I need you to trust me for the next thirty seconds. This carrot cake recipe has a secret ingredient that sounds completely wrong but tastes completely right. We add mayonnaise straight into the batter, and I promise you won't taste it, you'll just wonder why you've never tasted a cake this fluffy and moist. This Easy Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting comes together with pantry staples, bakes into two soft layers, and gets topped with the creamiest homemade frosting you'll ever spread on a cake, making it truly the best carrot cake ever.
Jump to:
- Why This Carrot Cake Recipe Is The Best 🥕
- Carrot Cake Ingredients
- The Secret Ingredient
- Customizations & Recipe Variations
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review
- How To Make The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
- Expert Tips For Perfect Carrot Cake
- Storage Options & How To Store
- FAQ & Troubleshooting
- More Delicious Dessert Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- ⭐️ Leave a Review
Looking for more delicious and easy dessert recipes? I have plenty! My easy banana bread is soft, simple, and always a hit, while my dalgona coffee cake brings a fun twist to a classic cake. If you love citrusy flavors, my raspberry lemon loaf is a favorite around here, and my pumpkin spice cupcakes are perfect when you're craving something a little warmer. For something a tad bit fancier (but still super easy), try my chocolate twist pastries!
Why This Carrot Cake Recipe Is The Best 🥕
- This is a recipe for a super moist carrot cake. I guarantee you that this will be your new favourite go-to carrot cake recipe.
- It's actually easy. No creaming butter, no fancy mixer, just two bowls, a whisk, and a wooden spoon.
- This recipe uses staple ingredients that you will likely already have in your kitchen, plus you can even make the mayonnaise from scratch if you need.
- The secret ingredient is a game changer. Mayonnaise already has eggs, oil, and a splash of acidity built right in, so it does the heavy lifting for the moistest, richest crumb you've ever had in a carrot cake.
- It's endlessly adaptable. This recipe can go vegan, egg-free, or gluten-free with a few simple swaps.
- That frosting. Homemade cream cheese buttercream is magical. It is thick, stable, and just sweet enough to balance the warmth from the spices in the cake.
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Carrot Cake Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: Now you might be wondering how this makes a carrot cake moist. Well, it is the secret ingredient that will make this the moistest carrot cake recipe you have ever tasted, guaranteed! Mayo already has it all: eggs, oil, and moisture, everything a delicious cake recipe needs. You can use full-fat mayo, make homemade mayonnaise or swap it for a lower-calorie version or plant-based mayo if you want.
- Apple Sauce: Unsweetened apple sauce is best so the cake doesn't turn overly sweet. It adds an insane amount of moisture without adding extra fat.
- Maple Syrup: Use real maple syrup, not pancake syrup.
- Carrots: Finely shredded carrots are best, try to avoid using the pre-shredded bags at the grocery store, they are too thick and dry for cake batter.
- Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are the classic trio for carrot cake. Swap all three for 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice if needed.
- Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting: Make your own cream cheese buttercream frosting, it can be made a day in advance.
All ingredients and measurements can be found on the recipe card below.
The Secret Ingredient
I already know what you're thinking... the secret ingredient is not pineapple. This is a pineapple-free carrot cake.
Ready? Drumroll, please... the secret ingredient is mayonnaise! Ok, stay with me here. I know I might have shocked or maybe even scared you telling you to use mayonnaise in a cake, but hear me out!
Mayonnaise already has all the fundamental cake ingredients. It has eggs, oil, spices and lemon juice already all mixed in at the perfect ratios.
Don't believe me? Try it! I guarantee you that this will be the richest and most moist-tasting carrot cake you have ever had.
Customizations & Recipe Variations
- Vegan/Egg Free: You read that right: this recipe can easily be adapted to make a vegan or eggless carrot cake! For the cake, all you have to do is substitute the regular mayonnaise for a vegan-friendly mayonnaise. For the frosting, you will need to use vegan butter (my favourite is Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks), vegan cream cheese, and plant-based milk. My recipe for cream cheese buttercream frosting can be easily adapted using these substitutions. To make this carrot cake without eggs, replace the regular mayonnaise in the recipe with vegan mayonnaise.
- Gluten-Free: For a gluten-free carrot cake, use a gluten-free baking mix, such as Bob Red Mill's 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. Do not use almond flour as a substitute, it is not stable enough.
- Add Pineapple: Stir in ½ cup of well-drained and dried crushed pineapple with the carrots for a classic hummingbird cake twist.
- Add Nuts: Fold in ½ to ¾ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Add Raisins: ½ cup of raisins, tossed in a little bit of flour first so they don't sink to the bottom.
- Make it Cupcakes: Same batter, adjust the bake time slightly, and frost once fully cooled (I make this cake into cupcakes all the time, they are a favorite for birthdays in our house!).
- Swap the Spices: Use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review
Mayonnaise? That's brilliant! I agree with the already perfect ratio in the mayo to make it creamy. Well done! -Kellie
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How To Make The Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Step 1
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir to just combine and set aside.
Step 2
In another large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, water, apple sauce, maple syrup, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously to combine.
Step 3
Add the shredded carrot into the wet mixture, stirring to incorporate.
