A super moist and incredibly delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! This two-layered beauty is the star at every Easter party!
Easter is coming soon, and you have to make this carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for your family. It’s a super moist cake because of the use of unsweetened applesauce with a creamy cream cheese frosting on top!
Two-Layered Cake
The highlight of this carrot cake are the two layers! In my opinion, a two-layered cake looks just so much more professional and noble.
In fact, it’s not too complicated to make a two-layered cake. Just try it out, and you will be surprised. There are a few simple rules to follow, like with every other cake recipe.
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You can use storebought applesauce for this recipe or make your own at home. I prefer to make my own one as I then can choose the kind of apples I want and am sure that it’s unsweetened. The cake has already enough calories, trust me. Have a look at my recipe for steamed applesauce or this unsweetened apple sauce!
To make it even more beautiful, top it with a few whole and some chopped pecan nuts.
It’s important that the baked cakes are even, otherwise, the whole cake could fall over once decorated. To achieve this, cut away all uneven parts of each cake base using a sharp knife. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
More Easter Recipes You’ll Love
- Easter Bunny Rolls
- Braided Easter Bread
- Vegan Zopf Bread – Swiss Braided Bread
- Braided Nutella Bread
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📖 Recipe
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
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Plus, enjoy weekly doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- 1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 4 cups shredded carrots
- ⅔ cup pecan nuts, roasted & chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ⅔ cup butter
- 1⅓ cup cream cheese
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C) conventional. Line a 9inch (22 cm) round cake pan with baking paper or grease well with oil/butter.
- Toast pecan nuts for a few minutes over medium heat, chop,, and set aside.
- Add the oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix for one minute. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
- Mix in the shredded carrots and chopped pecan nuts.
- Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder, and salt and mix until everything is well combined.
- Pour half of the batter into the lined caked pan and bake for 35 minutes in the middle of the preheated oven. Let it cool for a few minutes on a cooling wrack. Carefully take on the first cake base.
- Line the cake pan again, and repeat with the second half of the batter. Do you have two equal cake pans at home? Bake both cake base at the same time.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Meanwhile, cook the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns golden brown, but dont burn. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Mix the butter with the cream cheese in a large bowl. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and powdered sugar and mix until you have a smooth frosting.
Decoration
- It’s important that the baked cakes are even, otherwise, the whole cake could fall over once decorated. To achieve this, cut away all uneven parts of each cake base using a sharp knife. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
- Place one cake base on a plate and top it with about ⅓ of the frosting. Spread it even using a baking spatula.
- Place the second cake base on top and repeat the procedure. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly around the cake. If you want, you can decorate it with a few extra pecan nuts.
- Store it in the refrigerator until serving.
Notes
- Bake the carrot cake one day in advance, store it in the refrigerator, and decorate with the cream cheese frosting a few hours before serving.
- The frosting can get runny if too warm. If you have time, refrigerate the cake for a few hours before serving.
- Store the cake in the refrigerator and eat within 2 days.
Nutrition
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This cake looks amazing delicious 🙂
Thank you, Jeanette. My family loved it ?
My husband has been wanting carrot cake, and I have never made on. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh then you could make this one on the long Easter weekend for him ?Happy Baking Courtney!
One of the most delicious cake I’ve ever had. Thanks, Aline!
Happy to hear that! You are more than welcome ❤️
Can’t wait to try this!
Easter would be the perfect occasion for it!
I love the look of the cake! I’m not such a big fan of the cream cheese frosting but I do appreciate a mouth-watering looking cake which is definitely your cake!
May I ask what camera and lenses you use for your food photography, please? I have a section about food as well and am just trying to figure which lens is the best for this type of photos. Thanks!
Hi Alena. I am very happy that you like the look of my cake. You could try to make another topping instead of cream cheese, cashew nut frosting would go well with the carrot cake. I use my Canon EOS 6D and stocked it up with a 50mm 1.8 lens, which is an affordable and very effective lens for food photography.