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    Home » Recipes » Cakes

    Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Published: Mar 2, 2015 · Modified: Feb 22, 2023 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Just a few guests at your party? This easy cream cheese carrot cake is just the right size. Made in a single layer 8x8 baking dish and frosted with a small batch of cream cheese frosting, it is perfect for a small crowd.

    A square slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting sits on a blue plate with a pink fork.

    If I ever meet Ina Garten in person, I am going to give her a great big hug. Her cookbooks have been the source of countless party and holiday's worth of desserts and menu ideas at our table.

    Years ago I fell in love with her carrot cake recipe. Featured in one of my all-time favorite cookbooks: "Barefoot Contessa Parties!" her carrot cake is written to be baked as carrot cake cupcakes. They are To Die For.

    There's just one problem. . .

    Ina Garten ran a catering company and bakery. She consistently feeds armies of people. Her recipes are HUGE.

    Her cupcake recipe makes two dozen cupcakes.

    I reworked her recipe and turned into a much easier single layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting that is sized just right for a smaller family or a simple weekend treat.

    Jump to:
    • Why This Recipe is the Best
    • Ingredients
    • Make Ahead Tips
    • Easy Easter Desserts
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Why This Recipe is the Best

    Why Smaller is Better:

    With my few simple adjustments to the giant recipe, this petite cake fits perfectly into a one layer 8x8 pan.

    This smaller size means:

    • No fancy cake layers that need fussy decorating
    • No dozens of cupcake liners to wrangle and store awkwardly
    • Bakes just as fast as a box cake mix, but so much more delicious
    • Sized perfectly to let you have a variety of treats on a dessert buffet table

    Ingredients

    Most of these carrot cake ingredients are likely hiding in your pantry right now! I was so happy to discover I had everything on hand for easy weekend baking.

    • Flour
    • Sugar
    • Vegetable Oil
    • Eggs
    • Fresh Carrots: I strongly recommend grating your own fresh carrots with a box grater rather than buying pre-shedded carrots. The texture is much better with fresh grated.
    • Raisins: These are an optional ingredient but I believe they are essential!
    • Baking Soda
    • Cinnamon
    • Vanilla Extract

    OPTIONAL: You could also mix in ½ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans if you like nuts in your carrot cake.

    You could simply dust the cooled cake with a little powdered sugar in a pinch or you could top it with cream cheese frosting or vanilla glaze:

    • Vanilla cupcakes have been topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and sit on a cake plate. There's a frosting piping bag on the counter in front.
      Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
    • A vanilla cupcake in a white wrapper has white vanilla glaze and rainbow sprinkles on top. More cupcakes are in the background.
      Easy Vanilla Glaze for Cupcakes

    Make Ahead Tips

    You can bake the cake a day in advance and frost it with your preferred icing. Cover it and store in the fridge.

    The carrot cake tastes amazing ice cold from the fridge, but can also be set out to thaw a bit before serving if you like your cream cheese frosting soft.

    You can bake the cake and freeze it unfrosted for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then frost it as desired.

    Easy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

    Easy Easter Desserts

    This easy carrot cake is so fun to bake, but don't miss some of our other favorite Easter recipes:

    • A slice of no bake butterfinger pie sits on a floral plate. You can see the graham cracker crust and whipped topping.
      No-Bake Butterfinger Pie
    • A chocolate glazed bundt cake sits on a white cake plate with a blue robins egg decoration to the left.
      Orange Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
    • A slice of layered lemon torte sits on a blue plate. You can see the yellow lemon layer, a white whipped topping layer, and the graham cracker crust. A twirled slice of lemon sits on top for garnish.
      Lickety Split Lemon Torte
    • A rich chocolately round torte is on a cake plate with a pink ceramic flower accent. Powdered sugar is dusted over the top.
      Rich Chocolate Flourless Torte

    📖 Recipe

    A square slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting sits on a blue plate with a pink fork.

    Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

    4.60 from 5 votes
    This dainty single-layer carrot cake is perfect for feeding a small party. The delicious cream cheese frosting is the perfect finishing touch.
    TOTAL TIME 1 hour 5 minutes
    PREP TIME 30 minutes
    COOK TIME 35 minutes
    YIELD 8 servings
    PIN RECIPE FOR LATER PRINT RECIPE NOW

    Ingredients
      

    For the Carrot Cake:

    • 1 cup granulated sugar
    • ⅔ cup vegetable oil
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 3 large carrots grated
    • ½ cup raisins

    For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

    • 1 (8 oz) brick cream cheese at room temperature
    • 8 tablespoon (1 stick) of butter
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 8 oz confectioners' sugar

    Instructions

    For the cake:

    • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease an 8x8 pan with butter.
    • Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until they are light yellow. Add the vanilla and mix.
    • In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in the mixer bowl.
    • Toss the carrots and raisins with an additional tablespoon of flour to help prevent them from clumping. Add to the batter and combine.
    • Spread the batter into the baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes and then TURN THE HEAT DOWN TO 350°F and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.
    • NOTE FOR GLASS BAKING DISH:
      If you are using a glass baking dish, Preheat the oven to 375°F and then turn it down to 325°F.

    FOR THE FROSTING:

    • Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until just combined. Add the powdered sugar in batches and mix until smooth.
    COURSECakes
    CUISINEAmerican
    AUTHORTiffany Dahle

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    Easy cream cheese carrot cake recipe for Easter

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    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Vida

      June 18, 2022 at 11:13 am

      This recipe make a very moist delicious carrot cake! I beat the eggs very well with the sugar and slowly beat in sunflower oil. I simply added very finely grated carrots and dried cherries then the dry ingredients. My husband and I loved it! It will surely be a regular in my household. The cake is so good that next time I will simply sprinkle with powdered sugar. Thanks Tiffany for sharing!

      Reply
    2. Vida

      June 18, 2022 at 11:00 am

      I have to agree it's just the perfect size for 2!

      Reply
    3. Cynthia

      May 03, 2022 at 2:18 am

      Hey! I tried this recipe and loved it! I'm wondering if I can swap out carrots for bananas?

      Reply
    4. Nancy

      May 30, 2020 at 6:35 pm

      This is the best carrot cake ever! Especially if it’s just for me and the hubs! Thanks for sharing!!!

      Reply
    5. Rebecca Cooper

      March 02, 2015 at 11:17 pm

      This cake looks DIVINE!!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Show stopping orange chocolate chip cake for your holiday party says:
      March 30, 2020 at 10:11 am

      […] This easy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is the just-right size […]

      Reply
    2. The only gingerbread cookies recipe you'll ever need says:
      June 25, 2019 at 10:18 am

      […] are happy to decorate the cookies with sprinkles and candies, we highly recommend making a batch of cream cheese frosting. Simply spread the frosting on the cookie and let the kids have a blast decorating […]

      Reply
    3. 30 easy Easter recipes your kids will actually eat says:
      April 23, 2019 at 9:37 am

      […] Dainty carrot cake: The original version of this amazing carrot cake is a 2-layer masterpiece. It is one of our very favorite cakes so I dialed it down to make it easier (and smaller) for a smaller crowd at Easter. […]

      Reply
    4. Adorable Easter egg tree idea for kids says:
      March 26, 2015 at 8:21 am

      […] There was plenty of time to make a quick carrot cake for dessert. (Find the easy scaled down recipe for that here.) […]

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
    I believe a great family recipe is one that makes everyone at the table happy, not just the kids. I'm the author of two bestselling cookbooks for kids that are chock full of recipes everyone in your family will love. I'm also the hostess of the best online book club for moms.

    More about me →

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