’t that vibrant orange!!
They tasted divine, just didn’t look as gorgeous as the ones shown!
The recipe made 12 3/4c muffins and one 15cm x 8cm loaf. Which was fab because it meant I could try the recipe (the muffins were for my boyfriends mum) :)
I will definitely be making these again.
I made these for my Easter brunch yesterday and they were a hit. Its true that they are pretty foolproof. I shredded the carrots in the food processer because I dont have the patience for grating and it was fine. I omitted the nuts and used golden raisins. I made mini cupcakes so I halved the recipe and ended up with 24 little ones. They were a huge hit and I will keep this one tucked up my sleeve!
i just made these for the second time and they are so delicious! it made about 3 dozen cupcakes. the first set of 12 sunk in the middle, but the next two dozen turned out better. i think i overfilled the first round? not sure, but they all tasted great, even if they weren’t as pretty as yours ;-)
I made an eggless/vegan version of this cake (I’m allergic to eggs) recently for a birthday – used two 9″ round pans and four tablespoons of milled flax seed + 3/4 cup (12 tbsp) water as a binding substitute for the eggs. I skipped on the nuts since the birthday boy isn’t a big fan of nuts but loves carrot cake, and used a different cream cheese frosting recipe since I wasn’t sure people would love the maple (and real maple syrup’s not easy to find in Florida.) I don’t think anyone could tell the difference, and it was universally loved.
I have made these DELICIOUS cupcakes twice now and plan to make them again this weekend for my son’s first birthday party. They are healthy and not too sweet…perfect for a one year old. My husbands favorite cake is carrot cake, our wedding cake was an organic carrot cake from worldsbestcarrotcake(dot)com and these are right up there with that one! So moist and yummy. Just make them, you will be happy!
Just stumbled upon your website looking for some cake recipe. Looks like I’ll be around for a long while going through and trying the cake recipes here. ThankQ for sharing.
I made your carrot cake recipe this past weekend and it was fantastic! It was also very easy. I’m not an experienced baker, having only recently started baking cakes from scratch, so my results have been someone hit-or-miss. And, I’ve never made a carrot cake before. However, this cake was a huge hit. Thanks!
I made these little gems for a party at work. Everyone loved them. Even the vegan could not stay away from them and decided certain things have to be made an exception for!
I just made these minus raisins and with walnuts that I ground finely to avoid the lumps that mean that the kiddies wont eat the cakes I have so lovingly made. They think that they are fantastic! I didn’t ice them though, but the frosting sounds great! I find if I frost them my 3 year old only eats the frosting and not the cake! I’m just not telling them that they are carrot cakes though cos they probably wont eat them if I do, LOL!
Hm, I just made these and something didn’t work. They taste fine, but they’re not really very good looking (without the frosting).
For some reason, they’re oily, which means that the top got a weird hardness to it while baking. And they puffed up quite a bit during baking, so they sunk in the middle too. The paper cups are oily too. I’ve never ever had to adjust baking for altitude, because I’m in northern Colorado and we’re under a mile above sea level. I’m wondering if I would have to do that if I made these again. And they kind of look like spice cake with carrot shreds. The shreds are fairly big (I used the tiny side of the grater) and the orange color just didn’t get into the cupcake. They’re pretty brown.
One good thing is that upon the surprise “You’re out of nutmeg!” moment, I just substituted half allspice, half cloves. It’s a little more autumney than traditional carrot cake, but still good.
I might try these one more time to see if I can fix what happened, but I’m a little sad.
I made this for my husband’s birthday today (cake version). I am new to making cakes and the wax paper tip was worth learning now! You’re right that there is quite a bit of leftover frosting. I will find something to do with it for sure! Thanks.
Did a half recipe and made a loaf (with walnut, no raisins). Nice and moist, wonderful spicy taste, plus I got to use up the rest of a bag of carrots that had been hanging around.
Am resisting to ice it though. So far I am. For now…
I tried this recipe this week for my friend’s birthday and everybody liked it! I have one question though, how is it that the picture shows the cupcakes to have a vivid orange color while mine was brown? Did you happen to add an orange food coloring?
Thank you very much for posting this recipe. By the way, do you have a good recipe for french bread?
Thanks.
I made a double recipe to share with my neighbor who just popped out her fourth child, my husband’s admins, and my kids (please read myself). I usually use Sheila Lukin’s recipe for carrot cake as I am a big fan of all things pineapple. The vivid orange color convinced me to give yours a whirl. Alas, mine came out brown as well. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the top of my piped cupcakes and hid my stash in the back of the fridge behind olive jars and the applesauce. They found them :( Thank you for the recipe! Long live carrot cake!
Hi Deb
I was wondering what grade of maple syrup did you use, Grade A, Grade B etc.
Jackie — I have never looked! Whatever I have on hand.
Just curious, can this be made without the maple syrup? My very first job was waiting tables at IHOP, and after 6 months of smelling like maple syrup mixed with bleach water, I can’t stand the stuff.
I can assure you that the stuff at IHOP bears no resemblance to pure maple syrup — it’s corn syrup with artificial flavoring. Nevertheless, you can use any old cream cheese frosting, such as this one, no need to use a maple-infused one.
Hi Deb! I’m absolutely in love with your site. I’m new at baking and cooking and I’m happy to say that Smitten Kitchen has held my hand through it all! I’m making my first layer cake for a birthday girl who loves carrot cake, and just wanted to know if there is any part of the recipe that can be done ahead of time. Would it be OK to make the cake a day early and refrigerate it, for example? I’m sure this is a “duh” question but just want to make sure I do everything right…Thanks, you’re truly the best!
I am making a friend’s wedding cake and plan on using this recipe. Do you have any advice on the frosting sitting out for a few hours, from the time of delivering the cake to the time it gets eaten. I would hate for it to start slipping or not look nice when it comes time to cut it. It’s a casual wedding so I’m not making any elaborate decorations, just some real flowers that will be place on the cake once it gets to the venue.
Is there an ingredient I could add to make it more stable? I’ve made a cream cheese frosting before for a cake that sat around for a few hours and it was fine. I was just wondering if there was something I could do to guarantee (at least a bit) that it will still look beautiful.
The only way to see if something is suitable to hold up for a wedding cake is to make a small version of it and leave it out in similarly warm conditions for at least as long, but safely longer and see what happens. From there, you can take note of what needs to be adjusted. As for advice on stabilizing cream cheese frosting, a wedding baking forum (wilton.com has great boards) would be the best place to look. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice. I am making a small sample cake this weekend so I’ll leave it out for a bit and see what happens.
Delicious! I subbed a half the white sugar for brown, since my family likes the flavour more, and used a regular cream cheese frosting. Turned out perfect!
So excited to make these for my son’s 1st b-day!!!
Oh, just what I have been looking for! Enjoy this site so much! Love to bake, family loves to eat. Son has been known to go at a fresh pan of bars with a soup spoon. Very satisfying.
i just made these, and holy moly, i licked that frosting bowl clean! you are my cooking inspiration – thank you for this fabulous recipe!
I made this carrot cake for my sister’s birthday and it invited favorable comparisons to the carrot cake at Cafe Latte. In the Twin Cities, that is a BIG DEAL! I used 1/4 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger instead of the powdered ginger and used the fine grating drum on my Kitchen Aid rotary grater attachment for the carrots. It grated them very finely with fairly minimal effort. Great recipe – it’s going in the file for sure.
Just (finally) made this and OMG I hate myself for delaying it. But then again, I always hate myself when I don’t cook what Deb tells me to the very minute she posts it because everything is always phenomenal.
I never manage to follow recipes perfectly, but I can’t imagine this tasting any better than it does, so I’m beyond happy with it.
This was the best carrot cake I’ve ever eaten. I put a cream cheese frosting with cinnamon on it(Joy the Baker) and it was awesome. My brother asked me to make his birthday cake every year.
This carrot cake changed my life. I have never had my own birthday cake that someone lovingly made for me each year. I could never settle on just one thing and switched it up every year looking in vain for the perfect birthday cake. Husband (who is NOT a baker) made this for my last birthday and I went to some sort of carrot cake nirvana. I don’t even like carrot cake that much. I’m a chocolate girl. But this is it. The Official Birthday Cake.
Hi Deb,
I made these the other day and they were awesome! I did get scared with the amount of canola oil but at least it is a “good” fat and considering that you are only going to eat one cupcake at a time, it is not a big deal. I am with you on eating the good stuff but in moderation.
Here are my results:
http://javafoto.com/wp/?p=1008
-Charlotte
I made this as a cake for my friend’s wedding and it was soooooooo delicious. I needed three times as much batter but was afraid of tripling everything (way too much at once and didn’t want to chance srewing up the proportions of ingredients). I made one double batch for the base and one single batch for the smaller top layer. I was patient and thorough. The cake is super moist. I used the smallest size on my box grater and it was worth the clenched hand at the end. The pieces of carrot were so fine they practically melted into the cake. No carrot “hairs” sticking out of the slices.
