Carrot cake and Easter seem to go hand in hand. We have a great, easy carrot sheet cake in our first cookbook that we love, but this is the carrot cake for celebrations! This is my friend Jeni’s (who I always seem to be stealing recipes from) trademark cake, and it comes from my all-time favorite all-purpose cookbook. Layers of sweet carrot cake are drizzled with a buttermilk syrup and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting. It’s perfect for Easter, or anytime you are craving good, old-fashioned carrot cake.
Ingredient Notes
- The Basics – You’ll need your typical cake-making ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- The Additions – Then you’ll need cinnamon, carrots, crushed pineapple, pecans (if desired), and coconut.
- Buttermilk Glaze – This cake is drizzled with a sweet buttermilk glaze before it’s frosted, producing a rich, tender texture. The glaze recipe makes just under 1 1/2 cups of glaze. As it is written, the recipe calls for this to be split amongst the cakes. It is quite rich and decadent, so feel free to put a little less, or save some for drizzling over the top of the finished cake. Can you leave it out completely and still have a delicious carrot cake? Yes, but it really is what makes this recipe unique. Both full fat and low fat buttermilk will work.
- Cream Cheese Frosting –Â It wouldn’t be carrot cake without the cream cheese frosting! Don’t cut corners here- full fat cream cheese and real butter are a must!Â
How to Make Carrot Cake Supreme
Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 9″ round pans and set aside. For best results, cut two circles of parchment paper and place at the bottom of your pans.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Combine eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until smooth.
2. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Fold in the carrots, crushed pineapple, coconut, and pecans (if using).
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and then bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Now this is where things get crazy. You know our buttermilk syrup? Yeah, we’re pretty much going to drizzle a version of that all over the cakes. While the cakes are baking, combine the sugar, baking soda, buttermilk, butter, and corn syrup in a large pot (think soup pot or Dutch oven- it will expand!) and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the syrup is caramelly and golden. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and set aside.
5. When the cakes are done baking, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. With cakes still in the pan, drizzle the warm buttermilk glaze over the cakes. If the full amount of glaze feels like too much for you, feel free to do a little less. Allow the cakes to cool completely (I actually recommend popping these in the fridge and letting them chill after they’ve cooled so the cake is easier to frost).
6. To make the frosting, you’ll need butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. You can also add a little almond extract if you like it. Which I do.
Beat together the softened cream cheese, butter, and extracts. Add 3/4 lb. of powdered sugar and then test the frosting–if you like it sweeter and softer, add a little more, but I really like a pronounced cream cheese flavor, so I go easy on the sugar.
7. Tear four thin strips of wax paper or aluminum foil and form a square on the plate that you’ll be serving the cake on. Carefully remove one of the cakes from the pan and place it on top of the strips.
Gently ice the top of the cake layer and then top with the second layer. Ice the cake completely with remaining frosting. Decorate with extra coconut and pecans if desired.
I desire it because I’m a horrible cake decorator and it hides all my mistakes.
For best presentation, it’s better to refrigerate the cake overnight and then let it return to room temperature before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this ahead of time? Yes! This cake has many steps and can be overwhelming to make all at once. The cake layers can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen (in the pan, with the buttermilk glaze) before icing the cake.
This seems really rich. Is the cake still good without the glaze? Yes, it is, but the glaze gives it a unique caramelly flavor that’s hard to beat. Feel free to cut the glaze down or save some to drizzle on top if you prefer.
Related Recipes
- Brazilian Carrot Cake
- Candy Carrots & Carrot Patch Cupcakes
- Egg Carton Printable with Easy Easter Cupcakes!
Did You Make This?
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Carrot Cake Supreme
Description
This dense, rich, old-fashioned carrot cake recipe is perfect for any springtime celebration (or, really, anytime!)
Ingredients
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup grated carrot
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2/3 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)
Buttermilk Glaze
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour 2 9″ cake pans. For best results, cut a circle of parchment to place in the bottom of each pan. Set aside.
Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla on high speed until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Fold in the carrots. Fold in the pineapple, coconut, and pecans (if using). Divide the batter evenly among the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
While the cakes are baking, prepare the buttermilk glaze. Combine sugar, baking soda, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla in a large pot (think soup pot or Dutch oven- it will expand!) and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the syrup is caramelly and golden. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and set aside.
