Carrot Sheet Cake

This carrot sheet cake recipe is easy to make, and looks great on a plate. It’s moist, perfectly spiced, and not to mention, it’s delicious!

Looking for a delicious and festive cake to celebrate Easter? Look no further than this carrot sheet cake recipe! The cake is easy to make, and it’s perfect for serving a large crowd. This is the best carrot cake recipe for serving at your next Easter dinner, it is sure to get rave reviews!

Is there anything more satisfying than a perfectly moist, delicious carrot cake? This recipe is easy to follow and produces a delightful sheet cake that is sure to please any carrot cake lover. The cake is just perfectly sweet with a hint of spice, and has a moist and tender crumb; then all of that goodness is topped with an irresistible cream cheese icing.

With a few simple ingredients and a little bit of time, you can have a delicious sheet cake that is perfect for any occasion. This moist carrot sheet cake recipe is a perfect dessert for a spring get-together or as a dessert for your next potluck.

Why You will LOVE this Carrot Cake Recipe

• Easy to make carrot cake batter
• 100% made from scratch
• Incredibly delicious sheet pan carrot cake
• Moist and tender crumb
• Just perfectly sweet with a touch of spice
• Super cute for Easter dessert!
• Finished with perfectly creamy, tangy and fluffy cream cheese frosting.

How to Make Carrot Cake From Scratch

Carrot cake is so easy to make from scratch that you will never go back to cake mixes. In fact, many people find that carrot cake is even more delicious when made from scratch. This recipe will show you how to make a moist and flavorful carrot cake that everyone will love using ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.

Read on for all the tips and information you need to make the very best carrot cake from scratch!

Is this Carrot Cake Healthy?

Nope. Not even trying to be. What is and isn’t healthy when it comes to desserts can be pretty subjective anyway. If you are on some kind of diet then I would look for a carrot cake recipe that is more suitable for your needs.

The only “healthy” type substitution I would offer here is to use applesauce instead of oil, and light cream cheese for a lower fat cake. Other then that, carrots are healthy so, enjoy some cake.

How to Make Candy Carrots to Decorate your Carrot Sheet Cake

I wanted to make this sheet cake a little fun so I made my own little carrots by melting orange and green candy melts, then scooping the melted candy into their own piping bags fitted with small star piping tips.

Then I piped the carrots onto a piece of parchment paper. Once cooled they pop right off, ready to decorate the top of the cake. This is a great way to make cupcake toppers too!

You don’t need to be particularly good at piping or drawing for this either. My efforts resulted in cute but decidedly quirky carrots, and that is OK.

Other methods for making carrots can include using coloured frosting, using fondant or using pre-made carrot shaped candy.

The BEST Cream Cheese Frosting

For this carrot cake recipe I am using the BEST cream cheese frosting ever. It is just the right amount of sweet with plenty of tang, and it is incredibly creamy. It also sets up nicely in the fridge, and freezes well.

It is important to start with room temperature butter and cream cheese. To warm up the cream cheese to just the right consistency for whipping, you can place the foil wrapped cream cheese in a bowl of hot water for a minute or two.

What I love most about this cream cheese frosting recipe is that it isn’t too sweet. It pairs perfectly with the sweet and spicy carrots in this cake.

Tips for the BEST Carrot Cake

– Use fresh carrots. Carrots that have been frozen or have been in the fridge for a while will not work as well.

– Always spoon and level your flour carefully to avoid a dry and dense cake.

– Do not overmix the batter. Overmixing can make the cake dense and tough.

– Use a greased and floured pan. This will help ensure that your cake comes out of the pan cleanly.

– Bake the cake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. This will ensure that your cake is done all the way through.

– Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. This will help the frosting stay in place and not slide off the cake. Make your frosting and any decorations while the cake cools.

– Follow the tips in the next section to make sure your carrot cake is just perfectly moist.

How to Make Carrot Cake Moist

• Use brown sugar instead of white sugar, it is naturally more moist.
• Use oil or applesauce as directed and do not substitute with butter. Butter tastes amazing but it can make the cake dry compared to oil.
• Make sure you use enough carrot. If you have time you can macerate the shredded carrot with some of the sugar called for in the batter for about 20=30 minutes.
• Always grate your own carrots, fresh.
• Carefully measure your flour using a spoon and dry measuring cup, then level it off. Too much flour will lead to a dense, dry crumb.
• Don’t over-bake your cake.

Can this Cake be Made as Individual Cupcakes?

Yes, if you’d prefer to make this cake as cupcakes, then take a look at my carrot cake cupcakes recipe.