I had an insane amount of compliments on it. Seriosly delicious. The frosting totally makes it. Not too sweet with a subtle maple flavor. I did up the maple syrup a bit (and added some extra powdered sugar to keep the consistency right). The groom is a huge maple syrup fan and there was homebrewed maple stout at the reception.
I am so bummed! I made these last night and they don’t look like yours at all – it looks like a 5 year old made mine! I was out of canola oil and substituted coconut oil, which seemed like a good idea at the time – but I think it definitely wreaked havoc on the beauty factor of my cupcakes. They are sunken in the middle, bubbly, flat, crunchy on top, and took 20 minutes to cook through, but I must admit they still taste fantastic :) Maybe if I put enough frosting on them no one will notice?!
Hello! I absolutely LOVE this blog. Thanks to your recipes, a no-talent cook/baker such as myself can occasionally pass as “half decent” for company. :) Speaking of which… I made this cake a few day ago and froze it (hope that was OK!) and I plan to serve it to my in-laws this Wednesday when they arrive for Thanksgiving. How should I go about defrosting/icing it? (PS: I have a 4 month old baby myself – first one! I can’t believe you’re still cooking! You’re totally inspiring!)
Just wondering, how much exactly is 1 stick of butter?
It is 8 tablespoons or 4 ounces or 113 grams.
I made this carrot cake yesterday for my son’s birthday today. Wow! This is truly the most delicious carrot cake I’ve ever eaten. I made it as an 8inch layer cake baking the layers for 34 minutes. I used half brown and half white sugar and replaced 1/4 cup of the oil with applesauce, It was a nice rich brown once baked. My frosting was a little soft even after chilling. I could fix it with more powdered sugar, but I like it’s sweetness level as the recipe instructed. It spread nicely though and didn’t run off the cake, I just would have had to add some powdered sugar to what remained if I had wanted to pipe decorations. Not a problem! I would use this recipe again. Thanks, Deb.
hi deb! my husband loveslovesloves the whole banana bread, zuchini bread, carrot cake genre of desserts. especially when they are covered with vanilla ice cream or cream cheese frosting! i have tried so many recipes of all three over the four years we have been together and all, every single one of them, have been mediocre at best. i’m a really good cook and this seriously frustrated me. so finally, for his 39th this weekend, i tried this one. and it was sooooo very very delicious. so i guess this whole little post is just to tell you thank you. thank you for this recipe. finally i can make my husband a birthday cake he enjoys.
xo and happy holidays.
samantha
oh! i did mine in two loaf pans b/c they were more handy than my cake pans. i cooked them for nearly a hour to get a good set. and the parchment paper suggestion i ignored and consequently left a good size hunk of each in the bottom of the pan. the frosting was delicious. so very very yummy and perfect for kick starting my new years dieting plans. ha!
Delicious! When I was growing up, each member of the family got to choose their birthday cake recipe. My brother always chose carrot cake, and I’m so old that this predated food processors. I always had to grate the carrots by hand, and usually some of my knuckles, too!
The maple frosting is a great addition!
I made this tonight and it was a kick ass, amazing cupcake. I was introduced to smittenkitchen just this week and am a woman obsesseed, and this is the first of many recipes I will try. Thank you!
Best carrot cake ever, Deb! Super, super moist and super, super tasty!
Hi, first of all, I love your blog!!! next, I have a question on this recipe. I’ve already made the cupcakes and they are delicious, now I’m wishing to make this a bigger cake for an office going away party. I need it to feed 50 people. I was thinking of doing a sheet cake. I was just wondering how you might adjust the recipe and baking times. So far I’m thinking of doubling the recipe and using two 17X12 sheet pans. Would that work? I’m just not sure on the baking time. Thank you! any suggestions will be great :)
It’s my husband’s birthday today and carrot cake is his favorite (no raisins, no nuts), so I made this last night. While it turned out beautifully and tastes fantastic, I’m surprised that mine looks so very different in color. I was expecting it to be that amazing light orange color as in the pictures above, but it’s golden brown. Not a problem for me, as it will be covered by frosting anyway, but it seems to be the consensus after reading the other comments. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this frosting recipe, though. It will be my new go-to frosting… the maple in it is just fantastic!
I just made these cupcakes and they tasted fabulous! The only problem was that the batter in the middle was a tad undercooked (not cake-like and a little wet), eventhough I had them in the oven for 20minutes… I still don’t know what went wrong coz I followed the recipe exactly.. Sighs. Now i’m not sure what to do with them. Should I cook them more at a lower temperature to firm up the inside? Or should I just eat them this way? It still tastes awesome though.. =)
sugarashley — Most ovens are not perfectly calibrated and will not match estimated cooking times; the only reliable method is to always make sure a toothpick or tester comes out clean. You might try to re-bake yours…
I had a last-minute request to make a carrot cake for someone’s birthday, so I used your recipe and baked it in a 9×13 pan. It turned out fabulously, and I had more than enough frosting to do all the decorations. Here it is.
I made the carrot cake for my husband’s 30th birthday yesterday (Valentine’s Day!) – it was so awesome! I baked it in 2 8-inch round pans for about 34 min, and they turned out perfectly. It was my first time to cut out wax paper for the bottom of a cake pan, but I did it surprisingly well I must say – thanks to the fool-proof instructions. Thanks for this recipe – it will not be the last time I make this one, for sure.
i made these cupcakes for my dad’s 60th birthday dinner party and people were crying, they were so good. can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. everything on here looks beautiful and delicious!
This recipe is so great! I’ve used it twice and they taste so good! Just one little problem I’ve been having both times… The batter keeps exploding out of the cupcake pan about half way into the cooking. The cupcakes come out with tops that are stuck to the pan and then the middle sinks. I don’t understand why this keeps happening, I filled them less the 2nd time and it still happened. Any pointers?!
I’m so glad these are the first of your recipes that I’ve tried! Everything came out perfectly. Now I can never wait to open my e-mail to see what you have in store next. :)
I made the two layer cake version last night. I admit that the cake is good. However, I cannot help but think it tastes like a spice cake. I cannot get a carrot flavor out of the cake. I grated 4.5 carrots but it still tastes so much like the spices I added in (ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg). I will try it another time… I made the frosting with honey, which is delicious! Thank you for the recipe! (:
I very much want to try this recipe. I also have sever cans of carrots that need to get used up. Am going to experiment with pureeing said canned carrots to make 3C and see what happens. Was reading through posts to see if anyone else had tried it, but no, I’m the first one. Not that carrots are expensive or anything, but they simply need to get USED UP and this seems like it might work okay… The hub loves carrot cake so I’m sure he’ll be stunned by the results no matter WHAT happens. Will return to post results just in case anyone else ever wants to do such a thing….
I AM ADDICTED TO YOUR SITE! The recipes are soooOOOoooo good and the photography makes it all so “I-have-got-to-make-this” compelling. Good work, Smitten!!
This is my first-ever try at carrot cake. I’m making it for a friend’s birthday party. I am particularly looking forward to the maple cream cheese frosting. I did not have a lot of luck grating the carrots by hand so I ended up with very chunky food-processed pieces. I did spread them out on a big board and chop them by hand a bit more but they still ended up bigger than I wanted. Also I used 9″ pans but I think the batter would fit better in 2 8″ pans instead. Oh well! I hope it rises somewhat so it’s not a small 2-layer cake. The layers are in the oven right now. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these last night using my new Wilton SQUARE cupcake pan that I’m in love with! The cakes are so darn cute. Then I made little carrots out of some pre-made orange icing in a tube I had from a meringue snowman project that I never got around to. Cute!
Oh and they are very tasty too. LOL
Yummy, and perfect for Easter! Just made this last night as a Good Friday treat for my husband’s co-workers.
My notes on this recipe:
My oven is fairly new (less than 2 years old) and pretty precise, so I would recommend bumping the baking time up to 20 minutes before you worry about putting a toothpick in, as that was the time it took for my cupcakes to reach even a mushy state of done.
After making cream cheese frosting for this and for another cupcake recipe on this website, I have concluded that I need to stop bothering until I have an electric mixer. It is *impossible* to get the little lumps of cream cheese to smooth out simply by hand-beating with a whisk, even if you beat for the entire course of “The Daily Show,” and those lumps really do negatively affect the final product in both taste and mouth-feel.
Grating the carrots by hand doesn’t seem worthwhile, because as another commenter noted, with this method the taste is somewhat dominated by the spices. The bigger pieces of carrot produced by a food processor might actually create a more carroty taste.
these are sooo good! the only thing i would change is that i would NOT split the recipe in half next time. and i might even double it!!
