World’s Best Carrot Cake
Hundreds of have spoken…this is The World’s Best Carrot Cake! Layers of moist flavor filled cake with coconut, crushed pineapple, carrots, spices, and nuts come together with a delectable cream cheese frosting.
I felt like I needed to add more veggies to my diet, so I made my favorite carrot cake! Ummm… Heck yeah! I’m happy to report that about three more slices of this baby and my eyesight should be back to normal!
I’m obsessed with this carrot cake recipe! It truly is the “World’s Best Carrot Cake”! That is no exaggeration. This recipe ALWAYS receives rave reviews! (It makes me look good!)
It’s the perfect balance of everything I love! This cake is bursting with flavor and ultra moist, but not overly sweet like some traditional carrot cakes.
How To Make The World’s BEST Carrot Cake
First you are going to place your wet ingredients into the mixer and blend.
Next add your dry ingredients and mix.
Then add your carrots, pineapple, coconuts and lastly the nuts and mix again. (Nuts are optional)
When you have blended all the ingredients together you’ll have a very thin batter like pictured below.
Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans, or you can do two 8-9 inch cake pans too. I wanted a three layer cake with thinner layers because I love how this cake looks with three layers. It’s a personal choice and totally up to you!
Tip: I only had two cake pans, so I baked two, and then did the third after the first one had slightly cooled, and I could invert it onto my cake plate.
Once you have baked your cakes in a 350-degree oven for about 30–40 minutes, place on a cooling rack and allow them to completely cool in the pans!
The reason for this… remember how I said this cake is “moist”…it’s really moist! I placed mine face down on a cooling rack the first time, and had to carefully lift mine with two spatulas. (It’s a nightmare you don’t wanna live through! Trust me!) Place your cake pan up against your cake plate and invert.
Use your favorite cream cheese recipe (I’ll include mine… I promise) Frost the tops of each cake layer.
I love that this cake is only frosted between the layers. You could go around the outside if you really want to, but Mars and I are not huge frosting fans so this method of just frosting in between the layers and on top is perfect for us.
I don’t do a ton of frosting either, just a nice medium layer. Again this is a personal choice. You can do whatever floats your boat! (Don’t take all your baking advice from me! Lol I’m the lady eating cake to get her vegetable count in!) (wink, wink)
Here is the finished cake. I didn’t go all fancy with piping frosting around the edges or adding any garnish. I really believe sometimes more is just that…more! Not necessarily better.
This cake is so beautiful on its own! It doesn’t need all that “Froufrou”! (I hate my kitchen table and am re-doing it soon!!! Just in case you were wondering.)
I do think it deserves a moment of silence…. ticktock…tick-tock….
Okay… enough of that! Let’s get to the good part…the eatin’! Ooooh…so super moist and so yummy! Makes eatin’ your veggies a divine pleasure!
One bite, and you can feel yourself start to elevate to new heights! (I said “heights” not “weight”! This cake has fruit and veggies it cancels out all calories!… You’re Welcome! Lol)
I made this for dessert the other night and my kids… who both told me they don’t usually like carrot cake…loved it! Mars, who has always “Passed” on my carrot cake, asked for a slice and then proceeded to “ewww and ahhhh” and ask me why he’s never tried it before? (Mmmmm… That’s a question only the other Martians can answer! Us Venusians eat any carb covered in frosting!)
Here are some other great Cake Recipes
- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- The Best Dark Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream
- Cake Mix Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Best Vanilla Cake with Special Buttercream frosting
- Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese frosting
- Best Pound Cake Recipe from Julia’s Simply Southern
The printable recipe is located below.
If you try this recipe… I’d REALLY love to hear from you! I want to know if you love this splendid carrot cake as much as I do.
Have a GREAT day! Happy Veggie Eatin’!
World’s Best Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two or three 8 inch pans, depending on if you are doing a two layer or three layer cake. You can make either two thicker 8 inch cakes or three thinner layers. It’s up to you and the desired look you’re trying to achieve.
- In your mixer bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. mix well.
- Add in your flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix till well blended.
- Next add your carrots, coconut, crushed pineapple with juice and chopped walnuts. Mix till just blended.
- Pour into prepared 8 inch cake rounds, bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Check to see if done. If finger lightly pressed in center bounces back it is done.
- Allow to cool in cake pans. Invert onto cake plate and frost each layer.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- Beat the butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and sifted powdered sugar and beat until nice and smooth. Test the consistency of the frosting. Too thin? Add powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons at a time. Too thick? Add a teaspoon of milk at a time.
Nutrition
Meet The Author
Hi! I'm Norine, the cook, baker, and recipe creator behind Norine's Nest. I love sharing and creating recipes that invite family, friends, and neighbors to gather around the dinner table. Sharing good food and creating memories with those we love brings me happiness. Thanks for stopping by my Nest!
Hi Norine
Would I be able to use golden raisins in place of the pineapple? I could soak the raisins in the pineapple juice and maybe use 1/2 of the juice in the recipe. My family doesn’t like the texture of the pineapple when they eat it. Weird I know, but they love raisins! Your cake looks delicious and I would certainly eat it with pineapple.
Thanks in advance
Hi Lynn!
Yes you could certainly do that and it would be wonderful with this cake. Honestly I tell people all the time that even my own family didn’t know I used Pineapple in this recipe until I told them. It’s very well disguised. I do understand though when it’s not everyone’s favorite. So just make sure to add a little juice and the raisin and you should be good to go. This is a very wet batter. I warn people of that all the time. So don’t let that scare you when making this recipe.
Let me know how it turns out! I know it will be fantastic and everyone will love it. Have a Great week and thanks so much for stopping by!
Happy Nesting!
