Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes Carrot Cake 3.9 (929) Martha's decadent recipe is moist, tender, and full of flavor. Prep Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Total Time: 3 hrs Servings: 10 Jump to recipe Martha's carrot cake recipe is a classic you'll turn to again and again. Moist, tender, and decadent, it's mildly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and chock full of shredded carrots. It gets a welcomed crunch from chopped pecans—though walnuts would make an equally great swap—both in the cake itself and pressed around the frosted sides. Speaking of frosting, our easy cream cheese frosting comes together quickly and takes this recipe over the top. Credit: Jake Sternquist Digging Into the Origins of Carrot Cake The origins of carrot cake can be traced back to the kitchens of Medieval Europe, where palace cooks would make steamed or boiled carrot puddings. The carrots lent a natural sweetness to the dessert and reduced or even eliminated the need to rely on other sweeteners—a tactic that became increasingly popular in England during World War II when sugar was rationed. By the second half of the 20th century, carrot cake had become a dessert staple in the United States. It has been paired with a decadent cream cheese frosting for nearly as long. The Equipment Needed for This Carrot Cake You'll need a few basic pieces of kitchen equipment to whip up this rich carrot cake recipe: Food processor: For the best finished texture to the cake, we recommend using a food processor fitted with the fine shredding blade to grate the carrots. Alternatively, use a box grater. Large shreds will not incorporate as well in the batter, so we do not recommend using store-bought shredded carrots for this recipe. Cake pans: For this two-layer cake, you'll need two nine-inch round cake pans. Coating them with butter and flour and inserting a piece of parchment at the bottom will ensure the cakes release easily from the pans. Electric mixer: This cake makes quite a bit of batter and requires a good deal of mixing. For that reason, we recommend using a stand-mixer, though a hand-held mixer will work as well. If you don't have an electric mixer, consider making our spiced carrot cake can be mixed by hand, or our easy carrot sheet cake, which is made using a food processor. Wire rack: Letting the cakes cool on a wire rack allows for air to circulate all around them, which helps them cool more evenly and efficiently. Serrated knife: Before building your layers, we recommend using a serrated knife to trim off the top of one of the cakes, which will provide you with a flat surface to set the second cake on. This will result in a more sturdy cake and more even-looking layers. This recipe makes two 9-inch layers but if you have three identical pans and want to bake a triple layer cake with three thinner layers, you can certainly do so. How to Make Carrot Cake Ahead The baked and cooled cakes can be wrapped well in plastic and refrigerated for up to two days before frosting and layering. You can also build the entire cake and refrigerate it, wrapped well, for up to two days before serving. For longer storage, wrap the cooled, unfrosted cakes in a double layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to three months; defrost the cakes in the refrigerator overnight before frosting and layering. Directions Credit: Carson Downing Preheat oven and prep pans; whisk dry ingredients: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Credit: Jake Sternquist Beat butter and sugars; add eggs one at time: Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Credit: Jake Sternquist Mix in vanilla, water, and carrots; add flour mixture then pecans: Add vanilla, water, and carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then finely chopped pecans. Credit: Jake Sternquist Credit: Jake Sternquist Divide batter between pans and bake: Scrape batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Credit: Jake Sternquist Cool, remove from pans then cool completely: Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely. Credit: Jake Sternquist Trim cakes and assemble: Using a serrated knife, trim rounded top of 1 cake. Place trimmed cake, cut side up, on a serving platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with second cake. Credit: Jake Sternquist Frost cake; press pecans onto sides: Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Gently press coarsely chopped pecans onto sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Credit: Jake Sternquist Credit: Jake Sternquist How to Store Carrot Cake Leftover carrot cake—frosted or unfrosted—can be refrigerated in an airtight container for five to seven days. Since the frosting contains cream cheese and the cake itself is so moist, we don't recommend storing it at room temperature, where it can spoil and/or mold. Freezing You can also freeze both frosted and unfrosted carrot cake for up to one month. Wrap it well in a double layer of plastic, then wrap it once more in a layer of aluminum foil before transferring to the freezer. How to Decorate Carrot Cake We love decorate this rich cake by pressing coarsely chopped pecans onto its frosted sides. You can also choose to sprinkle the nuts over the top or omit them all together. For a nut-free decoration, top the cake with these whimsical candied carrot curls or decorate the sides with our recipe for candied carrot strips. 5 More Carrot Cake Recipes to Try Carrot-Poppyseed Cake With Lemon Glaze Carrot-Cake Cookies Carrot Cake With White-Chocolate Frosting Hummingbird Carrot Cake Carrot-Cake Thumbprint Cookies Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.