The Best Carrot Cake Recipe

Professional Tips for Making Moist Carrot Cake

• Liquid fat, whole egg foam cake. I just threw a lot of pastry terms at you, but the oil in combination with the mixing method make this cake incredibly moist and tender.
• Shred your own carrots and squeeze them. Pre-shredded carrots are dryer and thicker than ones you do yourself. Peel, shred and squeeze for the perfect cake. Too much liquid will not make your cake moist, it will make it gummy.
• Use horse carrots if you can find them. They are bigger, juicier and more flavorful than the skinny ones in the bags! If your grocery store has loose carrots, chances are they are horse carrots. They just don’t call them that because no one would buy them. 😂

Ingredients Needed for the Cake

• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a tender, soft cake.
• Sugar: I use granulated sugar in this cake. It is here for the more obvious flavor reasons, but also to aid in leavening, moisture, texture and stability.
• Baking Soda: Do check the freshness of your baking soda! It does lose potency over time. If it’s not fresh, send it to the back of the refrigerator to absorb some odors, or clean your marble countertops with it!
• Baking Powder: Double acting baking powder will react instantly when it is mixed with an acid, which is sour cream here, and then again when it is heated. It allows for a much more even rise than baking soda alone. It creates an evenly risen and baked crumb.
• Cinnamon: We know from my cinnamon scone recipe that I love the warming spice cinnamon provides. In this cake, I use Saigon cinnamon but any cinnamon will do.
• Kosher Salt: Kosher salt will amplify all the other flavors and really make this cake stand out.
• Eggs: Whole eggs allow you to emulsify all that oil into the batter, resulting in a moist, not greasy, cake.
• Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil makes this cake exceptionally moist. I emulsify it into the sugar and eggs to make the batter extra moist and not greasy. Be sure to choose a neutral oil because there is enough in this cake that you will taste it if you use olive oil or a blend.
• Lemon Juice: My motto for citrus juices is that fresh is always best. If you must use store-bought, try to find a frozen option that is frozen fresh lemon juice.
• Carrots: I use freshly peeled, grated and squeezed carrots for carrot cake. I also use horse carrots if I can find them. They are bigger, juicier and more flavorful than the skinny ones in the bags! If your grocery store has loose carrots, chances are they are horse carrots.
• Walnuts: Walnuts are optional here. When I use them I lightly toast them first to bring out their best flavor.

• A different fat: Okay, real talk. There is a difference between what you *can* do and what you should do here. You can substitute oil for melted butter but the cake will not be as moist. You can also substitute a different oil but, if the oil has flavor, your cake will taste like that oil. One time in the restaurant I was in a pinch, and the only thing we had was blended oil, and the cake was inedible.   
• Pre-shredded carrots: You absolutely can substitute pre-shredded, store-bought carrots. The cake will still be delightful. It will be EVEN BETTER if you shred them fresh.
• Different flours: You can substitute pastry flour but I would not suggest substituting cake flour. It doesn’t have enough gluten to support all that oil and carrots.

How to Make The Best Carrot Cake

Use these instructions to make the best carrot cake every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Prepare the ingredients:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350˚F convection or 375˚F conventional. Spray  2, 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom with a parchment circle. To make your own, trace the pan on a piece of parchment then cut out a circle.  

Step 2: Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Step 3: Add the lemon juice to the vegetable oil and set aside.

Step 4: Peel and shred the carrots on a box grater on the medium size. Squeeze out the excess juice from your carrots using cheesecloth or paper towels; discard or drink it!

Make the cake:

Step 5: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage.

What is ribbon stage? Ribbon stage is when the whole egg foam (eggs whipped with sugar) will hold a ribbon on its surface before slowly disappearing.

Step 6: With the mixer running on high (still with the whisk attachment), slowly pour in the vegetable oil mixture and whisk until completely emulsified (i.e. you can’t see any oil). It will deflate a bit but it will still look like a light, yellow cloud.

Step 7: Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the dry ingredients all at once just until streaky.

Step 8: Fold in the walnuts and carrots until there are no more lumps of flour and the batter is just combined. Please don’t over mix. If you think it’s done, it is.

Step 9: Divide between the two pans. If you are feeling extra or just want to ensure they bake evenly, use a scale to make sure the batter is perfectly divided.  

Step 10: Bake 25 minutes or until you can gently press on the center and feel resistance. It shouldn’t feel like liquid under there! There is too much oil to use the cake tester. I know, the stress! But you’ve got this.  

Step 11: Cool 5 minutes in the pan then turn out onto wire rack and cool upside-down. Yes, upside-down! Let cool completely before frosting.

Make the cream cheese frosting

Step 1:  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat until smooth.

Step 2: Add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat to incorporate.