~Norine
I’ve only ever tried to make a carrot cake once before and it was such a total disaster (it wasn’t this one!) it was as if I soaked the whole cake in water. Wouldn’t even come out of the pan without falling apart and liquid going everywhere. I’m so afraid to try it again. Here’s my question-when you say crushed pineapple with liquid do you pour the liquid and all in there or drain and dry the pineapple first? Maybe that was my mistake last time I didn’t drain it and maybe should have?
Hi Serena!
I understand your hesitation. Do not drain the pineapple. I know it is going against everything in you after your first experience, but trust me it will be okay. This is a VERY wet batter. Don’t let that scare you ever. It will be okay. I’ve never had anyone tell me that they’ve had an issue. This is a moist carrot cake and that is what we want. It will come out of the pan and it will be perfect. Enjoy and feel free to contact me. Thanks for stopping by my Nest!
~Norine
Looks like the carrot cake i used to make ready for it again thank to you Norine it looks beautifully decadent. And healthy takes away the guilt of eating cake another guilty pleasure resolved. I couldnt remember my recipe so thanks cant wait to bake it.
Hi Rosa!
I’m so glad I was able to help in some small way. This is the BEST carrot cake recipe. I always love hearing that others have this recipe and love it as much as I do. Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me and sharing. I hope you have a GREAT week!
Happy Nesting~
Norine
Wow! I had always love carrot cake. I never made one myself, and since I live in the city I was paying $5 for a carrot cupcake. I had to do something or I will end up broke. I found this recipe and I bake for the first time my carrot cupcakes. I did the cupcakes because they are size portioned, but I did the jumbo size. Wake up in the morning, a nice cup of coffee and a nice carrot cupcake is delicious. I didn’t add the pineapple because I didn’t want it to be to moist. But I added raisins and it came out super delicious. Thanks for sharing! Now I am a bakeholic!
Hooray! A new bakeholic and we saved your budget too! I’m so excited that you love this recipe and start your day off with it! That just makes my day! I love the portion control and how you tailored it to fit your needs. Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a great weekend.
~Norine
I have been making this recipe for years. And this is the best carrot cake ever. People always ask me to make this cake mainly for holidays. This is a keeper .
Hi!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing with me. This is just one of those recipes you can’t go wrong with. It’s ALWAYS good. ALWAYS! I’ve been making it for years too and I wouldn’t use any other carrot cake recipe.
Have a wonderful week. Thanks again for sharing.
Happy Nesting!
~Norine
Amazing recipe. Thanks so much! Everyone loved it. How long would you recommend for baking cupcakes?
Hi Yvonne!
I’m so glad everyone loved this cake! I always love to hear that! I would recommend about 20-25 minutes, but oven temps can vary so be sure to check them. They make wonderful cupcakes. I make this recipe into cupcakes frequently and they are always a huge hit.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with me. I sincerely appreciate it. Hope you have a GREAT day!
Happy Nesting!
~Norine
Norine,
This cake looks wonderful and I will be making over the weekend… however, I have 3 9″ pans. Reading online, this is a 25% increase over the 8″ you call for in the recipe.
Can I adjust the ingredients by 25% to make this work with my pans or just use 2 9″?
Much appreciate your assistance
Hi Keith!
Great Question. I just purchased 9″ pans and made this cake without adjusting a thing. It worked out great! The layers are a tad thinner, but in my opinion with a 3 layer cake it works perfectly. I went a little lighter on the frosting between the layers because of the cake layers being a bit thinner, and did the top frosting a little thicker, and my family said it was their favorite so far! Go figure?
I wouldn’t try to put all the cake batter into two pans. This is a very wet cake batter and I’m concerned if you try to place it all in two pans it will run over and make a huge mess in the bottom of your oven. (Nobody wants to deal with that! lol)
Hope this was helpful? Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you love this cake as much as we do! I say it all the time…but it is seriously my most favorite cake of all time!
Happy Baking!
~Norine
Hello! I made these babies the other day and i am a first time baker. all i can say is that i have never been so proud of myself for making these delicious things. I made then into cupcakes so they are more toddler friendly and it was a hit. Hubby took some at their workplace and it was all praises. I was just wondering if instead of carrots, i can use banana since i have heaps of overipe bananas. would it change the consistency?!? i can never make good banana cupcakes. Thanks Nori. Hope to hear from you.
Hi Kate!
I’m so proud of you too! Look at you go mastering this carrot cake! I’m honestly not too sure how the cake would turn out substituting banana’s for the carrots? You could try it. I recently posted a recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins and they are amazing too. I think you’d love them. They’d be a perfect fit for those mountains of ripe banana’s. I’m going to have to work on a banana cake.
Thanks so much for sharing with me. I always love hearing from readers who have tried a recipe and loved it.
Have a GREAT day!
~Norine
Hi Norine!
I just made this cake for my husband’s birthday, and….I had a feeling it would be amazing…but he just said something along the lines of…..”This is the cake I want for my birthday for the rest of my life’
Not bad, not bad!
There was also a small family birthday party and everyone’s compliments were on repeat! They couldn’t stop swooning!
Thanks!
Melinda
Hi Melinda!
Wowza! That’s quite the compliment. I’m so happy he loved his birthday cake. Nothing worse than bad cake on your special day! lol It truly makes me day when I hear that others love this recipe as much as I do. I made it a week ago. My son-in-law had it for the first time and he was swooning! And he’s hard to impress. lol
Thanks so much for taking the time to share with me. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Happy Nesting!
~Norine
I know I shouldn’t have been surprised but really, the cake really was the best I’ve had! Thanks for the recipe, Norine 🙂
Hi!
It’s okay…I’m happy I was able to surprise you! That makes it even better! I really appreciate you stopping by and sharing with me. Hopefully I can surprise ya again real soon!
Happy Monday!
Norine