Hi Deb,
I’ve made your carrot cupcakes in form of a bund cake: Awesome!! It tasted delicious and I’m quite happy about that. Only one question: any idea about the brown color the cake takes? Your cupcakes look brigh orangish in the picture, mine was brown with little orange shadow. Can the different vegetable oil I used (sunflower) make such a big difference in term of colour? Everything else in the recipe was the same than yours.
thanks for the recipe anyway, it’s a keeper for me!
Martina
I made this cake for my mommom’s birthday (which happened to be Easter Sunday), it was AWESOME!!! Everyone loved it. My husband didn’t even have to listen to me cuss at the cake, because it was so darn easy to make. Although, my poor steaming hot little kitchen wasn’t very helpful while frosting (Delaware is HOT this Spring) and there were a few choice words. I practically paid my hubby to turn the air in our apartment on a bit early (a big no-no). Other than that, it was perfect – - even if I was lazy and chopped my carrots in the food processor. I also soaked my raisins in about a 1/4 cup of bourbon for a bit and poured the whole thing in. Amazing! And yes, I had a ton of frosting left over which saved the freakishly spicy Trader Joes ginger cookies I’ve been debating over what to do with. Best snack ever!!! Thanks so much! You’re site is my favorite place to go. : )
I’m thinking of baking this a day in advance of my husband’s birthday party. Should I freeze them after taking out of oven? Or would just keeping them in the fridge be just fine?
I think the fact that people are still commenting on this recipe, two years after you have posted is a testament to how FANTASTIC this recipe is. I just made it (my first cake!) for my co-workers and received so many compliments my ears hurt. Pretty much, to sum the compliments up… “This was the BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had”.
And indeed, it was.
Wonderful recipe! I made it with 9″ rounds, it was so so moist and flavorful. It was for a kid’s birthday, and I took the leftover frosting, added food coloring, and piped out a big carrot on top. FYI – I made the cakes the night before and was worried they would dry out in the fridge, so after cooling, I froze them. It took a couple of hours to thaw, but i think it was worth it. Thanks Deb!
I made this last night, the BEST carrot cake I have ever had! The only “tweaking” I did was to use 2.5 c. carrots and .5 c. of applesauce in place of the 3 c. carrots.I thought I had plenty when I started the recipe, but lo and behold, myy brand new, very over priced fridge keeps freezing the things in the back of my veg drawer, and most of my carrots were squishy from freezing and thawing.
My sister and I made this last night for mom’s 60th birthday cake. As well as the black bean soup. Both were delicious, but the cake especially so. We were trying to surprise her , and told her that we were making russian black bread to go with the soup…believe it or not she was totally shocked when we produced the birthday cake, despite hanging out in the kitchen while we were cooking. My mother needless to say is not a cook. Just wanted to say thanks for the recipes that made a great 60th birthday dinner for my mom.
THESE ARE AMAZING! I only had one cup exactly of canola oil so used a half can of crushed pineapple for the last quarter cup and it was perfect.
When you say for the layer cake, “bake the layers for about 40 minutes each”, does that mean bake them separately?
You can bake them at the same time. Separate racks, rotate them halfway through.
I love your website and was so excited to see this recipe. I have been making my Great Aunt’s Carrot cake recipe for years, and was looking for a little change. I love your recipe, but the second go around I used 1 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 c brown sugar. Also, I omitted the ginger. Lastly, I used baby carrot food instead of the grated. For the icing,, I added coconut flakes. They were great. Thank you for all of your recipes. Next up to try, Challah bread.
I halved this recipe, and I was so pleased with the result! Grating the carrots was indeed a lot of work, but it really paid off. I will definitely be making these again!
Holy crepes, is this not the best carrot cake recipe ever? That’s what my BF’s entire family told me after serving it to them as his birthday cake. The day before, I made three 8″ layers, baked for about 35 minutes, and after cooling, stacked them on the counter wrapped in plastic. There was more than enough frosting, which I made with 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar and maple and vanilla extracts instead of the syrup.
This recipe looks amazing – I’m going to try it this weekend and see how it compares to the recipe I usually use, which is very similar. The maple cream cheese frosting definitely looks better than the frosting recipe I have. One question… no baking powder? Thanks Deb!! I love your site!
Your photography is always so gorgeous and artful. What else could motivate me to turn the oven on in June? Even my husband was looking at me strange ~ for suddenly wanting to bake something. My ten yr. old iced them and couldn’t get enough of the frosting. Cute little carrot cakes!
Please pat yourself on your back for me. thanks.
This is an awesome recipe! I made it as for my husbands friend as a thank you for a lot of favors. I used my food processor and I liked the bigger chunks of carrot in the final product. When it came out of the oven I thought the cakes were a tad greasy (next time I may use just a bit less oil), but super moist and great flavor! They were even better the second day. The maple cream cheese frosting didn’t taste anything like maple to me, which made me sad. I could probably have added more syrup as it wasn’t too sweet, but I didn’t. I just used the leftover frosting for the red velvet cake, so it for that it was probably good it didn’t taste too much like maple.
We love carrot cake too, and I use to hate grating the carrots. Then I discovered the Salad Shooter. It grates my carrots perfectly, and is so fast. I do cut the carrots into strips, but other than that it’s a breeze!
Hey, Deb – do you think the batter would suffer if half of it sat while the first half baked? I think if I increase the recipe to 1.5 times its original volume, I could use it for two 9″ square layers. The problem is that I only have one pan, but I’d rather make the batter all at once. I’m just worried that the second layer won’t rise if I let it sit for most of an hour. Any insight?
Nicole — I do that all of the time. It shouldn’t be an issue.
The frosting is soo delicious and perfect.
Best carrot cake recipe ever. I think the oil makes all the difference – they’re so moist! My new work colleagues are currently chowing down on a batch and they’re going down very well. The icing turned out really maple-y too – thank goodness for Canadian friends!
Deb, I LOVE this formula for carrot cake, and I love the maple cream cheese frosting. But in the wonderful heat that NEw England is suffering right now, I struggle with the softness of the frosting! I made a three layer cake with it and after sitting out for 30 minutes, the top layer started sliding off! Any suggestions on what to do to make it a little stiffer? THanks!
Oh, and when adding raisins, should I coat them in flour first, to prevent them from sinking to the bottom, or are they find without it?
Liz — Can you keep it in the fridge until the last minute? Frostings like this are just not very heat stable… I’d coat the raisins with flour first.
Thanks Deb! The 13 x 9 sheet cake is in the oven and smelling good! Fingers crossed the frosting will hold up tomorrow :)
Hi deb! Do you think this recipe will work well with three 6-inch round cake pan instead of two 9-inch rounds? I was hoping to make a taller 3 layer cake instead of a 2 layer cake.
I just made these for a birthday party and they were a hit! I made Bourbon cream cheese frosting instead(since I also made a red velvet cake and used the same frosting). Usually people like carrot cake for the cream cheese frosting, but I got a million compliments about the moistness of the cake. I also used my food processor for the carrots and then just chopped them a little on the cutting board to make them less thick. Thanks, great recipe!
Hi Deb!
First let me say how much I love your site – it’s surely the first place I come to when I’m looking for ideas or recipes, and until yesterday, it never failed to give me some awesome recipe which I fell in love with! I say until yesterday, because I was totally sad when the outcome of this carrot cake was really not what I hoped it would be (and definitely not what yours sounded like!!). Sigh!!!! What went wrong???
Basically I had the same problem of kcsnedah of comment 131 – an oily cake, with a crunchy putside and a sunken middle. Apart from the oilyness (which is a bit of an issue), the flavour of carrots + spices was pleasant… but definitely the cake didn’t come out as it should have! I hoped to find an answer to my drama here in the comments, but since it is not there, I’ll try bothering you… what could have gone wrong?? :(
Hi Deb,
You’re amazing! Made this last night while suffering from insomnia. What to do? defrost the pack of grated carrots and process them till fine in the cuisinart, then I soaked the thompson raisins in 1/2 water 1/2 Grand Marnier.
It turned out perfect! Not orange, but brown. Who cares, it’s absolutely delictable! Now, I’m debating on adding a bit of the crushed pineapple for zing!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
just baked these tonight!!! huge success!!
i added ground cloves and put way more maple syrup in the frosting because i live in quebec where we cook our scrambled eggs in maple syrup… we basically cant get enough!
these were super delicious thanks for the recipe!!!
My daughter-in-law’s favorite cake= carrot cake. So, since I’ve been smitten by Smitten Kitten, I tried these to celebrate her Sept 11 birthday. I’ve made lots (and I DO mean lots) of Carrot Cakes in my life, dear Maida Heatter taught me SO much via the many cookbooks by her that I own. My favorite Carrot Cake, up until now, has been from dear Maida…this recipe beats it. The process of this recipe threw me, but I followed it with no fear. The result? Unbelievably rich, moist, and flavorful. Thank you, Deb, for this lovely rendition of an all time favorite.
