Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The carrot cake is perfectly sweet, nutty, and perfectly spiced, while the frosting is rich and tangy.
Texture: Ultra moist and tender with that luscious frosting in every single bite.
Ease: Totally doable, promise!
Pros: My go-to carrot cake recipe.
Cons: None beyond the usual layer cake cons: it’s more time-consuming and messy than say cupcakes.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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This Brown Butter Carrot Cake is easily one of the most incredible cakes I’ve ever tried – and that’s really saying something, coming from this chocoholic!
As a kid, the last cake you wanted was carrot cake. Well… maybe right behind fruit cake.
As an adult, I’ve liked carrot cake fine. But it wasn’t until I had a slice of AMAZING carrot cake from a little café called Fragments in Paris that I realized just how good it could be.
So I decided to elevate my existing favorite recipe for Perfect Carrot Cupcakes into a show-stopping layer cake.
I found the idea of browning butter for carrot cake especially compelling. Since nuts are a common fixture and a clear complement to carrot cake, the idea of adding more sweet nutty flavor in the form of browned butter just made sense. Plus, by browning the butter, you only have to use your mixer for the icing!
Not to mention the brown butter helps make the cake super rich and moist. That plus the brown sugar, applesauce, and carrots (of course!).
Plenty of warm spices in the batter and then another extra dash of cinnamon in the cream cheese frosting really round everything out.
Plus, slicing the two cake layers in half for a four-layer cake isn’t just impressive to look at – it means MORE FROSTING!
Sprinkle of Science
Brown Butter Carrot Cake Recipe Tips
How to Brown Butter
A skillet works better than a saucepan for browning butter because there’s more surface area for the brown bits to develop. Here’s how to brown butter for carrot cake:
- In a medium skillet set over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises.
- Once the crackling stops, continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom.
- Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, then set it aside to cool completely.
- Learn all my tips and tricks for browning butter in my How to Brown Butter article here.
What Are the Best Baking Pans For Cakes?
My favorite cake pans are these Fat Daddio’s pans. Never use dark-colored nonstick cake pans. They conduct heat too aggressively and often lead to hard dry edges and undercooked or sunken centers.
How to *Properly* Prepare Carrots for Carrot Cake
- Fresh carrots only: For extra moist carrot cake, shred fresh carrots – no pre-shredded packaged ones. Freshly grated carrots are more flavorful and more moist!
- Farmer’s markets: Whenever possible, buy your carrots at the farmer’s market. They’re SO much sweeter!
- Coarse grating: Don’t grate your carrots too finely. You want to have carrot ‘confetti’ in your cake, so the bigger holes on your box grate work better.
- If you have one, use your food processor: You can also use your food processor’s grating attachment to make the task of grating quicker and easier.
- Buy extra: 3 cups of freshly shredded carrots equals about 4 medium carrots, but definitely buy extra just in case.
Do I Have to Add Nuts to the Carrot Cake?
I added pecans or walnuts as an option for this Brown Butter Carrot Cake since that’s fairly traditional – but you can just leave them out if you prefer. They add a nice crunchy texture, but also a bit of savory flavor to contrast the sweetness. You could also experiment with adding in a few tablespoons of raisins, if you’d like.
Why is There Applesauce in the Carrot Cake?
This isn’t here as a healthy addition, necessarily, but it does allow us to get away with using a little less butter. Applesauce in carrot cake helps provide tender moisture and a nice sweet, fruity flavor to complement the carrots. You don’t really taste ‘apples’ – just freshness.
Carrot Cake Spices
- This recipe is written for a well-rounded flavor, with the spices harmoniously balancing out the brown sugar, cream cheese, and other ingredients.
- Please note that new spices are much more flavorful, and older spices carry less flavor – so adjust accordingly based on the age of your spices.
- If your spices are expired, toss them and purchase new ones – otherwise your cake may be bland.
How to Tell When Brown Butter Carrot Cake is Done Baking
The Brown Butter Carrot Cake is done baking when a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
The Best Frosting for Carrot Cake
Arguably the best part of carrot cake! Here are my best cream cheese frosting tips:
- Cool room temperature ingredients: For the best and creamiest frosting, be sure your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature.
- Cream cheese: Be sure to use full-fat bricks of cream cheese. Don’t use reduced-fat cream cheese or the kind that’s meant for spreading on bagels.
- Scrape the bowl: Beat them together in a large bowl until completely smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of your bowl often, until there are no lumps. Even if you have a paddle attachment that scrapes the sides as it goes, I still recommend scraping down the paddle and especially the bottom of the bowl, to ensure no lumps.
- Sift: Don’t skip sifting the powdered sugar! It’s a pain, but it’s necessary to ensure smooth frosting.
- Vanilla paste: For those beautiful vanilla speckles, use vanilla paste over vanilla extract.
How to Assemble Brown Butter Carrot Cake
In this recipe, we take 2 cake layers and cut them in half horizontally, for a total of 4 layers. Because if carrot cake is one thing, it’s a vehicle for cream cheese frosting! Feel free to skip this step (and you likely won’t need all the frosting), but it’s much more fun and more of a beautiful centerpiece as a 4-layer masterpiece!
To cut each cake layer, use a cake leveler or serrated knife. A cake leveler makes your layers absolutely perfect. If you bake cakes often, consider investing in one!
