How to Make Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

cream cheese

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: ricotta cheese

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess

walnuts

🥗Healthier: pecans

💰Cheaper: sunflower seeds

Pecans provide similar texture and flavor at a lower cost

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare two 9-inch round cake pans by greasing them well and lining the bottom with a circular piece of parchment paper.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt to a large bowl and whisk them together until combined.

Add the shredded carrots to the dry ingredients and whisk them in until they're evenly distributed throughout the dry ingredients.

To a separate bowl, add the eggs, canola oil and buttermilk and whisk them together well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine them with a rubber spatula just until no streaks of flour remain.

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cake layers comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from their pans and cool them upside down on cooling racks until they cool completely.

Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip the cream cheese on medium high speed until it's creamy and smooth.

Add the softened butter and the vanilla extract to the cream cheese and continue to whip on medium speed until they're well combined.

Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on medium-low speed until it's completely blended and thick. If at this point the frosting is too thick to spread, beat in a tablespoon or two of milk to loosen it up a little bit.

Once the frosting has reached the right consistency and the cake has cooled completely, frost the cake with a knife or an offset spatula, making sure there's a generous layer of frosting between the layers before frosting the sides and the top.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens