Moist and flavorful homemade carrot cake layered with salted caramel sauce and cream cheese frosting.
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Cake
My obsession over the past year has been putting caramel sauce is just about every cake (caramel maple cider cake, caramel spice cake), so when it came time to creating this year’s carrot cake recipe, naturally I knew that I had to make a caramel carrot cake. This was also low key inspired by a picture of what seemed to be a cake topped with caramel sauce that I saw at Whole Foods lol.
I’m a big fan of this homemade carrot cake and think you’ll love it too:
- The cake is loaded with freshly grated carrots, pecans, and warm spices for a lot of flavor.
- Applesauce and sour cream help make the cake extra moist and tender.
- There is caramel sauce swirled into the batter and sandwiched between each layer of cake and cream cheese frosting.
- You can either make your own caramel sauce or use store-bought — do what makes you happy!
- It’s a great cake as we gear up for Spring, and perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients and Notes
The ingredients and measurements included in this recipe will make a three layer, 6″ round cake. The round cake pans that I use as these Fat Daddios pans that you can buy on Amazon, or if you’re lucky I’ve seen them in Homegoods for a great price.
- Carrots: whole, raw carrots work best. Peel and grate them yourself; do not buy pre-shredded carrots.
- All-purpose flour: I highly recommend using a digital scale to measure out your flour.
- Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Oil: any neutral oil, such as vegetable or avocado, will work
- Eggs: large eggs, at room temperature. To quickly warm cold eggs, soak them in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Plain, unsweetened applesauce: this won’t add any apple flavor to the cake, but functions similarly to oil in making the cake rich and moist.
- Sour cream: you can substitute yogurt and the recipe will also turn out fine. Aim for a full-fat rather than fat-free sour cream or yogurt.
- Finely chopped pecans: chop them up to a little smaller than the size of peas.
- Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and vanilla extract: for flavoring
- Baking powder and baking soda: as leaveners
- Caramel sauce: either store bought or homemade. I’ve included directions in the recipe for homemade caramel sauce, but to save time you are more than welcome to pick something up at the store! In a typical grocery store, caramel is sold near the ice cream cones and syrups.
Preparing Carrots for Carrot Cake
There are two options for preparing carrots for cake — box grater or food processor. Do not use the shredded carrots that come in a bag, as those are too thick and will make the cake chunky and crunchy (both adjectives that are less than ideal for describing cake lol). Instead, buy whole carrots and peel them. Then, finely grate them or throw them into the food processor on the ‘chop’ setting. I used a food processor for this recipe to get finer, smaller bits of carrot.
How to Assemble Caramel Carrot Cake
- Start by placing one round of cake on a cake board or stand.
- Spread an even layer of cream cheese frosting on top. Use a spoon or frosting spatula to shape the edges to be a little higher than the middle to make a shallow well for the caramel sauce.
- Spoon in a layer of caramel sauce. Around a quarter cup is a good amount to start with, but you can add more or less depending on your preference.
- Place a cake round on top and repeat.
- Place the last cake round on top and then frost the tops and sides of the cake as well.
- Optional–spread more caramel sauce on top or let it drip down the sides.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Toast the pecans before using them to bring out their flavors. To do so, lay the pecans out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes, checking in on them occasionally to ensure they don’t burn.
- Make sure that the cake layers are completely cool before assembling
How to Store Leftovers
Leftover, frosted cake needs to be stored in the fridge due to the cream cheese frosting. Tightly wrap the cake or store it in an airtight container. I would also recommend pressing foil or plastic wrap up against any exposed cake to keep it moist.
Pin and Save for Later
If you’re interested in this recipe but not ready to bake yet, no problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (pick your favorite), or tap if you’re on mobile, and click the pin icon in the corner to save for later.
And if you love this caramel carrot cake I also have a mini version with these caramel carrot cupcakes, so check it out!
Caramel Carrot Cake
Ultra moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and salted caramel sauce.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ (150g) cup sugar
- ½ cup (105g) brown sugar
- ⅔ cup oil
- ⅓ cup applesauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrots
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- ¼ cup salted caramel sauce (homemade or store bought)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (one stick) butter
- 8oz (one block) plain cream cheese
- 3¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
(Optional Homemade) Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp water
- 4 tbsp butter, softened and cut into slices
- ½ cup heavy cream, warmed
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
Homemade Caramel Sauce (Optional)
- If you are making homemade caramel sauce, do that first so that it has time to cool. In a medium saucepan, melt the sugar and water together over medium heat. It will begin to clump up as the water evaporates. Pick up the pan every once in a while and give it a few shakes. As the sugar melts, it will turn an amber color. Begin stirring once the sugar has almost completely melted. This whole process will take around 6-10 minutes.
- Reduce the heat and add the butter, whisking it in until fully combined.
- Pour in the heavy cream while continuing to whisk. Make sure the heavy cream is at room temperature or warmer (use a microwave to heat it up if needed). After the heavy cream is mixed in, cooking stirring and cooking for another 1-2 minutes to start thickening the caramel.
- Remove from heat and pour into a separate bowl. Whisk in the salt and the let the caramel cool down completely before using.
Carrot Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line three 6" round cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set this aside for now.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, and oil together. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and creamy.
- Whisk in the applesauce, vanilla extract, and sour cream for 30 seconds - 1 minute, until smooth as well.
- Dump the flour into the wet ingredients, gently folding everything together until there are no white streaks. Then fold in the carrots, pecans, and ¼ cup of caramel sauce.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Tap the pans on a counter to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the layers cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting & Assembly
- Beat the butter, cream cheese, and salt together in a mixer for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed with the paddle attachment, until smooth and fluffy.
- Start adding in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, running the mixer on low speed as to not send a cloud of sugar flying everywhere.
- Add vanilla extract and continue beating for 2-3 minutes until you have a light and smooth frosting. Make sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway.
- Place one cake layer on a board or stand. Spread a layer of frosting on, leaving a higher wall around the edges to create a shallow well for the caramel sauce.
- Drizzle a layer of fully cooled caramel sauce on top.
- Place next cake layer on top and repeat.
- Place the last cake round on top and spread a very thin layer of frosting around the entire cake to make a crumb coat. Let this set until the frosting feels dry (10-20 minutes), and then add another, thicker layer of frosting around the sides and top of the cake.
- Store leftover cake tightly wrapped in the fridge.
Notes
- Caramel Sauce: While I have included a recipe for homemade caramel sauce, you can use store bought as well. I'd recommend choosing a sauce that comes from a jar rather than squeeze bottle, as they tend to be thicker. This is the same sauce that I use in a variety of other recipes such as caramel spice cake or caramel gingerbread cake.
- Prepping carrots: Use a box grater or a food processor to grate/chop the carrots into small bits. Do not buy pre-shredded carrots.
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