Dear Deb
Hi again! I am so addicted to your site Deb! My mother-in-law is visiting us next wednesday for about a week sunday before that is her birthday. also, its her first birthday with me (i married her son last march) and she would be with her son (my hubby) after a long long time. so i have decided to celebrate her birthday (its going to be a surprise for her!), even though belated. now, she doesnt like chocolate flavor, and vanilla is just so regular..so i thought upon carrot cake and came to your site and u never disappoint me Deb. the recipe looks quite fine, just that i have a query: can i substitute honey for maple syrup? we dont get maple syrup in our part of world. will it blend well with cake flavour? i used honey instead of maple syrup for sweet corn pan cakes and it was fabulous..but its a real cake and i dont want to spoil the frosting. thank you so much :)
Love
Pooja
Well I go into work at 10 and these were gone by noon. :) What an amazing recipe!
Hi… My question is can I use less sugar, I’m thinking half the recommended amount (as I’m making for my 82 yr old diabetic uncle). I refuse to use any other sweetener substitute. And I am not sure if less sugar affects the chemistry of cake making. I really do appreciate your input. Thanx!
I made the 2-layer version for a friend’s birthday and it was “phenomenal,” according to one happy eater, and I would agree. Only changes: I used 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar and 1 cup white instead of 2 cups white. Not sure if this made any difference.
Also, I processed the carrots based on a tip from Fine Cooking mag: cut carrots into 1-inch chunks and process in the food processor, with the standard blade, not the grating attachment, until very finely chopped (but not to a total puree). This is easier than using the grating attachment (can process all at once rather than feeding the sticks down the tube one by one), and you get the finer carrot pieces which Deb recommends.
A note on the amount of frosting: I found it to be *just* the right amount to frost a 2-layer cake fairly generously (1/4-inch thick?). For those who want a thicker layer of frosting, or want extra for decorating, I would make 25-50% more frosting.
bella — Great tip on the carrots, thanks!
Dear Deb
I made the cake with honey cream cheese frosting and though it came out fine,i had few issues:
1. cake was heavy and it didnt rise much. my baking soda is little old, could that be culprit? can i use baking powder instead of that next time?
2. it took more than 2 hours to bake, and thus turned out brown rather than beautiful carrot color of yours. i grated carrots as Bella suggested :(
i would love to try it again, if you may help with your inputs.
thanks
pooja
I made the cupcakes for my mom’s birthday last night. They were adorable and came out perfect. I wasn’t excited to grate carrots but really it only took like 6 medium sized carrots to fill 3 cups. No biggie.
Hi Deb, i made this and they taste awesome! just a quick question, i made it in the muffin tray like what you did, but ended up with a domed surface. how can i get the surface flat and nice like yours?
You might have just had fresher baking soda; I never used to consider how long mine had been open. :)
I want to make these for tomorrow, do you think I could bake the cakes today and make the frosting and ice them tomorrow? Any ideas on the best way to store them so they will stay fresh overnigh? Thanks!! :)
Hi Amanda, not sure if it’d help… u can bake and keep them in fridge, and ice them the following day. i stored the cake un-iced in fridge for a few days, n add frosting before i wanna eat it. just remember to take the frosting out from the fridge to soften a little before frosting the cake. hope that helps.
Hi Deb – Any thoughts on the effects of altitude on this recipe? I’d tried making it at least twice and my cupcakes either died (big big center divots) or fell apart each time. Seeing as I am more experienced with cake these days, I am game for giving them another shot, but I am wondering if the altitude up here in Denver was having an effect (I know that altitude/dryness wreaks havoc on cookies that don’t have at least double the butter in them, for example.) Any thoughts?
Lindsay — Altitude absolutely has an effect. I haven’t tested baking at any altitudes because I live at sea level, but there are resources online. You might start with this or this article.
Deb, just wanted to say that I made this cake today for a co-worker’s birthday tomorrow so I haven’t tasted it yet (although I’ve tasted the components and they are DI-vine!). I made it as a layer cake and instead of adding walnuts I used them on the sides of the cake with your star-tip treatment on the top. It looks wonderful. I’ve always loved how nuts on the side of a cake hide a multitude of sins! Thanks for another great recipe!
Ok, follow up: just tasted the cake and it is AMAZING! Everyone loved it and, of course, they assumed I bought it which is the highest compliment as far as I’m concerned. I’ll be posting a link on my site later today.
Love, love your site!
I used a friend’s recipe for the carrot cake, but when I got to her frosting recipe, the proportions just didn’t seem right. Thankfully I trusted my instincts and found your amazing frosting recipe instead. Amazing! Thanks for sharing!
hi! i m a huge fan of your blog and i had lots of success with several recipes i ve tried! (thx for that:)
i m wondering, what s the difference between cakes made with oil and cakes made with butter? i m european and i m used to work with butter but i m ready to learn!
you rock :)
There are a lot of differences but the main one is that cakes made with oil tend to stay slightly more moist, but they don’t have as much flavor. So butter generally wins.
Loved your recipe and posted it on my blog today since it helped me finally win our little holiday recipe competition. Great recipe! My brother also used your lemon bar recipe. Love your blog!
Best carrot cake ever! I’ve made this many times now, and it’s always brown. I’m also curious about the orange color that you got. Also, I bought a 2mm shredding disc for the food processor and I use that for the carrots. It shreds very fine – I think the food processor comes with a 4mm, so these are twice as thin and it’s a piece of cake.
This cake was a hit! First I made it as a 9″ double layer, then cupcakes and tonight I’ll be doing a 6″. My husband makes kick ass candied pecans so we throw them in there instead of walnuts, and I use them to decorate the sides of the cake. DELICIOUS.
Love the addition of maple to the cream cheese frosting!
So I want to join in the chorus of cheers for you because holy cow, i just made this cake and it was awesome!
Howdy! I just tried this recipe and it is the moistest thing on this planet. Thank you so much for a great recipe.
You are the best! I had never made carrot cake before, and used this recipe for my husband’s birthday cake today — carrot cake’s his favorite. He was FLOORED, and said it was the best one he’d ever had. I agree — this is the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted. Thank you!
Hi,
What size rectangular pan does this recipe call for?
The instructions are for cupcakes or a round layer cake. For anything else, check out this resource.
Hey deb, I made this on a rectangular loaf pan a couple days ago and no frosting, I just was craving carrot cake. It was absolutely delicious and enjoyed in less than a day by many happy eaters. I want to make another one now to keep here at home and enjoy selfishly!!! great recipe.
I’ve been eating up your website for over a year, now, and I hate that my first comment to you is so drole. However, I just made these delicious cupcakes for my son’s birthday (today), and I noticed the marked difference between my brown, spice cake looking color and your bright orange cakes. Did you do anything to retain that color? I did use the small side of my grater. (Love your food, love your pictures)…
I’ve gotten a bunch of comments that expressed the same about color. I, uh, don’t know how to photoshop so I didn’t alter the colors, however my old kitchen had a skylight and it was SO BRIGHT in there, colors often looked more illuminated than they were. But still, I remember the cake being orange. When I make it again one of these days, I’ll report back about the color in my current, dim kitchen.
I used this recipe to make a double-layer carrot cake for a cake auction this weekend. It was one of the highest selling cakes, and the buyer loved it! Thanks for posting the great recipe! I should add, for anyone else thinking of trying it, I made this cake using whole wheat flour and turbinado sugar, and the cake still came out great :)
omg! Made these yesterday and took some to our neighbors and some to work – EVERYONE wanted the recipe – best compliments were “best carrot cake I have EVER eaten” and then my fav – “This was slap your mamma good” rofl… yum yum yum! We are going to use this as one of our cakes at our wedding in Oct!
I made this cake for Valentines day last weekend. But I subbed a Gluten-Free flour blend, and it worked beautifully! I was worried that it would come out too dense with the gf flour so I sifted the flour and other dry ingredients together twice, and whipped 2 of the egg whites separately and folded them in at the end. I gotta say, I think this was the best carrot cake I have ever had! The cakes were a little crumbly, so if you try this, handle with care, and maybe flash freeze the cake layers before frosting. Thanks Deb!
Deb, this really is THE BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had. I’m so accustomed to dense, heavy carrot cake– this recipe was a humongous surprise! (But how could I expect anything but fantastic recipes from smitten kitchen?!) I split my sugar between granulated and brown (blending your recipe and and Ad Hoc recipe I found), and came out with the kind of dark spice-cake other commenters have mentioned. I also added a healthy dollop of bourbon, to no ill effect. :)
Anyways, thank you so much for another show stopping recipe!
