The Best Carrot Cake!

Y’all, this is the best carrot cake I’ve ever made or eaten! If you, or someone you love, likes carrot cake, then you are going to want to make this cake.  I made it last year for Leo’s birthday, and he declared it the best he’d ever eaten.

I made this cake yesterday for our church’s bake sale. It is a super-moist cake (who likes a dry carrot cake?) and you’ll see why when you look at the list of ingredients in the printable recipe below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, and eggs; beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Add lemon zest, beating until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Gradually add to oil mixture, beating until combined.

Stir in grated carrot. (You can grate your carrots by hand, but pull out that food processor and make things easier on yourself!)

Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks.

You can squeeze your lemons, y’all, but I really recommend this juicer. If you ever see one of these in a kitchen store, grab it and rush to the counter to buy it!  Here’s a link to a similar juicer one on Amazon (affiliate link.)   I cannot tell you how many times I have used this tool because I love fresh lemon and lime juice in so many things. It’s made so that you don’t need to exert much pressure to get every little drop of juice from your fruit.

In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread the frosting evenly between the layers and on top and sides of the cake.

Y’all do know about putting wax paper or parchment paper under the edges of your cake while you are frosting it, don’t you? Gently pull them out and you’ll have the cleanest server you’ve ever seen!

Garnish your cake with chopped pecans and a lemon slice. Sometimes I add additional grated lemon zest and whole pecans on the top.

I’ve updated this post to give you a printable version of this recipe.

Print

Carrot Cake

The most delicious, no fail recipe for carrot cake that you'll ever find.

Author Jane Windham

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups grated carrot

For the Frosting

• 1 cup butter 2 sticks
• 2 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 5 cups confectioners’ sugar

For Garnish

• small bag of chopped pecans
• whole pecans optional
• grated lemon zest optional
• thin slice of lemon optional

Instructions

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour. (I use Baker's Joy.)
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, and eggs and beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
3. Add lemon zest, beating until combined.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
5. Gradually add to oil mixture, beating until combined.
6. Stir in grated carrot. (You can grate your carrots by hand, but pull out that food processor and make things easier on yourself!)
7. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pans, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks.

For the Frosting

1. In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice at medium speed with a mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.
3. Spread the frosting evenly between the layers and on top and sides of the cake.

For the Garnish

1. Apply chopped pecans to the side of the cake.
2. Grate additional lemon zest on the top. (optional)
3. Add whole pecans to the edge of the top. (optional)
4. Twist a thin slice of lemon and add to the top. (optional)

Recipe Notes

Refrigerate until ready to serve and keep refrigerated until it's all gone. It will keep for a few days, but it also freezes real well if you are unable to use it all within a short time.

Right now, I’m wishing I had a piece of this cake to go with my coffee.

Do you think it would be bad of me to go buy my cake at the bake sale this morning?

I’m linking up to:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Debbiedoo’s Newbie Party