Best Carrot Sheet Cake Recipe
While all things pumpkin, apple, and caramel reign supreme during fall, there's one underdog that's often forgotten about. We're talkin' about carrot cake.
This spicy cake is perfect for any season, but it's an especially great match for fall. Jam-packed with baking spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, it's the ultimate comfort food when the weather starts to cool. And of course, a deliciously moist crumb and tangy cream cheese frosting makes it that much better.
Carrot cake is often baked as a layered cake, or you can bake it into giant cupcakes for a unique option. But if you're looking for a quick and easy way to throw it together to share a special treat for dessert, a sheet cake is the way to go. This no-fuss, made-from-scratch carrot sheet cake is the ultimate dessert for when you need something with a wonderfully moist texture that's packed with flavor. Plus, you get a serving of vegetables along the way.
Gather the ingredients to prepare this easy carrot sheet cake recipe
To get started, first gather all of your ingredients. This batter comes together quickly, and placing all of your ingredients out on the counter ahead of time will make the process so much simpler.
For this carrot sheet cake recipe, you'll need white sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, three eggs, oil, milk, and four whole carrots. And for the cream cheese frosting, you'll need softened butter, softened cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Now, let's get baking!
Combine the dry ingredients
Next, preheat your oven to 350 F. This will allow plenty of time for the oven to warm up while you make your carrot cake batter.
To prep the batter, grab a large mixing bowl, and add the white sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Mix the dry ingredients with a hand mixer until well combined. Be sure no large clumps are present in the mixture before moving on to the next step.
Add the wet ingredients and carrots
It's now time to add liquid to the dry ingredients mixture. First, mix in the eggs, one at a time. Once the eggs are incorporated, mix in the oil. Then, mix in 1 cup of milk. Continue to mix until the batter is just combined. (Note that over-mixing the cake will result in a drier crumb.)
To finish off the batter, you need your carrots, of course! Place the carrot halves into a food processor, and pulse until they're finely chopped. Mix the carrots into the prepared cake batter.
Bake the carrot sheet cake
Once the batter is prepped and ready, it's time to get to baking. Grab a 9x13-inch rectangular pan. Use cooking spray to grease it to prevent the cake from sticking, and then pour the batter into the pan.
Bake the carrot sheet cake for 30 minutes until the top is lightly golden brown and fully set. Once it's done baking, remove it from the oven, and allow it to fully cool before adding the frosting.
Frost the carrot sheet cake
To make the cream cheese frosting to top your carrot sheet cake, add 6 tablespoons of softened butter and one brick of softened cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Start by whipping the butter and cream cheese together until fluffy. Next, add in 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix the butter, cream cheese, and sugar with the milk, and then continue to gradually add the remaining powdered sugar into the mixture. Mix until the frosting comes together. Once formed, turn the speed up on the mixer to whip the frosting until fluffy.
With the cake fully cooled and the cream cheese frosting prepared, it's time to finish off the cake before digging in for dessert. Keep the cake in the pan, or remove it and place it on a platter or cardboard cake stand. Use a spatula to scoop a generous amount of frosting on top and smooth the top using a flat spatula. To decorate each cake slice, use peeled pieces of raw carrot with a bit of greenery to resemble mini carrots.
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon clove
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup oil
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- 3 large whole carrots, cut in half crosswise
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, softened
- 4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
- carrot slices, for decoration
- carrot greens, for decoration
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the white sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, and mix until well combined.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
- Mix in the oil.
- Mix in 1 cup of milk. Continue mixing until just combined.
- Using a food processor, finely chop the carrots, and add them to the batter.
- Once the batter is ready, coat a 9x13-inch cake pan with cooking spray, and line it with parchment paper. Add the batter.
- Put the cake in the oven, and bake it for 30 minutes until the top is lightly golden brown and fully set.
- Remove the cake from the oven, set aside, and allow it to fully cool.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, add the softened butter and softened cream cheese to a mixing bowl, and whip until fluffy.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and the remaining milk to the batter, and continue mixing. Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar until the frosting comes together.
- Once you've reached your desired frosting consistency, increase the mixer speed, and whip the frosting until fluffy.
- When the cake is fully cooled, place it on a large rectangular cake stand, platter, or cardboard cake board. You can also keep it in the pan.
- Top the cake with a generous amount of frosting, and smooth using a flat spatula.
- Slice the cake and decorate with carrot slices and greens, if desired.
Nutrition
| Calories per Serving | 656 |
| Total Fat | 28.0 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9.2 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.3 g |
| Cholesterol | 78.3 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 98.6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1.4 g |
| Total Sugars | 80.0 g |
| Sodium | 448.6 mg |
| Protein | 5.6 g |
