Carrot Bundt Cake

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Y’all I love me a carrot layer cake but this carrot cake bundt cake is so much easier to pull together without frosting and decorating! This carrot pound cake is also moist and full of warming spices. I drizzle it with a cream cheese glaze and finish it off with some toasted coconut.

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Overhead shot of a sliced carrot bundt cake topped with cream cheese icing and toasted coconut, displayed on a white plate

Table of Contents

Carrot Bundt Cake Ingredients

For the Cake

Shredded Carrots: Fresh is best y’all. I always grate my own carrots because pre-shredded ones from the store come dry as a bone.
Granulated Sugar: You can swap it for light brown sugar.
Sour Cream: Full-fat is my jam, but plain Greek yogurt also works.
Vegetable or Canola Oil: Swap in olive oil, melted butter, or unsweetened applesauce.
Eggs: Large and room temp please!
Vanilla Extract: The real deal. You can also use orange extract.
All-purpose Flour: If you wanna make a gluten-free carrot bundt cake, just use a good-quality 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Double-check they’re fresh so your cake rises.
Salt: Regular ol’ table salt.
Spices: Ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. You can also swap ’em out for pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice, whatever’s in your pantry!

For the Glaze

Cream Cheese: Full-fat cream cheese always makes the best glaze for this carrot bundt cake recipe, but you can def use low-fat cream cheese instead.
Confectioners Sugar: If you run out, you can easily make your own powdered sugar at home.
Orange Juice: Freshly squeezed or bottled.
Vanilla Extract: Or orange extract.
Optional Toppings: Toasted coconut, robin eggs (my go-to for Easter meals, they look adorable on top!), pecans, walnuts, chopped pineapple, candied ginger, etc. Dress it up however you like boos!

Overhead shot of ingredients for making carrot bundt cake on a marble surface before mixing

How To Make Carrot Bundt Cake

Mix the Cake Batter

Glass bowl with shredded carrots, sugar, sour cream, eggs, and oil on a marble surface

Step 1: Add shredded carrots, granulated sugar, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla extract to a large bowl.

Wet carrot cake mixture stirred until fully combined in a glass mixing bowl

Step 2: Whisk together.

Flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices in a sifter set inside a glass bowl

Step 3: Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg to a separate bowl.

Sifted dry ingredients mixed together in a glass bowl

Step 4: Sift together.

Wet and dry ingredients partially combined in a large glass bowl

Step 5: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Fully mixed carrot cake batter with a smooth, slightly bubbly texture

Step 6: Whisk together until well incorporated.

Bake the Cake

Carrot cake batter poured evenly into a greased Bundt pan

Step 7: Add the batter to a bundt pan.

Baked carrot Bundt cake still in the pan, golden brown on top

Step 8: Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Carrot Bundt cake cooling on a wire rack, removed from the pan

Step 9: Allow the cake to cool in the pan, then turn the cake out on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Glaze it Up!

Metal mixing bowl filled with whipped cream cheese and powdered sugar

Step 10: Add cream cheese to your mixer and mix on medium high speed.

Creamy frosting fully whipped in a metal mixing bowl, smooth and fluffy in texture

Step 11: Turn mixer down to slow speed and carefully add in confectioners sugar in two separate intervals until incorporated.

Vanilla extract and orange juice added to the bowl of whipped frosting for added flavor

Step 12: Add orange juice and vanilla extract.

Finished frosting mixture in a metal bowl, creamy and slightly glossy

Step 13: Mix until smooth and pourable.

Carrot bundt cake topped with white glaze and sprinkled with toasted coconut, served on a white plate

Step 14: Drizzle icing over top of cooled cake. Garnish the top of the pound cake with toasted coconut and robin eggs and serve!

Recipe Tips

Don’t scoop straight from the bag, boos! Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off. Packed flour makes for a dense cake, and you don’t wanna mess up your moist carrot bundt cake like that.
Use the grater blade on your food processor for the carrots. It’s the easiest way to get them shredded fine. If you don’t have that blade, toss the carrots in with the regular one and pulse until they’re chopped up real small.
Microwave the cream cheese. Heat it in 10-second bursts until it’s soft but not melted. It needs to be fully soft so it blends smooth with the powdered sugar for the glaze.
Let the cake cool completely before you glaze. If it’s still warm, that glaze is just gonna melt off like it’s got somewhere better to be. Patience pays off y’all!

Recipe Variations

Add crushed pineapple. I don’t know why boos, but adding ½ cup of drained crushed pineapple to the batter makes the cake taste so freakin’ good!
Toss in some nuts. Add ½ to 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. Fold them in right before baking so they don’t sink to the bottom.
Mix in coconut. Stir in ½ cup of sweetened shredded coconut for a lil’ chew!
Stir in raisins. Add ½ cup of golden or regular raisins. Soak them in warm water (or a splash of rum!) for 10 minutes, then drain before mixing them into the batter.