I tried this tonight! My family loved it. I made it into a cake and eliminated the mapel syrup in the frosting. It was so easy and so moist. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I added fresh ginger (a piece a little larger than my thumb) to the batter, which was divine. Also, I turned out to be out of maple syrup, so I used whisky instead, about a half cup. Both good substitutions!
These sound & look wonderful! I especially like the Maple syrup addition to the frosting. The only thing is, I don’t add butter to my Cream cheese frosting. I don’t like the way it coats my mouth with that greasy feeling. I simply use 2 packs softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. But now I’m going to try it with the addition of the maple syrup, yum. Thank you for sharing.
Craving it right now!
Deb, do you know what size sheet cake this would make? I am going to make it as part of a “spring celebration” lunch with my preschool class (this plus artichokes and asparagus pizza!)
I made these last night and they were *fabulous* I added orange zest and orange juice to the batter and used chopped pecans instead of walnuts… Absolutely moist and delicious. And mine turned out orange too! Maybe it’s the quality of the carrot? Anyway, thanks for the great recipe. This is one I’ll keep for a long time. Recipe made about 28 cupcakes for me
My adaptation of this was absolutely delicious! I added toasted coconut and almonds, orange zest and juice, half a banana to replace some of the butter, some fresh ginger, and only about 1 cup of sugar… thanks for providing the inspiration! (:
This is by far the best carrot cake I’ve made, and I’ve made quite a few of them. Love how light yet moist the cupcakes are. I can’t wait to try this out as a layer cake as well.
I had lovely orange cupcakes too…other carrot cakes have come out browner before, but that’s generally when they have called for brown sugar instead of white.
Thanks!
This was absolutely delicious! I’m a new reader and this the second great recipe I’ve used from your blog, and I can’t wait to try more! I made this as a layer cake and it was so easy yet looked and tasted delicious! Thanks so much :-)
Best carrot cake ever–and I didn’t even make the frosting. It’s dark and moist and delicious. And you’ll be happy to know it absolutely works as a bundt cake, which is how I made it. A go-to cake for me for sure. Thanks.
Great success! Came out superbly (I made the frosting from the red velvet cake recipe) and was easy to make. Definitely try it if you’re looking for something easy and delicious.
I am so looking forward to making these they look delicious and my hubby likes carrot cake and a great way to sneak veggies to our son…
This recipe is great…I made these cupcakes for my roommate’s birthday and she loved them! Wouldn’t change a thing!
I came across this recipe for my niece’s upcoming wedding. I would like to make this as a 12″ cake (one of them), how can I adapt this recipe for a 12″ cake?
Just a short reminder. It seems if you don’t thoroughly mix the dry ingredients the baking soda can actually turn the carrots green while they cook. While still edible and delicious, they do look odd.
all i can say is “AWESOME” ,,,, i’ve made this cake several times and my family loves “IT”
This is now my go-to carrot cake recipe. I just made a friple batch for an Easter brunch: one plain; one with raisins and coconut with toasted coconut sprinkled on top of the frosting; and one with pecans topped with chopped, toasted pecans. All three got rave reviews. I love how subtle the maple in the frosting is. It adds complexity but doesn’t overwhelm.
Not sure who I love more, the author or the cupcakes. I love the personality and creativity of the blog as well as the recipe. Looking forward to trying this recipe.
So I just made these for the first time, I know where have I been all this time, right?! They were deeelicious! I was a little nervous about the maple in the cream cheese frosting, but I am glad i went with it…just a hint of maple and it was perfect. Why do I ever doubt you?!?
I just made this last weekend for Easter. Big Hit! It was moist but not oily and rich with flavor. Beautiful as a cake. I didn’t have 9inch pans so I made it with teo 8inch pans…came out just fine this way!
LOVE carrot cake!!
Have you heard of Hummingbird Cake, Deb? It’s slowly overtaking carrot cake as my favourite cake! It ALSO uses cream cheese icing :)
Hi Deb – longtime listener, first time caller. I’m a big fan.
My boyfriend’s birthday is coming up and this year he gets his favourite – carrot cake. I’m coming to you (again) since everything you’ve sent me has been spot-on. But this time I need to substitute. We don’t eat canola oil. Do you think olive oil would overpower the flavours? Would an equivalent of melted butter be a suitable replacement? Or would melted coconut oil be just too rich? Thanks for your advice!
Use any oil you’ve successfully used in baking before. All would work, each impart their own flavor. Grapeseed and vegetable oils are the most neutral, I think.
Made this as the second tier (10″)for my niece’s wedding cake. It was a amazing, everybody raved how delicious it was. This will be my standard carrot cake recipe from now on!
This came out perfect – I have literally been on the quest for a good, moist, not-too-sweet carrot cake for my whole adult life. The quest is over Deb, thank you so much for sharing this personal recipe!
These look amazing! A must-try for sure! :-)
I just made these last night as a gift for Father’s Day (carrot cake is his favorite!). They. Were. Awesome. Followed both the cupcake and icing recipes exactly and they couldn’t have come out better. And I am brand-new to baking, so thanks so much for posting this. Can’t wait to try out more of your recipes!
I’m thinking about using this recipe for part of a tiered cake (yes, it’s a wedding cake >.>), and I really like raisins in carrot cake, but I’m worried they might make it hard to level or split in half. Should I leave them out?
With a sharp knife, any cake can be split. Actually, to make it even easier, you can half-freeze the cake layer before cutting it, so you’re cutting something semi-solid that can easily be lifted. You can decorate and fill it while it is still defrosting.
I just made this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. I was so good! Absolutely the best carrot cake we’ve had. Thanks!
After feeling a deep need for carrot cake I decided to pop on here. I have only once had a recipe fail me from your smitten kitchen and that was more of a preference thing rather than a bade recipe. After changing it a bit to fit my taste better I ended up with the best carrot cake I have ever had. Thank you so much for the great recipe!
i made these for a friend’s birthday. he blew out the candles, sat and ate 6 cupcakes. when i came home, my sister had eaten one of the cupcakes i’d left behind. i told her i didn’t think she liked carrot cake. she said, “i didn’t think so either.”
I never post comments, but these were so good
I can’t not thank you! Had one for breakfast this morning! Perfect. Your recipes have never let mevd
Oops! Silly I phone. I mean: your recipes have never let me down!!
So, I know that this was posted ages ago, but I was looking for a a good carrot cake recipe (my absolute favorite kind of cake, which has to do with the lack of too much processed sugar, the glorious fresh flavor of the carrots, and, yes, the cream cheese frosting) and stumbled across this, and…can I just say you’re my hero? In five or so pages of search results, this is the only recipe that didn’t either use a cake mix or have pineapple or applesauce or something in it. (Yes, it has raisins, but they’re marked “optional” AND it calls for walnuts, which totally make up for the fruit thing.)
…
Yeah, I’ll just be going now. Thanks for the recipe!
Similar to Marit, I was looking for a carrot cake recipe, and I knew you would have one! I’ve been following your blog and I truly appreciate all the work you put in your recipes. So back to the cake – for the life of me! You can’t find a recipe in the web that doesn’t have pineapples, which I can’t stand. My husband’s favorite cake is carrot cake and I made it for his birthday which was yesterday and he LOVED it. It was so delicious and moist and perfect. I made the two cakes vs. the cupcakes and layered them. I didn’t have maple syrup so I just did a regular cream cheese frosting. Thank you so much for this lovely recipe!
I found myself with a surplus of carrots, and what to do? Carrot cake of course! I knew I could count on smitten kitchen for a killer recipe. These cupcakes were fantastic! I omitted the ginger because I was out of it, but they were still delicious. This will be my new go-to carrot cake recipe! Thanks!
thank you for yet another lovely recipe! i added shredded coconut, a few handfuls of sultanas and about 400g of drained, crushed pineapple to this and it worked a treat! :)
Deb, I’ve made this into a three-tiered layer cake and it was awesome. Never had carrot cake in my life until I tried yours, now I know what I’ve missed. Your cakes have never failed me woman!
I just made this carrot cake, substituting apple sauce for the canola oil, and frosting with a traditional cream cheese icing. Absolutely delicious! And, perfect for a rainy day. Thanks for the recipe.
I teach Culinary Arts and my students love your web page. The first set caved in, so we redid the entire recipe. We measured carefully, even used new baking soda. We filled the muffin cups (with paper) only half full. Please help! These taste divine!
Hi, Deb. Thanks for posting this recipe! I baked half a batch of these cupcakes on the weekend, and they were FABULOUS (even if all my nuts and raisins sank to the bottom). Next time, I’ll probably just stick to regular cream cheese frosting though. I thought the maple was too sweet!
Does anyone know why these cupcakes caved in? We would like to make these for an event.
I’ve never had them cave in before, so it’s hard to say. But the usual culprit in caved-in cakes is too much baking soda. You might try dialing it back, just a hair. Hope that helps.
