You just can’t have an Easter season celebration without carrot cake, in my opinion. Even if you aren’t a carrot cake fan, you have to love it for approximately 10 days, give or take a few, just in time for carrot cake season to come and go. I happen to know about one of the most unbelievable carrot cake recipes, and it is…well…unbelievable. But sometimes necessity requires a simpler version – a carrot cake that doesn’t have to be layered and tediously frosted, a cake that can feed a crowd and maintain its delicious simplicity.
This carrot cake fits the bill. Sent to me by a reader, Alisha, apparently this recipe has been around for a long time and was a renowned recipe in a large bakery that has since closed down. It definitely lives up to its fame! This cake is dense and moist and perfectly spiced. Topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting and it is a dream. I even took liberties with the recipe, subbing applesauce for half of the oil, adding vanilla extract and reducing the eggs by one (thanks to Alisha’s own tip) and the result was an absolutely rewarding finish to a lovely meal.
I love the deliciousness of this cake, but I also love that it is easy, down-to-earth, and feeds a crowd. Let me repeat that: this cake feeds a crowd! Seriously, people, I didn’t read far enough ahead in the recipe and made the entire batch for my little family. We had carrot cake coming out of our ears for days. Not necessarily a bad thing for my taste buds but a travesty for my thighs. Thanks, Alisha! (For the recipe…not the thigh issue.)
One Year Ago: Simple and Delicious Cheese Bread
Carrot Sheet Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture
*Note: I haven’t tried it but am guessing you could easily half this recipe and bake it in a 9X13-inch pan. Also, you can eliminate the whipped cream from the frosting recipe, but you’ll be missing out on an ethereal confection that takes cream cheese frosting to a whole new level.
*Serves 16-20
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
4 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 pounds carrots, washed and ends trimmed (they don’t need to be peeled)
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour an 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Shred the carrots, finely, on a box grater or food processor. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, oil, applesauce, water and vanilla. Whisk in the sugar to combine until evenly mixed.
In a second bowl mix flour, spices, salt, soda and baking powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until moistened. Gently fold the carrots into the batter until evenly distributed. Bake the cake for 30-32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.
For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the frosting and whip to combine (don’t overmix or the frosting will become too stiff). The frosting should be smooth and creamy.
Recipe Source: adapted from Alisha O.
Click the above image to see all the Easter/Spring recipes!
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
Carrot cake is a favorite in our house, and I make one that has crushed pineapple in it (we love it!). My son’s birthday is in April, I can’t wait to try your whipped cream cheese frosting on a carrot cake…it looks like it would take almost any cake to the “over the top” level! Thanks for sharing, Mel!
I love carrot cake, this recipe looks delicious! Can’t wait to try the frosting I’m sure it is heavenly.
Oh my…these last several recipes ALL look delish. I can see my Easter dinner shaping up quite nicely thanks to you.
I think the traditional ham is out the window!
This cake looks and sounds amazing. I love the addition of heavy cream in the frosting.
There is a carrot cake season? In my house it’s all year long, baby! I love carrot cake in all its varieties. Sometimes cream cheese frosting is just too heavy for me, I can’t wait to try this frosting recipe!
Mel–you read my mind! I have had “carrot cake” written on the white board on my fridge for weeks now–no lie. Just been in the mood. Now I don’t have to search for a recipe. This one looks awesome.
I’ve never made a carrot cake in sheet cake form….super idea, Mel! And the frosting looks heavenly rich!
I have been searching for the last week for a Carrot Sheet Cake recipe! This one by far looks the BEST, and just in time for the event I need it for. Thank You!
what a unique frosting! i thought regular cream cheese frosting was as decadent as one could get, but i was wrong. so very wrong.
Can I just say how much I love your site?! I can? I LOVE YOUR SITE! I am a visitor 2-3 times a week. I haven’t made a single one of your recipes that I didn’t really like…and that’s not normal. We have the same taste in food I think, although I can’t stand asparagus, sorry. You’re hilarious. I’ve never commented before but after this carrot sheetcake recipe that I needed for Easter that you suddenly saved me with AGAIN…THANKS!!! You rock!
Carrot cake is my favorite. Yours looks terrific!
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake! I just pulled all of the carrots out of my winter garden & along with oodles of baby food, I plan to make a couple of these babies. I can’t wait to try the whipped cream frosting. Yum!
Oh, & a year ago or so I found a quarter sheet jelly roll pan (made by Calphon) at a discount store… TJ Maxx or something… anyway, I almost always just do 1/2 of the recipe unless I have a crowd to feed! You just have to decrease the baking time by a bit.
did you make the changes that you talked about in the recipe that you wrote down? or do i still need to cut out one egg (so if i halved it i would only use one egg)) and still reduce the oil even more and add more applesauce than what you have down? hopefully that makes sense
deanne – the recipe that I gave in my post is WITH my changes so if you want to make it the way I did, you don’t need to further cut down the eggs/oil. Hope that helps!
made this cake yesterday for Easter, we all loved it! thanks again for another great recipe!