Step 4
Add the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients, creating a thick batter.
Step 5
Divide the batter evenly between two greased and lined 9" cake pans.
Lining the pans with parchment is highly recommended. If you do not line the bottom of the cake pans, you will run the risk of your cake sticking to the bottom and breaking apart.
Step 6
Bake the cakes in a preheated 350°F oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Carefully turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and let them cool completely before assembling and frosting.
Step 7
Once the cake is completely cool, transfer one layer to a cake board or flat plate.
Add a generous dollop of cream cheese buttercream frosting on top and spread it out in an even layer using an offset spatula (or a regular spatula).
Add the remaining cake layer on top of the frosting layer.
Step 8
Cover the carrot cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
You can do this however you like, either by frosting it simply like I have done above or doing a crumb coat and then using a piping bag with piping tips attached.
Here are a few options for decorating a cake.
Step 9
After the carrot cake is fully frosted, pop it into the refrigerator for about 4 hours, or overnight before slicing and serving.
Expert Tips For Perfect Carrot Cake
- Grate your carrots finely and by hand. Pre-shredded bagged carrots are too thick and dry for this batter.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting. Frosting a warm cake means a melted, sliding mess.
- Don't overmix the batter. Stir the batter until the dry ingredients disappear. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour and can leave you with a dense, tough cake.
Storage Options & How To Store
- Fridge: Leftover carrot cake can be stored in the fridge and enjoyed for up to 4 days. Wrap the cake lightly and carefully with plastic wrap, focusing on wrapping the open crumb or spot where it was cut. The icing will help form a sort of "shell" to help keep the moisture in the cake, so it is not super important that it is wrapped well.
- Room Temperature: Not recommended for more than a couple of hours because of the cream cheese frosting.
- Freezer (unfrosted layers): Wrap each cooled cake layer tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before frosting.
- Freezer (frosted, whole or sliced): Freeze uncovered for a couple of hours to let the frosting firm up, then wrap tightly with several layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
This usually means it was pulled from the oven too soon. Carrot cake batter is dense and takes a little longer to set in the middle compared to other cakes. For the best results, use the toothpick test, where you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, its done. If there is batter still stuck on the toothpick, give it a couple extra minutes.
Absolutely! Pour the batter into cupcake liners and adjust the baking time slightly. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Use my cream cheese buttercream for the perfect pipeable frosting!
Yes! Head over to my homemade cake pops to learn how to easily make this carrot cake into delicious cake pops!
Yes. Bake the layers up to 2 days ahead and store them wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. The whole cake can be made a day in advance too and stored in the fridge.
Yes! You can easily use this recipe to make a carrot cake loaf. Halve the recipe to make one loaf cake, or keep the recipe as is to make two! After the loaf cake is cooled, top with a generous serving of cream cheese buttercream frosting!
More Delicious Dessert Recipes
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Easy Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting
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Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Apple Sauce unsweetened
- ½ cup Water room temperature
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Carrot finely shredded
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 oz Cream Cheese softened
- ½ cup Butter softened
- 4 - 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons Milk of choice
Instructions
Make the Carrot Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F, then grease and line two 9" cake pans with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, mayonnaise, applesauce, water, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the shredded carrots to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir using a wooden spoon until just incorporated, with no dry bits of flour remaining.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour, before frosting and decorating.
Make the Buttercream
- While the cakes cool, prepare the frosting by beating softened cream cheese and butter together until smooth, then gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla, adding the milk a tablespoon at a time until it is thick, fluffy, and holds stiff peaks.👉 See the full recipe for more in depth step-by-step details.
Frost the Carrot Cake
- Once the cakes are fully cooled, transfer one layer to a cake board or a flat large plate. Spread a generous layer of cream cheese buttercream evenly over the top using an offset spatula or a regular spatula.
- Top with the second cake layer, pressing gently to adhere. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate the cake for a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight, before serving.
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Notes
- Mayonnaise: This is the secret ingredient! It is seriously a game-changer in baked goods and makes the moistest, most delicious cake ever. Use full-fat, homemade mayo, half-fat, or plant-based mayo, any of them work!
- Carrots: Be sure to use fresh, finely hand-grated carrots. Pre-shredded bagged carrots are too thick and dry, and won't work properly for this cake.
- Spices: The cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg can be swapped for 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
- Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting: Make your own homemade frosting, I promise it will be worth the little bit of extra effort!
- Leftover carrot cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If it has been cut, wrap it with plastic wrap before storing it.
- This carrot cake recipe is easily adaptable for a variety of diets, including vegan, egg-free, and gluten-free. Please see the above post for more detailed instructions.
- Use this carrot cake and cream cheese buttercream frosting to make cake pops or turn it into cupcakes! If baking cupcakes, reduce the baking time to around 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator and it will vary based on the ingredients that you use.
Kellie says
Mayonnaise? That’s brilliant! I agree with the already perfect ratio in the mayo to make it creamy. We’ll dome!
Eddie says
All star recipe for an amazing cake!
Jessica says
This is one recipe I am insanely proud of. I've quite literally been using mayonnaise as my secret ingredient in cakes since I was a little kid. This carrot cake is literal perfection, I promise!