I made a half batch of these today and they were perfect! My husband loves anything with cream cheese and he prefers baked good that aren’t too sweet. He loves these. For those worried about the frosting being too maple-y, You can barely tell its there, I think it just adds a little something different. A little vanilla would probably work just as well.
Just a warning for those who make a half batch – it makes more like 13-14 cupcakes. I tried just filling 12 with all the batter and they overflowed a bit. Still delicious though! And the frosting amount is perfect. Although I did have to add a few extra tablespoons of powdered sugar to get the right consistency.
Hi Deb, can I make the cake part earlier and freeze? We have a big 1st Bday party coming and I need to pre-bake some things, also please advise if I can freeze chocolate chip cookies – and if it’s better to freeze the batter or cookies already baked. Thank you tones and sorry if somebody already asked that question… with an 11months old walking boy around I am not able to spend more than 15 seconds by the computer and read the comments…thanks again!Paulina
Paulina — I like to freeze cake layers wrapped three times in plastic. Works great. You can decorate it still frozen; it defrosts in just hours at room temperature. I like to freeze chocolate chip cookies unbaked. Just scoop the batter, freeze it separately on a tray and keep it in a bag in the freezer until needed. You can bake it still frozen, just needs another minute or two baking time.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful recipe! This was absolutely delicious! I just made this cake yesterday, and took it to a family function where it was devoured! I had to use your cream cheese frosting from your red velvet cake…I could of just eaten it out of the bowl (well, I did, but only after frosting the cake!). Where I live a jar of pure maple syrup is almost $10! I also put in a 1/2 tsp of all spice…worked wonderful with the other spices especially the ginger! I absolutely love your site, and feel confident every time I make something new from your site that it will come out tasting fabulous!
I added 8 oz. crushed pineapple and it was so sinfully good.Everyone loved it and I will definitely make it again. The best carrotcake ever!
I have been reading your blog for the last few weeks and made this recipe tonight. I put the batter in mini-loaf pans and mini-cake pans, it makes it easier for me to give out to my family and friends. I keep one mini-cake for myself and give the rest away. My cakes were a beautiful deep brown. I added chopped pecans and just a small amount of raisins. The cakes rose nicely and they taste really good. Mine have a little crispness to the edges which I find nice.
I always cut the frosting recipes in half, if not quarters. I added just a little bit of maple syrup. What a nice addition! The recipe made 6 mini-loafs and 3 mini cakes.
First off thank you so much for this recipe, the cupcakes are sooo good. Moist and delicious. I had six people say that I don’t like carrot cake but I love this. I found that I really packed my measuring cup, I used 9 carrots grated really small with a box grater. I had orange cupcakes. I had trouble with the frosting never setting, but i just put it on like icing. I made candy carrot sprinkles and mixed them with chopped candied ginger and sprinkled it on the top. Thank you again for a recipe I will use and pass down to my kids.
I have used many of your recipes and love them all…I am NOT a baker and you have saved me hours and hours of research by doing all the experiments for me and giving me the perfect final recipe!! Thanks a Bunch my Internet friend!!
Valerie
Hello,
I am a long-time lurker but have tried many of your recipes already! I love the combination of wit, humor, story-telling and practical advice that you weave together in every recipe. My question is more general: Is there any benefit to bringing cold items, in particular eggs, to room temperature prior to mixing? I hesitate to do this becuase it sounds like a case of food poisoning waiting to happen, but thought I’d ask a foodie for input! Thanks!
Room temperature ingredients mix better and create cakes with better lift and texture. It would probably take more than a day for an egg to go bad at room temperature, and even longer if it was farm fresh, so there’s nothing to worry about there.
Deb,
This recipe is amazing. I thought I hated carrot cake, but I love it with this recipe!
Your blog is my dessert bible! This recipe will become a staple.
Still this is my favorite carrot cake recipe! My kids (4 & 2 years old) loves it as I do! Thank you!
I use 3/4 cup of melted brown butter and 1/4 cup of oil…the rest the same. Gives this recipe an unbelieveable nutty taste. Thank you Deb for this awesome recipe!!
How do you think this would do with grated apples in place of the carrots? I want an apple cake that is lighter and worthy of frosting, not dense or heavy like a muffin or quickbread. Any suggestions?
I made this carrot cake and made a video about it! http://vimeo.com/22525500
The cake is to die for. Thanks for an amazing recipe!
Hey Deb,
I made this cake and tried the cupcake way twice but even filling the papes 1/2 of the way the batter rises over the papers and spills all over the place! :( Maybe I’m overbeating the batter? How would I know if I’m doing that? This is the second time I tried it.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Ashely — Are you at a higher altitude? If so, the amount of baking soda/baking powder in cakes might need to be adjusted to avoid this. If not, I have no idea why it would happen unless there had been an ingredient measured incorrectly.
Well, I’m in Mexico City which is at 7350 ft (according to wikipedia). I’ll try it with less baking soda then. Thanks!
Whoops, yes, that was it. There are a bunch of resources online about adjusting recipes to your altitude that can help. Good luck!
Hi Deb, I know this is a way, way, way old post but I felt compelled to say that this recipe is one of my all-time favorites now. In fact, I’ll be making it today for my husband-the-cake-hater on his birthday, at his request. Unlike so many food blogs out there, your posts and recipes are always so edited, so good, and they always work. In fact, they do better than work. I’ven ever made anything from your site that hasn’t made it into my permanent cooking/baking rotation. That’s kind of astounding, when I think about it. Looking forward to your cookbook! Enjoy the holiday season!
Here I am again, and again, and again. My go-to Carrot Cake Recipe. I just wanted to let you know that I work for a General Contractor in MA and these cupcakes have been our “good luck charm” over the past two years since the day you published this recipe. Seems that 90% of the time I make them and bring them in to work, we win the bid that day. HUGE bid tomorrow – wish the cupcakes and the company luck!
Just to get one legitimate comment here (referencing the RSS- not those for the cake!)… I made this for my husband’s birthday and it was delicious! I ran out of time so we enjoyed warm cake with whipped cream. It was also delicious days after without any fussy toppings (obviously I never did get around to the frosting!). I wonder what it might be like with a bit less oil- still tasty with good shape? It’s tough to weed through over 300 comments. Hats off to the folks who have tried applesauce; I’ve never been brave enough to completely substitute it for oil.
If you want a way to lighten the recipe, instead of using applesauce or yogurt, both of which impart a flavor panel that may not be welcome, do as I do and simply replace the oil and the eggs with equal amounts of egg whites (eggbeaters, etc). I cut back on the moisture by 1/4 cup, but since this recipe wants a moist recipe, you might not have to.
In any case, you could use 1 to 1 1/4 cups of egg whites as a substitute for the oil.
If you also want to eliminate the eggs, each egg equals 1/4 cup. So you’d add another 1/4 x 4 eggs or 1 cup of eggs whites in place of the eggs.
You’ll want to beat the egg whites to a good froth before adding the dry ingredients. You’ll also need to bake only to the shortest time, as it will dry out faster without the fat in it. I simply bake until I can smell them. So if the time is 28-35 minutes, I pull them at between 25 and 28 minutes. A tester inserted into the center should still have crumbs and be moist. It will continue to cook after you pull it from the oven.
This way you can save the calories for the really important part…the cream cheese frosting!
I just made this cake and it was incredible.
I made this as a cake for my parent’s 40th anniversary. We had a dinner party of 12. It was a HUGE hit, even for the non-carrot cake lovers. I added a bit extra of the spices, and used vanilla instead of maple for the frosting (per my usually non-picky mother’s request). Thank you for sharing!
I took some pictures of the cake and it is on my Facebook page (giving you props of course)! Thank you!
I tried this recipe after reading the preceding comments and made some adjustments accordingly. I’ll list mine in case they are useful to anyone. I used the food processor trick to chop the carrot into teensy pieces, and it worked. The carrots mostly melted into the batter. I used less cinnamon (11/2 tsp), heeding some comments that theirs was more like a spice cake. I didn’t especially taste the spices, which I suppose was what I was going for. For flour I used 8 1/2 ounces, about 6 of which were all purpose and the rest were white whole wheat. I thought that might get me closer to the orange color but it was still more of a yellow-orange-brown. I made cupcakes and two tiny loaves (using some pans I have for fruitcake). I sliced and frosted the loaves like a cake. The frosting was tasty. I used 8 oz of confectioner’s sugar. Everything was beautiful and delicious!! Thanks!!!
I used this recipe as my inspiration tonight. My son is having a birthday tomorrow and wanted carrot cupcakes to take to work to share with his crew. We have this little restaurant nearby that makes a carrot bread that’s dark and spicy that we all just love and your recipe is the only one I found online that included ginger as one of the spices, so I chose your recipe to riff (as I do often!).
