Old-Fashioned Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
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Topped with thick cream cheese icing, this old fashioned Carrot Cake is the same recipe my Great Grandma used to make! Made from scratch, this carrot cake is moist, tender, and makes for a delicious dessert.
This traditional carrot cake is one of those recipes that never goes out of style.
Made with real carrots, crunchy pecans, and basic pantry staples, it’s a dessert recipe you can almost always whip up.
I am so happy to pass down this recipe from my Great Grandma. It makes this recipe just so special!
Though there are countless variations you can try, the base carrot cake has a dense, moist texture and tastes best topped with homemade cream cheese frosting.
From there, you can decorate it however you wish, and it’ll always be a hit.
Use this Southern carrot cake as your go-to recipe for Easter dinner, potlucks, or social gatherings.
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake Recipe
- Everyone Loves It: Seriously, this recipe is a huge hit during holiday dinners. Everyone comes back for a second slice!
- Easily Customizable: You can easily add or omit nuts or raisins, and change out the toppings on the cake.
- Cream Cheese Icing: Everything tastes better with cream cheese, and this icing is so easy to whip up!
Ingredients for Carrot Cake
There are two parts to this carrot cake recipe. Both require ingredients you probably already have on hand, which makes this recipe even easier to come together!
Cake Ingredients
- Eggs: These help hold the cake batter together and give the cake a nice, moist crumb.
- Vegetable Oil: Keeps the cake moist and soft. Canola oil works too if that’s what you have on hand.
- White Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps it turn golden brown while baking.
- Vanilla Extract: Just a little vanilla extract adds a warm, sweet flavor.
- Self-Rising Flour: Using self-rising flour makes this recipe easier because it already has leavening to help the cake rise. No need for baking soda or baking powder.
- Ground Cinnamon: Gives the cake a classic spiced cake flavor.
- Grated Carrots: Use a box grater or a food processor to shred the carrots. Large, fresh carrots give the best flavor (I’d not recommend buying pre-shredded carrots!).
- Chopped Pecans: Pecans add crunch and a nutty flavor to the cake layers. If you don’t like nuts, you can always leave them out.
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- Butter (Softened): Adds richness and makes the frosting smooth and creamy. Unsalted butter is best.
- Cream Cheese (Softened): Make sure to use a block of cream cheese, not the spreadable kind.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Also called powdered sugar, it sweetens the frosting while keeping it soft and fluffy.
- Vanilla Extract: Brings out the sweetness and rounds out the flavors in the frosting.
You can print my Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe or just follow the instructions on the recipe card below.
How to Make Carrot Cake
- Prepare the Cake Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch cake pan or line it with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, white sugar, and vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer on medium speed, or stir with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined.
- Add the Dry Ingredients: Stir in the self-rising flour and ground cinnamon.
- Fold in Carrots and Pecans: Use a box grater or a food processor to shred the carrots. Gently fold the grated carrots and chopped pecans into the cake batter using a large rubber spatula.
- Bake the Cake: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frosting.
- Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: In a medium bowl, mix together unsalted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on high speed until the frosting is smooth and creamy.
- Frost and Garnish: Once the cake has completely cooled, spread the rich cream cheese frosting evenly over the top of the cake. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top for extra crunch and flavor.
Recipe Tips
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese for the carrot cake frosting. Anything less will detract from the rich and delicious flavor of the frosting, and it won’t be as thick texture-wise either.
- Grease Your Pan: Don’t overlook either lining your baking pan with parchment paper or greasing it properly before pouring in the carrot cake batter. Otherwise, it’ll get stuck trying to remove it.
- How To Know When It’s Done: Keep an eye on the last 5 minutes of cooking for the carrot cake. You want it to be golden on top and a bit bouncy when you touch it— that’s how you know it’s done. Do a toothpick test when you think it’s ready. If it comes out clean, remove the carrot cake from the oven.
- Let It Cool: Do not try to frost a warm cake, the icing will melt! Let the carrot cake cool completely for at least 30 minutes (though an hour is better) before frosting.
Recipe Variations
This old fashioned carrot cake is delicious exactly as it’s made. However, there are some fun ways to change up the texture and decorations.
- Nuts: Pecans pair best with carrot cake but they’re not the only option. Chopped walnuts, almonds, and pistachios are all delicious substitutions.
- Raisins: People either love them or hate them in carrot cake. If you love them, feel free to add a handful to the batter for a chewy texture.
- Toppings: Normally I decorate carrot cake with crushed or chopped pecans. However, drizzling it in caramel sauce, and topping it with carrot sprinkles, or candied pearls are all fun twists. If you are talented with frosting, you could pipe some frosted carrots for deocation too!
