Satisfy your carrot cake cravings with a recipe that looks as great as it tastes! This Carrot Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting has it all: a moist cake flavored with warming spices and crushed pineapple, a velvety cream cheese frosting, cookie “dirt” and candy melt “carrots.”
Carrots are one of the most versatile ingredients in existence. They can make the move from savory to sweet in seconds, whether they’re roasted, added to salads and soups, or mixed into crispy fritters. But let’s get real: Carrots are always going to be their best in a cake or carrot cupcakes!
This recipe is packed with three whole cups of shredded carrots, plus an entire 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple for the ultimate moist and tender cake. I love adding chopped pecans for a little more texture, but walnuts would be just as delicious. However, I’m a firm believer that raisins don’t belong in anything other than chocolate-covered raisin cookies, but you can absolutely add them.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Incredibly moist.
- Easy to make and make-ahead.
- Packed with flavor.
- Topped with a sweet, yet tangy cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour: All-purpose. Learn how to accurately measure flour to guarantee consistent baking results every time.
- Carrots: While it’s tempting to use pre-shredded carrots, do your future self a favor and don’t! Those pre-shredded carrots will almost always be too large to fold into your batter and are often very dry. Freshly grated is best.
- Sugar: Both white granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Baking soda: Gives the cake lift.
- Ground cinnamon: Feeling a little extra? Add a dash of cinnamon to the frosting, too!
- Eggs: Bind all of the ingredients together and
- Butter: I always opt for unsalted butter when baking. Why? Because it allows me to easily control the salt level of any recipe. You’ll need 1 whole stick of melted butter for the cake (read: moisture!) and ½ cup at room temp for the frosting.
- Sour cream: My favorite ingredient to add to baked goods for moisture.
- Vanilla extract: This adds flavor to the cake and the frosting.
- Pineapple: An 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple makes this cake extra moist. Pineapple chunks work, too, but the texture of the cake will be slightly different.
- Nuts: Completely optional! Chopped walnuts or pecans would be a delicious addition. Love raisins in your carrot cake? Add ’em in!
- Cream cheese: For best results, use full-fat block cream cheese and bring to room temperature.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Also known as powdered sugar. Sift to avoid lumps in your frosting!
- Chocolate wafers: I love using these thin and crispy wafers for chocolate cookie “dirt” but crushed Oreos or chocolate graham crackers would also work.
- Candy melts: You’ll need orange and green candy melts to create the cake toppers. They can be found in most baking aisles of grocery stores or online.
How to Make Carrot Sheet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the flour, grated carrots, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl and combine.
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, sour cream, vanilla extract and crushed pineapple with juice. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. If adding chopped nuts, stir them into the batter.
- Bake the cake. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan then bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely while you prepare the frosting and decorations.
How to Make The Best Cream Cheese Frosting
Making sure your cream cheese and butter reach room temperature before beating ensures you’re on your way to some seriously smooth frosting. About an hour on the counter will be all you need.
Pro Tip: Sift your confectioners’ sugar! Lumps in your sugar will lead to a lumpy frosting so it’s essential to sift it.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
- Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.
How to Decorate Like the Photos
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt the orange candy melts and green candy melts in two separate bowls, per the package instructions.
- Transfer each of the candy melt colors into sealable plastic bags or piping bags. Snip off the tip of the orange candy melts and pipe them into the shape of carrots. Snip off the tip of the green candy melts and pipe stems on the tops of the carrots. Let the carrots set until firm, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the crushed chocolate wafers atop the frosting cake.
- Use an offset spatula to release the candy melt carrots from the baking sheet then place them atop the crushed wafers.
Pro Tips for Recipe Success
- Do not open the oven while the cake (or cupcakes… or puff pastry… or anything!) is baking. Doing so releases heat, instantly dropping the oven temp and leading to potential pitfalls in your baked good.
- Room temp cream cheese and butter are essential for a silky-smooth frosting.
- Whip it real good… the cream cheese frosting, that is!
Storing Tips
Whether it’s frosted or not, carrot cake will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
If your cake is unfrosted: Allow the cake to cool completely before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and storing it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The day before you plan to serve the cake, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
If your cake is frosted: You can store a whole cake in a cake holder or sliced and sealed in plastic wrap on a plate in the refrigerator.
Recipe FAQs
There are two easy ways to grate carrots:
1. Use a box grater: Wash and peel your carrots before grating them lengthwise along the side of your grater with the smallest holes. Grate the carrots until it’s no longer possible to grasp the carrot safely against your grater, discarding any large pieces.
2. Use a food processor: After washing and peeling carrots, dice carrots into smaller pieces so that they’re easier for your food processor to grate and shred. Pulse the diced carrots until they resemble the look of thin pencil shavings.
Yes! Carrot cake is a much more moist cake and is coated in cream cheese frosting, it needs to be refrigerated.
This carrot cake will keep in the fridge for about a week.
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Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, grated carrots, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, sour cream, vanilla extract and crushed pineapple with juice. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans (optional).
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan then bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely while you prepare the frosting and decorations.
Make the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth. Once the cake has cooled completely, spread the frosting over the top in an even layer.
Make the decorations:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Melt the orange candy melts and green candy melts in two separate bowls, per the package instructions.
Transfer each of the candy melt colors into sealable plastic bags or piping bags. Snip off the tip of the orange candy melts and pipe them into the shape of carrots. Snip off the tip of the green candy melts and pipe stems on the tops of the carrots. Let the carrots set until firm, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the crushed chocolate wafers atop the frosting cake.
Use an offset spatula to release the candy melt carrots from the baking sheet then place them atop the crushed wafers.
Slice the cake into pieces and serve.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Kelly’s Notes:
- To make sure you get a delicious cake any day you slice it, here are some handy storage tips: If your cake is unfrosted: Allow cake layers to cool before wrapping them individually (in plastic wrap) and storing in the fridge. If your cake is frosted: Waiting to serve or simply have leftovers? You can store a whole cake in a cake holder or sliced and sealed in plastic wrap on a plate in the fridge.
Calories: 709kcal, Carbohydrates: 112g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 100mg, Sodium: 580mg, Potassium: 274mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 83g, Vitamin A: 5981IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 79mg, Iron: 3mg