I used half dark brown sugar and half white. I browned 3/4 cup of butter and added oil to make the 1 1/4 cups in the recipe (no disernable flavor imparted, darn it). I also added a big pinch of cloves. I used the raisins and added finely chopped toasted pecans. It was just what I was hoping it would be, so thank you, Deb! Birthday boy dropped by and taste tested one and said it was the best he’d had and snagged another!
Made this as a birthday cake. Was so awesome.
Thanks for the great recipe, Deb! My mom requested carrot cake for her birthday today and loved it! The cake is so moist and I loaded it up with raisins and walnuts. I was lazy and didn’t use parchment in the pan, just butter so the cake stuck a little. Serves me right, but it was nothing some extra frosting couldn’t hide. The cake was a nice change from the Christmas cookie explosion going on.
Another winner! No surprise there. Turned these into mini muffins/cupcakes for bite size fun. Thank you AGAIN! You never fail me. The hint of pure maple is just genius and separates this from the rest. Cannot wait for your cookbook!
I have made these twice this morning and both times they raised up over the liners and pan and were hard to get out of the muffin pan. Also not the nice orange look of yours. And they also sunk in the middle. What am I doing wrong?
Janice-this is bizarre-this is exactly what happened to mine. I thought when using baking powder you always need to use with either vinegar or buttermilk or lemon juice.
any advice, anyone?
1/2 this recipe and they spread out and stuck to the pan, otherwise followed to a tee. Can this be mixed in your stand mixer if using slow speeds, or do you need to do it all by hand?
they’re good! and easy! no surprise.
Made this 2 layer cake for the first time tonight – its amazing!! Awesome recipe! I don’t even like frosting and i was eating this icing with my fingers!!!
Looooveee youuu and this blog! question: would i be able to use the carrot shavings from a juicer in place of grated carrots? or would the cake turn out too dry?
So delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’ve made cream cheese frosting in the past but I never thought to put maple syrup in it, it’s incredible!
can i subsitute pancake syrup for the maple syrrup ?
so I made the frosting: really liked the touch of maple syrup in it.
My frosting was too thin to frost so I added some extra icing sugar in it.
Your carrot cake is awesome. Just made for my mums friend, it’s puffy and yummy. Thanks for recipe. Greetings from Latvia. :-)
Such a delicious cake! I’ve tried many carrot cake recipes that I’ve tucked away over the years, and this is by far the most moist and flavorful. Thank you for sharing.
Made these for a Super Bowl party and people kept asking for more! Amazing how such a simple cake can please. Went with cinnamon cream cheese frosting instead of maple. No syrup on hand. Made them again last night and the tops fell in a bit. Could my baking soda be too fresh? Is that possible?
Thank you. I made this for my guy’s birthday. Carrot cake is his favorite and this was a smash hit (with him and a few other folks)! Your photos are beautiful; your instructions are clear. Excellent and inspiring site. Thank you.
Hi! I’ve made these cupcakes a few times without the frosting, and they are a.ma.zing! But now I fancy having a go at them with the frosting – anyone know how long I can expect it to keep at room temperature? Thank you!
made these just now and they’re the bestt. but don’t use real ginger as a substitute for the ground ginger. unless you like ginger cake instead of carrot cake. it sounded like a good idea before we ate it:/
It was a Smitten Kitchen Cupcake Weekend here @ my house. :)
Made the black bottom ones yesterday, carrot today & put some of each in a pretty box for my sister’s birthday. She said they were the best cupcakes I’ve ever made, so thank you for the delicious recipes! I had leftover filling from the black bottom batch and used it to fill 6 of these carrot cupcakes and it was heavenly. I halved the recipe with no problems to report, although I filled the cupcake liners nearly to the top as not to waste any batter and the 14-18 mins was not enough time to get them fully done. It took me somewhere around 25 min @ 350 and they still turned out very moist and tender. Mine did overflow over the top, but having a nice non stick pan and liners inside they came right out after I put them outdoors to cool for about 10 mins.
Can olive oil or coconut oil be substituted for canola?
just have to say… made these early Friday AM and they were STILL moist and delicious today. im very impressed! they even made it through two nine-hour car rides in the snow. i made them for a friend’s birthday before a trip and somehow ended up with a bunch of people who dont like carrot cake, so they stuck around longer than expected! at least the friend liked them. and it just meant i got a lot more to myself :)
Deb, I just made this cake for probably the 12th or 15th time. This time it was epic in a 20×20 pan and again, came out perfect as always. I am indebted to you and whenever anyone tries to sing my praises for how impressive this one is, I immediately pass all credit on to you. Thank you for making an indefinite number of birthdays and celebrations in my life shine!
Hello! I’ve just made this and they don’t taste much of carrot, but I think it’s because I didn’t grate them fine or thin enough. But my real question is what did you do for them to look so orange and pretty? Mine look brownish and didn’t overbake them or anything :/ Any input will be most helpful!
I’m eager to try more recipes from your site :) Greetings.
I made this in layer cake form for Easter dinner today and it was a hit! I never, ever go wrong with your recipes. Thank you!
Wanted to bring something to add to my mother-in-law’s spread on Easter weekend and, since I never seem to go wrong with your recipes, I chose this in layer cake form. It was a hit! Thanks for helping me impress the MIL, Deb :)
For what it’s worth, I used only 1 cup of oil; added half a can of [drained] shredded pineapple; and made the cream cheese frosting w/o maple syrup. Also wish that I’d doubled the cinnamon for some extra spice.
Hi, I just made these over the weekend,and didn’t come out as orange as yours and didn’t really rise. Any insights as to why? Thanks a bunch!!
Hola,
I just want to say that my husband and I love this Maple Cream Cheese Carrot Cake. I have made it weekly minus one week within a month, thus far. Now I am going to try the cup cakes. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
My 7 yr old son loves to bake with me. He was skeptical that a cake with carrots could taste good, but after his first bite he was in love with them. We made these into both mini muffin and regular cupcake sizes. This is the moistest carrot cake that I’ve ever! My family and friends loved them. They are delicious even w/o the frosting (but I can’t resist piping it on) . I can’t wait to make it into a 9″ cake. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Hi Deb! I wanted to make this as a 2 layer 9″ cake, but slice the layers in half to make 4 thin layers. Will I need to double the maple frosting recipe for 4 thin layers? Or is the quantity of frosting in a single recipe enough? If you could please give me some advice on this ASAP. Many thanks!
I am eating this cake,right now, as I write this. And I have to say, this is one of the best carrot cakes I’ve EVER had! Thanks deb :).
Oh also, it’s mothers day here, and as my mom sat in front of the TV with cake in hand and coffee in the other, she said
“This is the best mother’s day ever!”
Though I think that also has to do with that concert we went to last night. Hehe~
Although I DID have only 2 1/2 cups of carrots. And after I finished baking I realized that the 1/2 cup was still sitting in the cup! *oops*
And I added fresh ginger instead, and also used my Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting instead of the maple one. So I guess it turned out more of a spiced cake with cream cheese frosting instead of carrot cake? Oh well~
deb always love your recipes! made your leek mushroom quiche for mothers day and it was a hit. now this cake for the mans birthday cake. my frosting turned out more like icing so I added a bunch more powdered sugar and I could not get it to thicken after hours in the fridge. not sure what I did wrong there. so I just kind of dripped it over the top. going to celebrate with it tonight! thank you for all of your great stories and good eats!
I just finished making these! The frosting tastes great (i love the idea of putting maple syrup in it) and making them was fairly easy! The only change I made was that I used 2 1/2 cups of carrots instead of 3, which is great for a less carroty flavor. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Awesome recipe! I made it for my friends (university students with no access to home baking) – well, you can imagine how much they liked it :)
This was really fantastic. I made the recipe as a round cake (3 layers as I have 8″ pans, not 9″) for my youngest daughter’s first birthday. I put a little apricot jam between the layers with the frosting, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was a huge hit – thanks for making it easy to pull off an awesome cake (we’ll never buy a bakery cake again thanks to your cake recipes and tips!).
This was soo soo good!!! Thank you so much! I halved the quantity, and still got a little more than a dozen cupcakes, and didnt go with the frosting.. (just lazy, no other reason)… and the cupcakes were sooo soft, n moist, and just plain heavenly… I’ve tried other carrot cake recipes and I didn’t even get anywhere close to this.. Thank you so much Deb!!!!
Hi Deb – I’m going to make this cake for my friend’s birthday this weekend. Do you think the frosting would turn out if I substituted agave nectar for the maple syrup? Have you used agave in frostings before? Thanks!
Ashley — I haven’t tried agave in a frosting before. It could probably work but keep in mind that it is sweeter than sugar (and possibly maple syrup) so you might want less.
