Delightful and easy, this Easy Carrot Cake Recipe gives a new twist to the classic Easter dessert in pound cake form!
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The Perks and Highlights of this Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: This recipe is a nod to American baking with a fun twist—carrots and a zesty orange cream cheese icing.
Primary Cooking Method: Get ready to bake your way to glory with this straightforward yet stunning cake.
Dietary Info: It’s vegetarian-friendly and adaptable for gluten-free and dairy-free diets.
Key Flavor: The carrots bring natural sweetness and moisture, complemented perfectly by the spiced batter and citrusy icing.
Skill Level: Easy
Sweet Highlights:
- Quick Elegance: Simple steps lead to an impressive, crowd-pleasing cake.
- Carrot Magic: They add moisture, sweetness, and a bit of charm.
- Zesty Icing: The orange cream cheese icing is a game-changer, adding a creamy, tangy finish.
- Versatile Delight: Easily tweakable to suit different dietary needs.
- Comfort in a Slice: Perfect for celebrations or just because, it’s comfort food at its finest.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- Carrots: The main event! Shredded up, these veggies bring moisture, sweetness, and a bit of veggie virtuousness to your cake.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetness central! It balances the savory notes of the carrots and adds to the cake’s tender texture.
- Sour Cream: Here for the moisture! It ensures every slice is as moist as can be and adds a slight tang.
- Vegetable/Canola Oil: Fat is where it’s at! This keeps the cake ultra-moist and light.
- Eggs: They’re the binders, the lifters, and the moisture-bringers. These guys do it all!
- anilla Extract: A splash of aromatic sweetness that makes everything taste homemade.
- All-Purpose Flour: The cake’s backbone, providing structure while keeping things tender.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Our leavening legends, giving the cake its lift and fluff.
- Salt: A pinch to balance and enhance all the flavors.
- Ground Cinnamon, Cloves, and Nutmeg: The spice squad! They bring warmth, depth, and a hint of autumn vibes.
For the Glaze:
- Cream Cheese: The base of our dreamy glaze, bringing tang and creaminess.
- Confectioners Sugar: For that sweet, smooth finish.
- Orange Juice: A citrusy zing to cut through the richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Because you can never have too much of a good thing.
- Optional Toppings: Toasted coconut for a bit of crunch and whimsy, and perhaps some robin eggs for a playful, seasonal touch.
How to Make Easy Carrot Cake
For the Cake:
- Prep Work: Start by heating your oven to a cozy 350 degrees and get those ingredients ready to mingle.
- Mix & Mingle: Grab a large bowl and whisk together your shredded carrots, sugar, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and a good splash ofvanilla extract. This is where the magic starts!
- Dry Meet Wet: In another bowl, play the sifting game with your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and those warm, aromatic spices: cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, because we’re fancy like that.
- Combine & Whisk: Gently introduce the dry ingredients to the wet party, and whisk them together until they’re best friends and well incorporated.
- Bake It ‘Til You Make It: Pour that gorgeous batter into a bundt pan that’s been kissed with some non-stick spray, and let it bake for 45-55 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when a toothpick comes out cleaner than a whistle.
- Cooling Time: Let the cake chill in its pan for 10 minutes, then let it loose on a cooling rack to cool down completely.
For the Glaze:
- Cream Cheese Magic: In your mixer (or with a hand mixer and bowl), let the cream cheese dance on medium-high until it’s smooth.
- Sugar, Please: Slow your roll and your mixer to a gentle speed, and add in the confectioners sugar in two goes, letting it fully join the party.
- Citrus Splash: Add in that orange juice and another dash of vanilla extract, mixing until your glaze is smoother than a sweet talker.
- Drizzle and Serve: Once the cake has cooled, drizzle it generously with your glaze.
Optional: Turn the glam up with a sprinkle of toasted coconut and some robin eggs.
Storage
Keep your carrot pound cake fresh by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap or storing it in an airtight container at room temperature; it’ll stay delicious for up to 3 days. You can even freeze it (glaze and all) for up to a month; just make sure to give it ample time to thaw and come back to room temperature before serving.
This easy carrot cake pound cake recipe will definitely get you in the Easter mood in no time without all the fuss.
If you want more pound cake recipes, click HERE
Easy Easter Cakes
If you like this Easy Carrot Cake Recipe, you’ll also like some of my other easy Easter cakes.
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!*
Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
Easy Carrot Cake Recipe – Delightful and easy, this Carrot Cake Recipe, made with McCormick®, gives a new twist to the classic Easter dessert in pound cake form.
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Servings: 16 servings
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon McCormick vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons McCormick ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon McCormick ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick ground nutmeg
For the Glaze:
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ⅓ cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon McCormick vanilla extract
- Optional: toasted coconut for garnish
- Optional: robin eggs for garnish
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In one large bowl, whisk together shredded carrots, granulated sugar, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and McCormick vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, McCormick ground cinnamon, McCormick ground cloves, and McCormick ground nutmeg.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk together until well incorporated.
- Add the batter to a non-stick sprayed 10 inch bundt pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then turn the cake out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Glaze:
- Add cream cheese to your mixer (or use a hand mixer and medium size bowl) and mix on medium high speed.
- Turn mixer down to slow speed and carefully add in confectioners sugar in two separate intervals until incorporated.
- Next add orange juice and McCormick vanilla extract and mix until smooth and pourable (add a little bit more orange juice if you want the icing a little looser or until you get the consistency you prefer).
- Drizzle icing over top of cooled cake.
- Optional: Garnish the top of the pound cake with toasted coconut and robin eggs and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 243mg | Potassium: 173mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 2985IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1.1mg
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One of the best carrot cakes I have ever had and was so simple to make!! Came out pretty with lots of flavor not drowned out by overwhelming sweetness. My daughter wanted the icing sweeter but I LOVED the little tanginess of it!
This cake was simple to make, and delicious. At first it seemed pretty heavy texture-wise but it was just the moisture from the carrots.
Lovely flvour with all the spices, not too sweet, and the glazing is lovely (which I don’t say often because all frostings/glazings/icings are usually way too sweet and cloying for me).
Thanks so much for the recipe! This makes me want to check other recipes from your site.
Now I’m thinking about modifications I’d love to try, and would like to ask you if you think this could work with brown butter instead of oil, I love the nutty taste it adds to baked goods. Also, do you think the cake would take the addition of raisins and walnuts? What quantities would you recommend? Thanks again!
For the frosting can you sub fresh squeezed lemon juice for the orange juice?
I made this after stumbling across your site and oh so glad I did. You live up to your name with this one. The icing was the perfect balance to the pound cake. I will definitely make this for the fall and enjoy a nice cup of coffee or cider. What a great combination of the two.
It was delicious! My family loved it. I took half of it in to work and my co workers loved it too. The icing is perfect and not overly sweet. I did cover mine in toasted coconut. I do not own a pretty bundt cake pan.
Hooray that sounds lovely. So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I use 2 loaf pans instead of the bundt pan?
Yes you can!
I don’t have sour cream, what can use instead?
Do you have greek yogurt?
Love this. Definitely adding to our table this Easter!
Hooray I hope you enjoy!!
Update! Made this for Easter, the cake was so moist and perfectly spiced. The orange cream cheese icing was really good too. I might opt to add a little more powdered sugar to the icing next time so it’s just a little sweeter. Currently trying not the eat all the leftovers in one day, it was a winner!