Easy Carrot Cake
Easy Carrot Cake is a really simple cake to make from scratch. It’s moist and flavorful with fresh shredded carrots, crushed pineapple and lots of pecans. Topped off with a simple cream cheese icing. Easy enough for anytime of the year and delicious enough for holiday gatherings.
Even though I have a major sweet tooth, I am not a fancy baker. I love easy desserts that I don’t spend hours baking and decorating but are still are going to taste delicious.
If it’s a layer cake, I’m pretty much out on baking it. Desserts have to be simple like this Lemon Pound Cake or this Strawberry Slab Pie , which is so easy with no pie dough to roll out. I like to bake delicious desserts with very little effort and that’s what I love about this carrot cake.
How to Make an Easy Carrot Cake
I used the mixer but you could totally just stir this cake up by hand.
- Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add eggs, vegetable oil, shredded carrots, crushed pineapple (drained) and vanilla. Fold in pecans.
- Pour into a well greased 9 x 13 – inch baking pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool cake completely on a wire rack.
- Make the icing by beating cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until creamy. Mix in vanilla extract.
- Spread over cooled cake.
- Sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired.
- Refrigerate overnight before serving.
Tips for making carrot cake
- Use freshly shredded carrots, not the pre-shredded from the grocery store or you will lose the moisture from the carrots and your cake might be dry.
- Drain the pineapple well.
- Use room temperature eggs.
- Toast the pecans before baking.
- Make this cake a day in advance to allow it to completely chill before serving for the best flavor.
Recipe Variations
- Use walnuts in place of pecans or omit the nuts if you prefer.
- Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg for more spice cake flavor.
- Mix in 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut.
- Bake in a bundt pan or two 9 -inch round pans, adjust cooking time accordingly.
Store carrot cake in refrigerator, covered for up to 4 days.
This cake makes a great addition to your Easter desserts table and is also great for summer cookouts and barbecues. Chilled cake makes a great summer dessert, especially with cream cheese icing.
We also love this old fashioned Oatmeal Cake with broiled icing for an easy homemade dessert.
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Add this easy carrot cake dessert to your baking list, it really couldn’t be any easier!
If you love this Recipe as much as I do, please leave a comment and a five star review, and be sure to help me share on Pinterest!
Easy Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups finely shredded carrots
- 20 oz crushed pineapple well drained
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chopped toasted pecans, divided use
For the icing:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- Add eggs, oil, shredded carrots, drained pineapple and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Mix well. Fold in 1 cup chopped pecans.
- Pour into a well greased 9 x 13- inch baking pan.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from oven to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare the icing by mixing cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Spread over cooled cake. Top with remaining toasted pecans.
- Refrigerate overnight before serving.
High altitude adjustments?
Hi Sue,
We used to live at 3500 feet in Wyoming and I never had to adjust recipes for the altitude, so I am not an expert on adjusting baking recipes. I did find this article from Wilton that might help you out. https://blog.wilton.com/high-altitude-baking/
Thanks for reading and let me know if you try this carrot cake and make any adjustments.
~ Milisa