I made mini-cupcake versions of this for a friend’s 40th birthday – carrot cake is his favorite, and I suspect because of the frosting! :) We get tiny marzipan carrots in the grocery stores here, so I topped each mini cake with a carrot – all in all, a huge hit! We had people toddling off to the kitchen before dinner to get a peek at dessert. I wish I had taken pictures, but I made these in a rush, between coming home from work and heading to the party. Your instructions were so easy, I was done in under an hour (with help from the husband, who industriously grated all the carrots by hand). Thanks Deb, you made me the talk of the evening. :)
I just made these for my son’s birthday (yes he actually asked for carrot cake) and they were awesomly awesome according to him. They really were though. Thanks!
can I safely double or add another half to this recipe to make 36 cupcakes
Totally random question- My Auntie apparently likes crushed pineapple in her carrot cake and since I’m making it for her birthday, I’d like to try to make it this way. Do you think it would work to replace the raisins with drained, crushed pineapple?
RayAnne — I see no reason why not.
Barbara — Of course. This recipe should scale just fine.
I knew there was a carrot cake somewhere on you site! Just made it today for my husbands birthday. Yum! Again, Deb, thanks for a wonderful recipe. And, i Too, added pineapple. Hugs
I made this cake last night and I wondered if there is a mistake in the amount of baking soda. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons. Is this correct?
It is correct. You are also correct that it’s quite a bit for the amount of flour! But I promise, it always works. :)
I made these into mini-muffins (cooked then for about 12-14 minutes) and they were amazing. Plan is to make them again and bring them in for snack at my daughter’s school, as they contain carrots and thus can pass as healthy. :)
Hi, can i ask how much is 1 stick of unsalted butter in grams? In Singapore, our butter is in 250g blocks.
One stick of butter is 113 grams.
Made these yesterday. Fan.Tas.Tic. Made 1.5 times the recipe so used a little over 4 cups of carrots. Grated most of them with the smaller side and then did a cup’s worth on the larger side for variety. Added both walnuts and raisins, They were raved about and I’ve been asked to make them again. Once again, Deb, you delivered and blew the door down. Thank you. Now we wait impatiently for Oct 30th! I’ve already given your pre-order several times as a gift!! xx
I don’t know what went wrong! I can tell the flavor of the cake is really tasty…but they just didn’t rise!! I made the entire recipe as directed, except the grated carrots were on the thicker side, and I poured half the batter into a lined cupcake pan, and the other half into a mini bundt pan. I baked for 18 minutes and after I took them out and they sat in the pan for 5 minutes, the cupcakes totally SUNK in and were not baked all the way through at all! I’m super sad because the recipe looks so good and I was hyping up carrot cake to everyone and I might have to throw it away, which always makes me super sad. I stuck them back in the oven to see if more heat will work…probably a bad idea but I’m at a loss and now sitting on my couch, depressed at this fail! Maybe I’ll just make the frosting and call it a day.
Baking these now. First batch of 12 just came out of the oven about 15 minutes ago. Like Nicole I, I am disappointed. They did not rise and the centers sunk quickly. Inital taste is far too oily and sweet. In the cups where I filled a little more than 3/4, making the batter bake over onto the cupcake pan, the edges taste more like a cookie than cake. For the second batch of 12 (I have only one cupcake pan), I added about 3T. more flour and about a 1/4 t. of baking powder. I will follow through and make the cream cheese frosting – I know I won’t go wrong with that recipe. As for the cupcakes, hoping the second batch is better so I can serve them for my mom’s birthday. Love the site but there are better carrot cake and cupcake recipes out there.
I just made this and it didn’t come out well at all, oily with a bumpy, mottled top and crunchy sides :(
Normally I have great luck with cakes and Deb’s recipes in particular, so I did some digging around to find out what went wrong. Turns out you have to take care to mix the sugar and oil VERY well, and then give everything a really good mix before turning out the batter into your pans. When the oil and sugar are insufficiently mixed, the sugar leeches out and goes crunchy and the oil doesn’t stay “anchored” in the cake. I let my batter sit while I grated the carrots and toasted my nuts, and then just gently folded things together before baking since I was afraid to overmix. The sugar and oil probably separated during this time and I didn’t mix enough to bring it back together. Looks like I’m not the only one here with this problem, so if you get similar results to mine it’s probably the culprit.
It’s so strange to me that for 350 comments, just about everyone loved the recipe and the last three have found it terrible. Has something changed? I’m paying attention, but confused too!
I doubt anything has changed… The reason I left the comment above was to explain that people getting results like mine were probably undermixing the oil and sugar or letting the batter sit too long–that it is a “user error” and not a problem with the recipe itself. I never meant to imply that it was bad, I’m sorry! In fact, crispy crust and mottled tops aside, it was really delicious :) Maybe adding a note reminding people to mix things extra well would help?
Hey! What are your thoughts on putting this into a loaf pan?
Just made this tonight for my mom’s 54th birthday! She normally isn’t a fan of cakes but she really liked this one–it was moist, rich, and not overly sweet. Absolutely delicious. Just wanted to let you know that the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe I tried a few months ago was also a huge success. I’ll be coming back for more, thanks! :)
I made this cake a few nights ago, ate one layer the next day and froze the second- wrapped in plastic three times. I took it out to defrost this afternoon and when I cut into it tonight the carrots shreds were all bright green and moldy. Did I just not wrap it tightly enough?
Thanks for your help and your amazing recipes! :)
OK…Since the first failure, I was determined to get this right since my obsessive craving for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting did not go away the first time. It turned out fantastic the second time around!! I’m so glad I tried again. Deb – it really must be baker’s error. This time, I did make sure to measure my baking soda carefully (most of the time my guestimation turns out well!), mix my ingredients WELL, shredded the carrots more finely (the thickness of them the first round may have weighed the cakes down a bit) and used a regular cupcake pan. They turned out so great people were begging for more so, I would consider this recipe a success!
My sister requested a carrot cake for Thanksgiving (she makes the pies, so I questioned her only so far as to hear the explanation, “it’s harvesty”), and they turned out REALLY WELL. I did a practice batch on Sunday, and they turned out well there, too, but I got the cooking time just right the second time around. Thanks for another reliable recipe!
And, also, while I’m here — THANK YOU for your cookbook. We’ve made the mushroom bourguignon, broccoli raab paninis, slow cooker black beans, the rice casserole, and the raspberry scones so far, and all were a huge success. (To be sure, they’ve made it to our stand-by weeknight dinner list.) The slow cooker beans yielded a lot of extra broth, and we had some extra rice leftover, so we put the rice into the leftover broth, and had a black bean/rice soup without even trying. I wouldn’t be surprised if you planned it that way. Big congratulations — enjoy the success. :)
Deb – I wanted to thank you for this recipe. I made the layer cake (my very first!) for my father and nephew yesterday, who both can’t eat traditional Thanksgiving desserts for various reasons and this was the biggest hit of the night. Not only did everyone love it, but they said it was bakery-quality. It was moist and the frosting was perfect. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
Jess — It might work but I can’t give it a full vote of confidence without trying it. Not all layer cakes translate well to loaves as loaves need a little more structure and sometimes leavening to rise as high as they need to in relatively taller pan. If you give it a spin, would love to hear your results and I’m sure others (along with myself) would love to try it one day.
hi deb!
would it still turn out ok if i only used one cup of sugar?
I haven’t made it with less sugar than suggested (nor do I find the original terribly sweet) so I cannot say for sure. If you’re only dialing it back a little (i.e. 1/4 cup) it will almost certainly work. To halve it might make it quite dry (sugar adds moisture).
Hi Deb- I have these beauties in the oven as I type. Too bad I didnt say your answer to Q#55 until now. I used the fine grater but used 3 “large” carrots. Do you pack your carrot into the cup? I also substitued 1 cup of “raw” sugar…to make it slightly less sweet.
Great looking cakes i will for sure try them.
I just made these, and they turned out awesome! All of my previous tries for carrot cakes have been flops in the past, and I’m a pretty good baker, so it’s been pretty disappointing especially considering my love for cream cheese frosting… i mean carrot cake.
I only added 1 1/2 cups of sugar, skipped the ginger and nutmeg (due to considerations for the recipient’s taste buds – I live in China and Chinese people seem to not really like warming spices or desserts that are too sweet), added some vanilla, and they’re delicious.
I made the cake version of it for my son’s first birthday last week and it was a total success. I highly recommend using brown sugar instead of normal caster sugar and definitely adding the raisins. I also used a bit less butter and icing sugar for the frosting. It was sweet enough though a little less creamy I suppose, but it was well balanced and worked a treat!
Carrot cake… Never liked it. Then I made this a few years ago and now it’s a family fave!I always go back to this recipe… Made it for the family for Valentines day. Your recipes NEVER dissapoint…So yummy.
i love the Maple Cream Cheese frosting! Do you think it will go well with the Chocolate Cake from the Celebration Cakes?
the Double Chocolate layer cake?
issa — I don’t see why not!