How to Decorate Brown Butter Carrot Cake:
- Simplicity: The cream cheese frosting is a little looser than your classic buttercream, so you won’t be able to do intricate detailed designs. I personally prefer a more basic or even ‘naked cake’ look for carrot cake anyway.
- Nuts: A border of chopped nuts on top of the cake makes a simple yet elegant final garnish. Feel free to add more chopped nuts as a bottom border, too, if you wish.
- Cute details: If you want to have a little fun, check out my article on how to make decorative edible carrots.
Can You Make This Best Carrot Cake Recipe Into Cupcakes?
Almost any cake recipe can be turned into cupcakes. Check out my full guide on how to convert a cake into cupcakes (and vice versa!) – or check out my Carrot Cupcakes recipe here.
How Can I Make Carrot Cake Ahead of Time?
Wrap cooled, uncut, unfrosted carrot cake layers in several layers of plastic wrap and place inside an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Check out the freezing instructions below if you need to store longer.
Does Carrot Cake Need to be Refrigerated? How to Store Carrot Cake:
Yes, because of the cream cheese frosting, Carrot Cake does need to be stored in the fridge. You can keep the cake at room temperature for up to 6 hours, but if storing any longer, cover with a cake keeper and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Can You Freeze Carrot Cake?
Yes! Wrap cooled, unfrosted carrot cake layers in several layers of plastic wrap and place inside a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Don’t defrost at room temperature or you will end up with mushy, sticky cake.
More Spring Cake & Cupcake Recipes:
- Classic Carrot Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Strawberry Bundt Cake
- Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Vanilla Poppyseed Cake with Whipped White Chocolate Ganache
More Brown Butter Recipes:
- Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Dulce de Leche Cookie Cups
- Brown Butter Coffee Cake
- Brown Butter Peach Cobbler
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Brown Butter Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups (318 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups (400 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (250 grams) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups (296 grams) finely shredded carrots* (about 4 medium carrots)
- 3/4 cup (84 grams) finely chopped walnuts or pecans
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 24 ounces (680 grams) cream cheese, completely softened
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, completely softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 5 cups (625 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium skillet set over medium heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling stops, continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Let cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.
- To the browned butter, whisk in the brown sugar, then the eggs. Stir in the applesauce, vanilla, and carrots. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the nuts.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely before transferring to wire racks.
- Slice each cake layer in half for four layers using a cake leveler or serrated knife. Place layers in the fridge while you make the frosting.
Make the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt on medium-high speed until very light, creamy, and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. On low speed, gradually add in the sugar and beat until creamy.
Assemble the cake:
- Place one cake layer cut side up on a cake stand or platter. Spread about 1/4 of the frosting all over the cake layer, pushing it out over the edge just slightly. Repeat with the remaining layers. With an offset spatula, spread the remaining frosting evenly all over the cake, smoothing the edges.
- Serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
This post was originally published in 2020 and has been updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
This cake was absolutely amazing! I replaced the apple sauce with greek yoghurt as I didn’t have any on hand. It turned out so delicious and moist! Thank you!
Can this be made as a sheet cake?
We haven’t tried that, but I’d imagine it’d work just fine with an adjustment to the bake time. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
In the ingredients for the frosting, when you call for the butter and cream cheese to be “completely softened”, and in italics yet, what temperature should I look for? In other recipes, I’ve been carefully following your room temperature guidelines of 67˚ to 72˚. But is “completely softened” warmer than that? Thanks so much for the help.
Hi John! Yes, the butter and cream cheese should be completely softened to room temperature. The temp range you shared is perfect, but if it’s a bit warmer, that’s fine too. The most important thing is that the butter and cream cheese aren’t too cold; otherwise, your frosting won’t be smooth.
I have made this cake 3 times now and every time it’s just as amazing. This is the best carrot cake I’ve ever had and everyone that eats it agrees. Phenomenal recipe!!
I just took the cake pans out of the oven, should I cool them on a wire rack before turning out the cakes? If so, for how long?
Hi Bex! I’d recommend letting the carrot cake cool in their pans on a wire rack before removing them from their pans. Start with about 10-15 minutes of cooling time, and if they’re still really warm, give them a few more minutes before turning them out. Let us know what you think of this carrot cake once you have given it a try! 🙂
Thanks Kiersten! I did let them cool for 10 minutes and they came right out. They are so super soft, they’re going to be delicious. I let them cool to room temp before wrapping them for the freezer. I’ll need them next week for a party. I’ve made this cake before and it is VERY DELICIOUS. It’s my go to recipe for carrot cake.
Can I add baking powder for higher cakes?
We haven’t tested that, but we recommend making the recipe as written first before making any adjustments. Let us know how it goes!
I’m curious- why wasn’t there any baking powder added in the first place
Tessa didn’t find that this recipe needed baking powder. It’s all in the testing process – using just baking soda as the leavener assisted the other ingredients perfectly in achieving the texture and appearance she was looking for 🙂
Can in add shreddded coconut
Hi Justyna! We haven’t tried that, but feel free to experiment with that!
I only have 9 inch pans. Can I use those?
Hi Justyna! We haven’t tried that, but it should work okay – just note that your cakes will be thinner than pictured, and will need less time in the oven as a result. Let us know how it goes!
Hi, I was wondering if the ginger is dry powder or grated ginger root? When I use nutmeg I always grate the pods for a really great taste. Thanks.
Hi Jeanne! We used dried ground ginger in this recipe. We haven’t tried it with fresh, but it might alter the flavor profile as its rather astringent.