This is the BEST Carrot Cake. It is a light, moist cinnamon cake with the perfect amount of carrots!

Come for the cream cheese frosting and stay as a carrot cake lover! I used to think that I didn’t like carrot cake, but, like dating, I just hadn’t met the right carrot cake yet. I’m saving you all the trouble of dating around and just introducing you to your perfect match. After all, what are good girlfriends for? ?‍♀️

This isn’t the easiest carrot cake; and like all good things, it is worth the extra effort. That is a pastry chef promise. I am not here for superfluous extra steps. Ain’t got time for that: life is hard enough as it is, amiright?

Now those of you who have been around here for a minute might recognize this carrot cake recipe and method. I did use it for these carrot cake cupcakes. I got so many questions/emails/DMs about baking it into a cake that I thought I would save us all the headache and just give it the post it deserves!

This carrot cake is incredibly versatile. I have baked it into cupcakes {duh}, cakes, sheet cakes, carrot cake entremets, roulades, and multi-tiered birthday cakes. The only tricky bit is the baking time. Unless you and this cake know each other intimately, it can be hard to tell when it is done. There really is no coming back from an underbaked cake ?

I’ve got you.

But, what makes this the BEST Carrot Cake?

So glad you asked! Some of the tricky bits are what make this cake better than all the other.

It is a whole egg foam cake. I know, you’re like, “Lindsey, you’re speaking pastry nerd.” A whole egg foam cake is when you whip up whole eggs with sugar until they are tripled in volume and hit the Ribbon Stage. This makes the batter extra light and soft. Rather than dense.
How do you know if it is at the “Ribbon Stage”? You know an egg foam is at Ribbon Stage when you stop the mixer, take the whisk and draw it across the top of the bowl, and it will briefly hold a ribbon of batter on top before falling back into the foam.
In addition to the extra aeration from the egg foam, this is a liquid fat mixing method. Once the egg foam hits peak fluffiness, we slowly drizzle in vegetable oil to create an emulsion. It is the same concept as hollandaise sauce or mayonnaise. Be sure to add the oil slowly, allowing it to emulsify completely before adding more. This will ensure that the final cake is moist from the oil, fluffy from the eggs (and baking powder), and not greasy.
There is basically just enough batter just to coat the carrots and nuts, if you choose to add them. Don’t be scared. Power forward with the knowledge that you are making the best carrot cake ever. You want to fold quickly and expeditiously so that you don’t deflate the batter that you just worked so hard to make.
Speaking of carrots: squeeze thy shredded carrots! Do you know what happens if you don’t? Goo. Goo happens. That is not a technical term but I think you get the picture. Also use gloves or you will have orange hands like me in the video ?
Orange is better than green though, and when carrots come in contact with baking soda directly, they turn green. Unless it is St. Patty’s Day, green carrots and beer aren’t cool. Honestly, it’s debatable if green beer is ever cool. ?Just sayin’.

Let’s Do This!!!