When the cakes are done baking, drizzle the glaze over the warm cakes (still in the pans) and then cool completely on a wire rack. When the cakes are cool, tear four thin strips of parchment or wax paper or aluminum foil and make a square on the serving plate. Place one layer on top of the square. Prepare the cream cheese frosting and spread some frosting on the bottom layer of the cake. Place other layer on top of the frosted layer. Frost the entire cake with cream cheese frosting and decorate with coconut and chopped pecans if desired. For best presentation, refrigerate overnight and then bring to room temperature before serving.
Notes
This cake has many steps and can be overwhelming to make all at once. The cake layers can be made in advance and refrigerated or frozen (in the pan, with the buttermilk glaze) before icing the cake.
Questions & Reviews
I’m sorry if this question has already been asked-
I’m throwing a cupcake baby shower for a friend, and she’s requested carrot cake cup cakes, could these be adapted to cupcakes? Should I just cut the cook time in half (or more) or should I reduce the temperature too? I’ve been looking on pinterest for carrot cupcake recipes, but they don’t look as yummy as your cake!
Hmmm…I’ve never tried making this into cupcakes. I’d keep the temp the same and then when it comes to time, you’re just going to have to keep an eye on them. Let us know how it goes!
The MOST DIVINE carrot cake I’ve ever had! With bushels of carrots from my garden on hand I decided to
try out a few different recipes, this is by far the best. Only a few slight changes, additions I picked up from other recipes: I used a 1/4 teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg, and ginger and an extra 1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon and vanilla. I also added 1 cup of raisins; use the juice from your canned pineapple to cover the raisins in a bowl, microwave for 3 minutes and let them soak till ready to use, drain and fold into batter at the end. This will make your raisins plump and soft, you can add a tablespoon or two of the juice to the batter. I also prefer to substitute walnuts for pecans, as I prefer them. Thank you best bites!
I LOVE carrot cake and am still on the hunt for THE best carrot cake. I think I may have found it! I’m the only carrot cake eater in the house (the rest of them are crazy), does this recipe half well? Thanks!
I really like classic carrot cake, but these looks so interesting! It must be delicious to!
Wish I could post a picture!! Just made this for my Hubby who swore off sweets for Lent..he’s counting the minutes until midnight! One adjustment I made was to decrease the baking soda in the glaze..other than that, it was a joy to make!!
Like carrot cake …Used to make it with another recipe…but this one looks really delicious …will try it and tell you the result ..Thank you <3
Could I make these cakes ahead of time and freeze them? I have to make 3 cakes for Easter dinner lol
Yep, most definitely! 🙂
Re the amount of dough for a 9″ round pan vs 8″ square pan: 3 x 8 x 8 = 192 sq in
3 x pi x 9 x 9 / 4 = 190 sq in. Easy, see???? LOL . . . Nope, I don’t get it either; had to have my engineer son explain it to me.
I just wanted to say that this cake is THE BEST carrot cake recipe I’ve ever tried. Hands down! And I’m a tough critic 😉 I was a bit skeptical by the pineapple, but don’t let this fool you — the results are rich, sweet wonderfulness.
The only thing I do differently is to top it with maple cream cheese frosting. All you need to do is to sub the vanilla for about 1/4c. maple syrup and it’s just divine.
This recipe looks amazing and I’m wondering if I would be able to make cupcakes instead of the cakes with this recipe? I think the glaze may be a little hard to do with the cupcakes, but I think it should still work. I’m just wondering about the density that you commented on earlier.
I’ve never tried it, so I just can’t say for sure, but you could always try it! Just fill the cupcake liners more full than you usually would. Good luck! 🙂
I don’t know if you’re still answering questions on this post but I wanted to make this for my grandma’s birthday and she’s worried that the grandkids who don’t like coconut won’t eat/like it. Can you taste the coconut (and does it keep its texture) when its baked into the cake?
HI!!
Can you use your buttermilk glaze on any kind of cakes?
This is an amazing recipe! Made them into cupcakes and they turned out just great!
What do you think??? Can I just make this recipe into cupcakes? Would I pour a little glaze over each cupcake, or just leave the glaze out?????
