My sweet tooth is a big one and my love for dessert is almost as big as my love for bacon, cocktails, and salads.
When it comes to dessert my primary skills fall into two categories: Cookies and Pies. At Christmas time I make endless amounts of cookies and ding-dong-ditch my family and friends as I drop trays of them on their front steps. For Thanksgiving, my brother-in-lawand I brainstorm for a good month about the types of pies we’ll serve to the family. We come up with a well-rounded list ranging from Pecan to Cherry, the classic Pumpkin, and everything else in between. I usually make at least six pies every Thanksgiving!
Why am I am telling you about cookies and pies when this article is called Easiest Carrot Cake?
My assumption – which maybe your’s, too – has always been that cake is difficult to make. All that flour, measuring, the ratios of baking soda to baking powder, etc. And don’t even get me started on the frosting! Do I need a piping bag? Do I need a special tool to spread it around? Oh jeez! For all of my years, I’ve assumed cakes are far beyond my skill set.
One weekend my Dad was coming to town to hang out with my son and me while Justin was on an international work trip. I love to cook for my Dad and wanted to make something really special for him. I asked him if he had a preference for dessert while he was here and we finally settled on Carrot Cake. I thought, “Really Dad, you want me to bake a cake?” But then I realized that if I was going to bake my first ever from scratch cake, he was the right audience. He’d eat it if it was horrible, but never tell me and if it was good, like really good he’d certainly tell me.
Well, he told me and you guys, it was GOOD. Easiest Carrot Cake was a hit, a sinch to make, and truly beautiful.
I’m not winning any cake-baking competitions anytime soon, but Easiest Carrot Cake – let me tell you – is truly a prize-winning sweetheart.
Three Tips for Making Easiest Carrot Cake Even Easier
First things first, this cake batter needs room for mixing. The combination of the ingredients can be bulky and you need a bowl with a large circumference to mix and distribute all the ingredients evenly. So choose your largest mixing bowl.
Second, the most complex parts of Easiest Carrot Cake are shredding the carrots and chopping the pecans, which both have supermarket shortcuts if you’d prefer. You can buy pre-shredded carrots in the produce section and pre-chopped Pecans. See, Easiest Carrot Cake can get even easier!
Third, for the frosting, which contains both butter and cream cheese, it is truly best to use them at room temperature. Pull them out of the refrigerator from the start of the cake-making process and they’ll be good to go when you need them.
How to Make Easiest Carrot Cake
To make the cake, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. You can do this vigorously with a whisk or use an electric hand or stand mixer. Once combined, add the flour,
baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Mix well to combine and incorporate. Finally, fold in the shredded carrots with a spatula or wooden spoon until they are evenly distributed.
The batter will be fairly loose and smell wonderfully fragrant from the cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
Grease and Flour the Baking Pan
To ensure the fully baked cake will come out of the baking pan, it must be buttered and floured! Using one tablespoon of butter on the back of a paper towel or the wrapper from the stick of butter, grease all parts of the baking pan. Really spread it around! You do not need a thick coating, just enough to cover all sides. Once all sides of the 9 x 13 baking pan are greased, distribute one tablespoon of flour across the baking pan, shaking it around the entire pan until it’s fully coated. Similar to the step with the butter, the flour doesn’t need to be thick, just evenly distributed.
Now that your 9 x 13 baking pan is ready to go, pour in the carrot cake batter and put it into the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Make the Cream Cheese Icing
Cream Cheese Icing is essential for Easiest Carrot Cake and you’ll see why after one bite! While the cake is baking, make the icing by combining the butter, cream cheese (this is my favorite lactose-free version), and vanilla in a medium-sized mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer. Once combined, add the confectioner’s sugar ½ cup at a time until fully incorporated. Repeat this process until the entire four cups of confectioner’s sugar are combined. This takes about 5 minutes. Set the icing aside and allow it to sit at room temperature.
Cool and Frost the Cake
After the cake has been baked for 45 minutes, insert the tip of a knife into the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is fully baked and can be removed. If not, allow the cake to bake for another 5 minutes.
Once fully baked, allow the cake the cool for 5 – 10 minutes in the baking pan.
After 5 to 10 minutes, run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake to help it easily release. Place a parchment-lined cooling rack on top of the baking pan, parchment side down. Invert the baking pan on top of the cooling rack, give it a gentle shake and your cake will fall out! Let the cake cool completely, which takes 30 minutes to an hour.
Once completely cooled, frost the cake. I find the easiest way to do this is by dolloping large heaps of frosting across the entire cake, which helps ensure an even distribution of icing with very little effort. Spread the frosting using a rubber spatula, ensure it gets to all the edges, corners, nooks, and crannies.
Top with the chopped pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon and you’re ready to enjoy!
Easiest Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 1 1/4 C Vegetable Oil
- 2 C Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 C All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp Allspice
- 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
- 3 C Shredded Carrots
- 1/2 C Chopped Pecans
Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/2 C Butter
- 8 Oz Cream Cheese (Dairy Free or Regular)
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 C Confectioner's Sugar
Instructions
Make and Bake the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the flour 1 cup at a time until boht cups are fully incorporated. Add the baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix well to incorporate.
- Fold in the carrots to the cake batter until evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes.
Make the Cream Cheese Icing
- Combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix well until fully combined and creamy.
- Add the confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing to incorporate each time. Repeat this process until all 4 cups are added.
Cool and Frost the Cake
- Once the cake is fully baked, allow it to cool for 5 - 10 minutes in the baking pan. After 5 - 10 minutes, turn the cake out on to a parchment lined cooling rack.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting; 30 - 60 minutes.
- Frost the completely cooled cake with all of the cream cheese icing by spreading it evenly across the cake with a rubber spatula.
- Top with chopped pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