Ways to Serve Carrot Cake
- Classic Slice: Serve a big cake slice on a plate with a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee with my homemade coffee creamer.
- Layer Cake Style: Want to make it fancy? Bake in 9-inch cake pans, then stack the cake layers with cream cheese frosting in between.
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes: You can turn this easy carrot cake recipe into carrot cake cupcakes. Bake in a muffin tin, then frost each one with tangy cream cheese frosting and top with chopped pecans.
- Holiday Dessert: Serve this homemade carrot cake as a holiday dessert, and impress your family.
Making This Cake Ahead Of Time
The best part about traditional carrot cake is that it’s actually more delicious when it’s had time to sit! This means that you can easily prep the cake the day before you need it.
To prep ahead of time, bake your carrot cake and let it cool fully. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you need it, let it come to room temperature before frosting it.
How to Store Leftovers
To store leftover carrot cake, place the pieces in an airtight container. In the fridge, they will stay fresh for 5-7 days.
You can freeze unfrosted carrot cake wrapped in plastic wrap. Then place it into a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge when you need it.
Frosted carrot cake should be stored only in the fridge as it does not freeze well with the frosting.
More Recipes to Love
- Carrot Cake Pancakes
- Cookies and Cream Peeps Dessert Cheesball
- Whoopie Pies
- Strawberry Upside Down Cake
- Crockpot Cinnamon Rolls
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have some questions about making hommeade carrot cake from scratch?
Can I add pineapple to carrot cake?
Yes! If you’re using canned pineapple, make sure to drain the liquid first. For fresh pineapple, cut it into small pieces. Know that adding pineapple will add lots more moisture to the cake and cooking times may vary.
Is it better to use oil or butter in a cake?
Oil tends to work better as it helps keep the cake moist.
What is the toothpick test on carrot cake?
The toothpick test is when you insert a toothpick into the middle of a cake to test for doneness. If it comes out clean, your cake is done. However, if it comes out with chunks of batter on it, your carrot cake needs more time to cook.
Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 4 eggs
- 1¼ cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups self rising flour
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- For the icing:
- 1 stick of butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Chopped pecans to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour – or until completely cooled.
- To Make Frosting- Mix together butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake. Garnish with chopped pecans.
Ooohhh! That looks really yummy!
Same here –I only like carrots in carrot juice or carrot cakes!
YUM! Do you deliver? I don’t live that far from you :-).
Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day. I’ll be reviewing quite a few homeschool products over this next school year, so you’ll see lots of new things I’m sure.
Looks yummy – not usually a fan of carrot cake but this does look good.
The carrot cake looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Love,
Marie
I used a can of crushed pineapple in my 🥕 cake
I do as well Also 1 cup of raisins.
That looks heavenly! I love carrot cake.
mmmmm I LOVE carrot cake too 🙂 So happy to have found your blog. I’m having a giveaway over on my Blog if you hop along. Hugs, Catherine x
I Love carrot cake but have never made my own.
This looks wonderful. I’m definitely going to try this one
Thanks for sharing
Diana
My husband will be in heaven after I bake this – btw, I am now following you via email – Ilove your blog!
shouldn’t that be tsp…of vanilla, cinnamin etc , rather than tbsp?
No, it’s tablespoon for sure. It’s not overwhelming though. Everything blends together & works perfectly together.
My families favorite cake. I have made several times but your recipe looks really moist so I will have to try it. You have to have cream cheese frosting it really tops this cake!
Made for Easter! Absolutely delicious!!
Do you ever add crushed pineapple to yours? I’ve had it that way and it was good also.
I add a cup of crushed pineapple and it works and makes the cake moist.
What I want to know is why does every carrot cake recipe call for so much oil? Surely there must be a way to make carrot cake without creating an oil spill. There are plenty of moist cake recipes out there using less oil, but never one for carrot cake.
Just made this cake and YUM! Found out real quick that a small piece goes a long way, it’s so dense and moist. So glad I’m signed up to receive your blog via email. 🙂
I dislike carrot too. Although it’s lightly sweet I don’t like its flavor. But it has benefits for health. When we harvest carrot, my mother makes a carrot smoothie, the fried carrot is coated sugar. But didn’t make a cake from the carrot. I must try this recipe. Thank you!
Your recipes ALWAYS turn out for me. That’s saying something cause I’m not the greatest thing my kitchen has every seen. I have LOVED watching and reading your blog and videos! Have learned so much. Thank you for sharing.
Love carrot cake going try and make your recipe.
I am making my cake now. We are in Yellowstone National Park and I am guessing it’s the attitude higher elevation my cake fail in the middle. I will going ahead and finished I hope it taste goods.