I made this a few nights ago and it is by far the best carrot cake I’ve ever had! We made ours in a bundt pan just because I didn’t want to clean 2 pans later. The kids thought it was super special and we all thought it was DELICIOUS!!
Made this for a party last night, it was awesome! I used two 8″ pans, worked great and looked beautiful. It took 35-38 minutes in my convection oven for the deeper pans.
This is by far the best carrot cake I’ve ever had! I’ve made this 3 times now and everyone that’s tried it loves it and asks for the recipe.
I just love the recipe for carrot cake. I pray your hubby is feeling much better and doing much better also . Thank you again for this great blog Keepin the faith Love to you all and gods many blessings too Love Cheyenne Henderson Nv Summit ward
I have the carrot cake supreme in the oven. Do you have the nutrition information on your recipes? I found you through my daughters and know that I will love your recipes. Keep up the delicious recipes and may continued success be yours.
We have it on a very limited number of recipes, but we’ve chosen not to include it because it only led to heartache and pain. Seriously. 🙂 I guarantee you that you don’t want to know how many calories are in this recipe, haha!
So mine did not look as pretty!
So I’m dying to try this ASAP, but I’m slightly confused about the tinfoil. Why 4 strips? At what point did you remove the tin foil since it’s not under the finished product? Also, when you put take the cakes out of the oven and place them on the cooling rack are they supposed to be removed from the pans I’m guessing? Thanks for helping a novice out 🙂 You’re the best!
Karli–Hahaha, yeah, things were kind of falling apart as I was photographing this recipe, so I didn’t get as many pics as I wanted! So you need to make a square with the four strips of foil on the plate and then you put the bottom layer on top of the foil. That way, when you frost the cake, the excess frosting goes onto the foil instead of the plate and then you can easily slip the foil out from under the cake after you’re done frosting it (as opposed to trying to clean the frosting off the plate or getting a whole frosted cake off of a whole sheet of aluminum foil.
If you only make a double layer cake instead of three layers as it says it makes in the recipe, do you pour the entire glaze onto the two cakes even though it is enough for three?
You can do it either way. In theory, you can use the same amount because it’s still the same amount of cake, just distributed differently. However, if you want, you can always scale back.
I love carrot cake! I use carrot baby food in mine and it is quick and easy!
I love a good carrot cake so I’m definitely going to have to try this recipe! And I feel so bad for your hubby but glad he’s doing better. I was in the EXACT same boat with my gallbladder this past February. I had to go in to the hospital immediately and was in for a week. I feel his pain! And yours bc I’m sure it was stressful for you too!
I just came across your blog from Food Gawker and I love it! You have a really good design scheme! It’s very cute. Simple and clean yet cute!!
Glad to hear that Sam is out of the woods. He should stay out of the woods! Okay, this cake is pure evil. You’re killing us here, Kate! I still have Sara’s chocolate cake from last week’s post in my fridge and now you do THIS to us? Divinely evil.
I love Carrot Cake and I think this looks like the “one” as far as carrot cake recipes go. Thanks.
Thank you so much for NOT putting raisins in your Carrot Cake! My husband abhors them. And I really need to make him a yummy treat since he bought me your book for Mother’s Day. Isn’t he sweet? ; ). Actually he’s a real keeper for 30 years and beyond!
Kate and Sara –
I just wanted you to know that my sister, Patti, enlightened my mind with your website. Then she won tickets to see you in Utah and invited me, but since I live in Illinois, I couldn’t make it. Dang. But I have since purchased 3 of your cookbooks, kept one and gave the other two away to some of my girls. Now I am going to buy two more to give to more daughters! BUT, here’s the cool thing: my co-worker tasted my mint chocolate brownies that I made and brought to work for someone’s birthday, and she wanted the recipe! So I brought in your cookbook and showed it to her. She kept it for 4 days – over the weekend, has ordered a copy of her own and her friends and some relatives also LOVED the cookbook and have ordered it from Amazon.com! So, even Illinois is filling their kitchens with your cookbook! Thank you for sharing it with us!
from a Mormon Girl turned Grandma!!
LynnEl Springer – Champaign, Illinois