In fact, I used my favourite carrot cupcake recipe to develop this carrot sheet cake recipe. So if you love this cake, you you will absolutely love my carrot cupcakes!

Carrot Cake Decoration Ideas

There are tons of different ways to decorate your carrot cake.

One of my kids hates nuts, but I happen to love nuts so as a compromise I decorated the outside edges with plenty of chopped walnut pieces, leaving the inside pieces bare.

I also wanted to make this sheet cake a little fun so I made my own little carrots with candy melts.

You can also decorate with carrot curls made using your vegetable peeler.

You could also reserve some frosting to colour and pipe frosting carrots over the cake instead of using candy melts.

Shredded coconut works really well to decorate carrot cake too!

You can use pecans instead of walnuts.

How to store Carrot Cake

This cake should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting. If you don’t place it in an airtight container, or wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap, it could dry out pretty quickly in the fridge.

Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

Can You Freeze Carrot Cake?

Yes, carrot cake freezes well and will last for up to three months if stored properly. This is a really great option if you are craving cake but can’t get through a whole one in a few days. Yay Cake snacks!

I prefer to store the cake sliced up when I am storing it in the freezer. Wrap the cooled cake slices, well in plastic wrap and then place in an airtight container or resealable freezer bag. You ca also do the same with the whole cake.

Thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a couple of hours before serving.

Equipment Needed to Make Carrot Cake Sheet Cake

9×13 Baking Pan – Pretty much everyone already owns at least one of these sheet cake pans. If you happen to not have one though, you can baking this cake in two 9×2-inch round pans.

Stand Mixer – A stand mixer makes life so much easier when it comes to making frosting. You can use a large bowl and a whisk or hand mixer, but an electric mixer is life changing. I wouldn’t bother getting the stand mixer out for the cake batter though. A medium bowl, and a large bowl with a whisk and a spatula will do the job just as easily.

About the Ingredients for this Carrot Cake Recipe without Nuts

Flour – Spoon and level the flour when measuring it, or your cupcakes may end up too dense.

Baking powder – Helps make the cupcakes rise.

Spices – A mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves gives the cupcake a lightly spiced flavour.

Salt – Makes all the other ingredients really shine.

Sugar – I use plain old white granulated sugar, but you can use a mixture of brown sugar or all brown sugar. Using brown sugar deepens the flavour and adds a little more moisture. My family prefers when I make it with granulated sugar though.

Eggs – Bring them to room temperature before starting.

Vegetable oil – I use vegetable oil but you can swap for any kind of fat you prefer with a low flavour profile like canola oil. You can also use unsweetened applesauce here for a lower fat option. You can substitute with unsweetened applesauce if you prefer a carrot cake recipe with applesauce.

Carrots – Just grate them with a plain old box grater. You can shred them really fine or course, it doesn’t really matter, it’s just a matter of preference. Be careful not to go overboard with your grated carrots because while the carrots bring a lot of flavour they also give the cupcakes a ton of moisture.

Vanilla – Real vanilla extract is best but feel free to use artificial if that is what you have on hand.

Cream cheese Frosting – Be sure to use my recipe for tangy cream cheese frosting, it’s the creamiest frosting and is just the right amount of sweet.

Nuts – If you do like nuts you can add 1 cup chopped walnuts but this is completely optional. I have a nut hater in my house, so I make mine without.

Looking for More Easter Cake Recipes?

Check out more of the best Easter desserts from Frugal Mom, Eh!

This Instant Pot Creme Egg Cheesecake is an easy Easter dessert; rich vanilla cheesecake smothered in chocolate ganache & SO MANY CREME EGGS!

These easy carrot cake cupcakes are soft, moist, and lightly spiced. They are simply delicious topped with homemade cream cheese frosting!

These butterfly cupcakes are an adorable treat. Perfect for spring and summer celebrations, you won’t believe how easy these adorable cupcakes are to make!

How to Make the BEST Carrot Sheet Cake

Yields: 20 Servings | Prep time: 15 Minutes | Cook time: 50 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups All-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups carrots, grated
• 2 tsp vanilla

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 package (8 oz) Cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 Cup butter, softened
• 2 Cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and lightly flour a 9×13 baking pan.

Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Beat sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

Slowly whisk in the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients until just combined.

Fold in the shredded carrots until just combined.

Spoon batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Bake 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely in the pan.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and butter together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Smooth the cream cheese frosting over the cooled cake with an offset spatula.

Decorate the carrot cake as desired.

Cut into squares and serve!

Well, there you have it! Our delicious carrot cake sheet cake recipe. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Let us know what you think of this moist carrot cake recipe and the sweet cream cheese frosting in the comments below.

Don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends and family. They’re sure to love it!