Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe - The Mountain Kitchen (2024)

This is the ultimate carrot cake!The sweetness of the carrots, the warmth of the cinnamon and ginger wrapped in a cream cheese frosting with the combination of the pecans makes for a complexity of flavors like no other cake.

I always try to bake whatever kind of cake David wants for his birthday. Usually, his number one cake of choice is Carrot Cake. I found a really good carrot cake recipe last year and used the same one again this year.

How To Make Ultimate Carrot Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly coating with butter and dusting them with flour.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, vanilla, and pineapple together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. By hand, stir in the carrots, pecans (and raisins, if using) just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cakes in their pans for at least 30 minutes before attempting to remove them. Continue to cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the extracts and beat just until incorporated. Beat in sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting has the flavor and consistency you want. You may not need to add all of the sugar.

Place the bottom layer on a cake plate. Scoop about 1 ½ cups of the cream cheese icing onto the top of the bottom cake layer. Using a butter knife oroffset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface.

Carefully place the second layer on top. Scoop the rest of the frosting on the top of the cake and spread evenly, easing the frosting down the sides. Spread the icing on the sides of the cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator a little while to firm up the frosting before slicing.

Note:If you want to cut back on sugar, eliminate the brown sugar! You won’t even miss it!I’ll blame it on cold medication that I was taking for forgetting to add the brown sugar, but you cannot even tell it.

It’s hard to bake during the workweek, so I waited until Sunday to make him his cake. He was a little impatient, but he finally got his cake.

With the holidays coming up, I know this is a favorite in many homes. I hope you will try this recipe for this Ultimate Carrot Cake and share it with your families and let me know what you think. Besides, it’s loaded with veggies and it is so good for you, right?!?

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Photos Updated: 11/23/2018