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.
Can I leave out the nuts, we are not fans in our household. Is there something I would need to add in place of them?
Sure! You can omit them out completely with no adjustments needed. You could also try adding a few tablespoons of raisins in their place! 🙂
Thank you!
I’ve made this A LOT!! It’s by far the best carrot cake I’ve ever tried. However, on several occasions when making the cream cheese frosting I’ve found that it goes quite runny when beating the cream cheese and butter together and then adding the icing sugar. Tried adjusting ratios and using colder cream cheese, made no difference. THEN I did a little research and found out that the icing sugar will draw out the water content from the cream cheese, hence, it goes runny. So the trick is to beat the icing sugar and butter together, as the fat from the butter (which has a higher content than the cream cheese), will coat all the sugar molecules and will prevent it from drawing the water from the cream cheese. I tried it out and it works like a charm!! Just thought I’d share that but if info with you in case others have experienced this same issue!!
Such a great tip, Chris! We’ll have to try this out for ourselves 🙂
Hi , Im super excited to try this recipe for son who ADORES carrot cake! I dont have a stand mixer and I was hoping you could suggest the next best option? I just found your wonderful site today and im beyond impressed! Thank you so much
Hi Lisa! Welcome to Handle the Heat! We hope you enjoy Tessa’s recipes! I also encourage you (if you haven’t already) to check out the pink tip box on each post; it’s just above the recipe, and contains so many tips and so much information that Tessa packs into each post to help our wonderful readers make the most perfect baked goods possible 🙂 You don’t need any type of mixer to make this cake, but the frosting does need some sort of electric mixer. A handheld electric mixer will do just fine. I hope that helps. Let us know what you think of this cake once you’ve given it a try! Happy baking!
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and he loved it! I made the layers a few weeks before I needed them and wrapped them in plastic wrap, foil, and stuck them in the freezer. They stacked together beautifully since they were frozen and it was easy to frost. I made the cream cheese frosting, too, and ended up with quite a bit which I’m putting in the freezer for another day. I loved this recipe.
I have a question. The recipe says that the carrots should be “finely shredded”, but in the blog post, you say to make them “coarsely grated”. Can you clarify, please? Because I really want to make this cake
Hi Kathleen! Use the slightly larger holes on your box grater – it’s still considered ‘finely shredded’, just a slightly larger size. I hope that helps! Can’t wait to hear what you think of this recipe 🙂
Oh thanks, yes that’s very helpful!
Hi I would love to try this recipe but I was wondering if we should be measuring the butter before browning or after since the gram measurement isn’t the same once it’s browned
Hi Alizeh! The recipe is written to take into account the water content lost through the browning process, so you can weigh your butter, then brown it, and then use the entirety of the browned butter in the recipe. Let us know what you think of this cake once you give it a try! 🙂
Always looking for a good carrot cake recipe. This one was moist with excellent texture, and not soggy as so many carrot cake recipes are. The applesauce is a great way to reduce fat and calories. My only complaint is the strong baking soda taste. There isn’t enough acid in this recipe for 2 tsp baking soda. Though, 24 hours later, I no longer noticed the strong baking soda. The browned butter adds a very nice layer of flavor. I used my own cream cheese frosting recipe, as this one utilizes so much more cream cheese and butter. Overall- a very good cake! I will make again, with adjustments to the baking soda (utilizing baking powder combo).
My first time making carrot cake and it turned out perfectly. This tasted amazing, complex flavors and great textures. One of the few cupcakes that can handle lots of frosting but not be “too much”. I did add an extra 1/2 tsp of cinnamon because we love our cinnamon here.
A…..mazing !! One of the best cakes I’ve ever made ! Our friends that came for dinner rarely eat desserts and devoured it plus took some home , gave some to a neighbour and she said it without exception was the best cake she’s ever had ❤️❤️❤️
I posted a question but it didn’t go through. Hope it doesn’t show up twice now. 🙂 This is the best carrot cake we have ever had!! Even the carrot cake haters loved it!!!! I have a question though… I made the cake in the same cake pan and did exactly as you said. I baked it for 30 minutes and toothpick inserted into center came out clean. But after I took them out of the oven, they sank in the middle. They were cooked all the way through and the edges were more cooked than the inside, a little dryer, but the rest super moist and delicious. How do I keep the middle from sinking? I don’t want to dry out the cake baking it too long.
Hi Diana! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was such a hit with your guests! I would normally guess that your oven temperature may be a little off, as cakes sinking are often due to the temperature being a little too low – but if the cake was definitely fully baked throughout, that’s unlikely to be the cause of the sinking. Instead, I suspect that your baking soda may no longer be active. Tessa has an article here on how to check that your leavening agents are still fresh. A couple other common causes of sinking or collapsing cakes are incorrect measurement of ingredients, or overbeating/overmixing the batter in the last stage. Hopefully something here helps, Diana! Happy baking 🙂
Hi! I just make the cake when I realized I forgot to add in the nuts. Do you think you can add just a little bit of crush walnuts between the layers with the cream cheese?
Sure! Enjoy 🙂
I was so excited and wanted to make this for for my daughter-in-law but she absolutely hates fruit of any sort, including apple sauce. Am I able to leave the apple sauce out? If not, do you have another carrot cake recipe that does not have it in it?
Hi Lisa! Applesauce in carrot cake just helps provide a tender, moist structure. You really don’t taste any apple flavor! If you really don’t want to try it, you could experiment with replacing the same amount of apple sauce with more butter or a flavorless oil (vegetable or canola) – but we haven’t tested that, so I can’t guarantee how that will work out. Alternatively, if you just don’t want to risk it, I’d recommend trying Tessa’s Carrot Cake Cupcakes here instead 🙂 Happy baking!