Thanks, Sara!
I made this for Easter dinner with my family at my Grandparents’ house. My Grandma yelled across the yard, “Rissa, this carrot cake is so good!” And she informed me I have proven myself as being able to bake. (I’m a newlywed and fairly new to cooking.) Thanks!
Marissa – your comment made me laugh! I can just picture your Granny yelling to you that you did well! Too funny. I’m glad that this worked out for you!
I made this cake yesterday (1/2 recipe) for my daughters first birthday. Yummy and simple, this is my kind of cake. I have loved all the recipes I have tried from your site, thanks!
Lesley – thanks for letting me know this cake turned out well for your daughter’s 1st birthday! Happy birthday to her! Thanks for letting me know.
Yum, yum and more yum! This was my first time making carrot cake and it was delicious! I loved that the recipe was HUGE and I could share the deliciousness with friends and family. We all LOVED it! Thanks so much!
I made this cake for Easter and it was amazing! We had family over for the traditional egg hunt and dinner, the cake was a hit. I could eat a pound of this frosting (I can hear my thighs screaming in agony). Thanks so much for adding to my Easter dinner! -Krista
Krista – I’m glad I’m not the only one whose thighs are revolting against this frosting! Thanks for letting me know cake (and frosting) were a hit…
Mel,
Ok, I’m not normally a carrot cake person… but this was GOOD! I love your site. Thanks for sharing your hard work with the rest of us. I have the cake (2nd attempt) cooking in the oven right now. The smell is heavenly! Thanks for the tip on how big it is!
Jessica – did it work out the first time, too, or was the second try just because you liked it? Thanks for checking in to let me know!
I made this and it was a hit! Thanks, so yummy!
Thanks, Kathy – happy this was a hit!
Hey Mel
Well, I’ve made this cake 4 times now(everyone keeps asking for it) It’s worked GREAT each time!
Jessica – you are nice to fill people’s requests! I’m so glad this cake has been a hit. Thanks for letting me know!
Looks delicious!!
I just found this and was so in the mood for carrot cake . . . and cupcakes. This recipe worked really well as cupcakes also! So moist and just really yummy! Didn’t need the frosting, but ohhh, the frosting was amazing! I halfed the recipe and only used oil because I didn’t have any applesauce at the moment. I got 18 cupcakes out of it and baked them for 20 min and they were perfect!
I made this recipe with juiced carrots. I juiced the carrots, took the pulp and added the juice back into them. It made for wonderful texture in the cake. I hand stirred wet ingredients into dry. I baked the recipe in two 9×13 and iced and layered them, but I think I would just make one deeper cake next time. The recipe made a great flavor and my brother “the chef” loved it and took it to work as a potluck where everyone loved it, including someone who LOVES carrot cake who said it was the best carrot cake he had ever tasted. Thanks for the recipe; it’s a keeper.
I check your page everyday, because I’m kind of stalking you! I love how you break everything down to make it easier. I always tell people it is one of Mel’s recipes…they are starting to think you are a family friend. Anyway, I made this cake yesterday for Easter; Big hit. However, it was freckled with green specks. I googled and could only come up with it being a reaction to baking soda/powder. That was good enough for the family, but how can I prevent it in the future? Still tasted amazing
Stefanie – how bizarre about your cake! To be honest, I have no idea why that would have happened, I’ve never heard of such a thing. It sounds like what you’ve read could be a likely culprit but who knows how to prevent it? Sorry I can’t be of more help – I’ve never had the green speckled effect!
Hey Melanie,
–it freezes and defrosts beautifully!
I made this for Easter this year and just an fyi…I froze the leftovers with the frosting on and I pulled it out last night for some company and it tasted awesome!! just like I made it fresh
This was such a huge hit with my husband and his co workers! I substituted crushed pineapple in place of the applesauce. And the frosting…..so good. I will definitely be using it in place of typical dense cream cheese frosting.
This was so good Mel! Thanks for yet another keeper.
I’m wanting to make this for Easter on Sunday. Can I make it a day or two ahead and keep it in the fridge? Will it still be moist and yummy???
Ashley – I have made this 24 hours in advance (frosted and everything) and kept it in the refrigerator…it keeps very well.
This was so amazing! I can’t decide if I like the frosting or the cake the best, because they are both sooo good! I love all your recipes, I don’t usually comment, but I wanted to say thanks for making my kitchen life easier. The hardest part about cooking is finding a good recipe! Also for this recipe I used frozen grated carrots I had from my garden and I didn’t know the weight, so I used 4 cups and it seemed perfect. I drained them after thawing them, so it wouldn’t make the batter runny. Just wanted to mention that in case someone else needed the measurement. Thanks again for a winning recipe!
This was by far the easiest and most DELICIOUS carrot cake I have ever come across!!!!!!!!!!!! I made one and took it to work…. it was gone by noon…. I go to work at 10:30 lol it was SO moist and heavy.. oh man, can’t wait to make another one!!!!!!!!!!!!!