Carrot Bundt Cake
This Carrot Bundt Cake has all the same rich flavors of classic carrot cake with 3 layers in an easier to make bundt. Topped with a cream cheese frosting, it's a bakery-worthy dessert that's perfect for holidays and entertaining.
Servings: 16 servings
Ingredients
Carrot Cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice* (See NOTE to make your own)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups shredded carrot, loosely packed (about 3 medium, 7 to 8 ounces)
- 1 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 4 ounces ½ of an 8 ounce block cream cheese, very soft*
- 2 cups powdered sugar 7.5 ounces
- 2 tablespoons melted butter salted or unsalted
- 4 to 5 teaspoons milk any milk will do
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chopped pecans or walnuts for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the Carrot Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F°. Grease and flour a 10 to 12 cup bundt cake pan. Or, use no-stick cooking spray made with flour (Pam).
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another medium bowl, lightly beat or whisk the eggs.
- Peel and shred enough carrot to get 2 cups loosely packed shredded carrot. Add to the eggs. Stir in the oil, brown sugar and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture and stir well but just until all ingredients are combined. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Place the pan on the rack in the lower third of the oven. Bake for 38 to 40 minutes or just until a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Prepare the Cream Cheese Icing:
- Meanwhile, with a sturdy whisk, whisk the very soft cream cheese in a medium bowl. Add the powdered sugar, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk or stir until smooth. If you like the icing a little thinner, add additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool just 5 minutes. (Any longer and it will be harder to remove from the pan.) Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack until completely cool. Drizzle, pipe or spread with Cream Cheese Icing.Sprinkle with nuts as a garnish, if you like!
Notes
Storage:
If you want to store this cake, it’s best to cover it with a domed cake container if you have one. If not, then loosely tent with foil. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days and when you’re ready to serve, let the cake sit out for 10 to 15 minutes to take off the chill.
You can also freeze the whole cake or individual slices of the cake wrapped in plastic wrap and foil for up to 2 months. When ready to serve, allow it to sit out at room temperature for a couple of hours until thawed, or even place in the fridge overnight until ready to serve.
Tips:
- Avoid buying pre-shredded carrots, use whole carrots that you shred yourself. Peel them and grate them by hand, it makes for a moist bite! In a pinch, you can use the peeled “baby” carrots, but they are small, so more difficult to shred.
- Allow the cake to cool for just 5 minutes after removing it from the oven. If you cool the cake any longer, it will be more difficult to remove from the pan. If you remove it from the pan with less than 5 minutes, the cake may not hold it’s shape.
- Microwave the cream cheese after removing the foil wrapper for 20 seconds and it will give you “very soft” cream cheese so you won’t need a mixer.
- If you have the time, it’s worth it to sift your powdered sugar as well as flour to remove any lumps. It really does catch a few tiny clumps that might not dissolve or blend into the batter or icing completely, making for a smooth texture.
- Cool the cake completely before icing. If you don't, the cream cheese frosting will melt on top of the cake and cause quite a mess.
