Who doesn’t love carrot cake? Especially when it is super moist and topped with luscious cream cheese icing.
My best friend Linda from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada makes this cake and it really is the best carrot cake recipe around.
Pour the cake batter into a greased tube pan OR 9″ x 13″ pan OR 2 loaf pans. You can also make 3 thin round cake layers (makes room for lots of cream cheese icing).
The cream cheese icing is, of course, half the appeal of carrot cake (for me, anyway)! The amounts that the original recipe called for are in the recipe section below. Linda finds that it’s too much icing. If you think so too, look for her halved recipe below.
Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups carrots, grated
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped, optional
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon orange juice
- 3 or 4 cups icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Combine the dry ingredients (the first 5 in the list) in a bowl.
- In another bowl, mix the sugar, oil, eggs, carrots, and walnuts well. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix together well.
- Bake at 350ºF for about an hour. Stick in a fork or toothpick to check for doneness.
To Make the Icing:
- Cream the cream cheese until it is soft and smooth.
- Add the other ingredients and mix together well.
Nutrition
Linda says that “when I used the above amounts, it made way, way too much icing. So I always make half:
- 250 grams cream cheese (about half a pound), softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon orange juice
- about 2 cups icing sugar
Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and juice. Add the icing sugar gradually, until you have a nice, fairly thick icing consistency.
If you make the cake in a tube pan, you’ll have enough icing for a 2-layer cake using half the recipe. If you make three layers you will need to make the whole batch of cream cheese icing.
Linda says: This recipe won an award in my office Carrot Cake Contest. It’s the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted – whether made in someone’s home, in a bakery, or in a restaurant. And it’s very easy to make!
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Have a look at another easy carrot cake recipe, this one a pineapple carrot cake.
If you like this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you share it on social media. Thanks.