If you are looking for a cute dessert idea for your Spring or Easter celebration, this carrot themed carrot cake is the perfect recipe. The cake is moist and full of flavor. The cream cheese frosting is simple to make and adds just the right amount of sweet.
This carrot themed carrot cake brings smiles to kids and adults alike. It is my go to Spring party recipe as the cake itself is easy to make and bakes up perfectly. This carrot cake always seems to bring the fun to the party. The flavors of sugars, cinnamon, carrots, coconut, raisins, walnuts and pineapple are enough to bring a party to your mouth! And if you are not a fan of coconut, raisins or walnuts, simply omit them from the recipe (just make sure to reduce the cooking time or watch the cake as it make cook faster).
This carrot cake bakes up moist and fluffy. It can even be prepared a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Freeze the leftovers for a sweet treat later. Simply wrap each slice in foil and then place a few slices in large freezer safe Ziplock bags. Store the frosting separately in freezer baggies as well. When you want a slice, just remove from freezer to allow to thaw.
Decoration Tips for the Carrot Cake
Candy Melts can make decorating this carrot cake so much easier. Whoever invented Candy Melts, THANK YOU! I’ve also made the carrot decor by melting white chocolate chips and dying the chocolate. It’s not over complicated, it just takes a wee bit longer.
Basically melt the green candy melts in a dish according to instructions. Then transfer the melts into a piping bag or Ziplock bag with a tiny tip cut off the corner. Prepare a baking sheet with wax paper. Pipe the stem of the carrot greens first by drawing a bunch of lines about 4-5 inches (to create one thick bunch as the stem). Then move your hand back and forth at an angle off of the stem to create leaves and lines. Refrigerate the green stems for about a half hour to harden.
Once the cake has been frosted with the cream cheese frosting, you are ready to melt the orange candy melts and pipe the orange zig zag design on top of each slice.
I use this little Wilton Candy Melting Pot for recipes like this as well as dipping treats or pops. W
Your other alternative is to use white chocolate chips and melt them down and then dye them. I use Guittard White Chocolate Chips if I can’t get the candy melts. Simply melt the white chocolate in a Pyrex dish over a small boiling pot of water. Stir the chocolate chips until they melt. Then dye the chocolate and transfer to a piping bag to decorate. G
Tips for Making the Carrot Cake for Your Spring Party
- Use parchment paper so the cake easily removes from your dish or pan.
- Substitute pecans for the walnuts if you like. Also, you can omit the raisins and coconut if you are not a fan. Just make sure to watch the cake during baking as you made need to reduce baking time if things are omitted.
- Make the cake and green carrot stems the day before your party and cover and store in the refrigerator. Then the day of your party, take it out and decorate with frosting and the carrot themed accents.
- You can use white chocolate chips with food coloring if you can’t get ahold of candy melts. Simply melt the white chocolate in a Pyrex dish over a low boiling pot of water. Or melt in a microwave making sure to heat a little at a time until melted. Then add dye and mix.
Related Spring Time Recipes:
Food Blogging Tips
A lot of people ask me about how I got my food blog started. I actually started it because I wanted a place to save all my favorite recipes. At some point, I used it to share recipes with my friends and family, and then I noticed many people were finding it organically. Now, this food blog brings my family a small income. We never planned it that way, it just eventually grew into what it is now.
I set up my blog on Bluehost so I could create a WordPress site. I created a step-by-step guide on how to create your own account with Bluehost and get WordPress installed. You can find that guide by clicking here.
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Pin this recipe for later
Here’s the recipe for the Carrot Themed Carrot Cake:
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 55 minutes |
| Servings |
People
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- 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 4 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple drained (or 1 bag chopped pineapple)
- 1 cup Walnuts finely chopped
- 1 cup Raisins
- 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 16 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature
- 10 Tbsp Butter salted is fine, room temperature
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 bag green candy melts or white chocolate chips + green dye
- 1 bag Orange Candy Melts or white chocolate chips + red and yellow dye
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Decor
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- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13" x 9" Pyrex dish with parchment paper and grease or spray with non-stick spray. Then lightly flour and tap flour around to cover bottom and sides. Set aside.
- In a bowl, mix together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture and use a spatula to combine. Then add the 3 cups grated carrots, 1 can (drained) pineapple, 1 cup chopped walnuts, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut and fold into the mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the Pyrex dish and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean about 45-55 minutes. Cool the cake in the dish for about 10 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to place carrot cake slices. To cut the shapes of the cake wedge slices, you can use kitchen twine to mark out the outline of the carrot shaped wedges. Use a ruler to measure every 3" and mark the cake along the 9" side. Draw a line down the middle on the 13" side. Outline the cake wedges with the twine or the tip of a sharp knife. Then slice the cake wedges and place on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Beat 10 tbsp butter and 16 ounces of cream cheese on medium until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 pinch of salt and combine. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time on low and mix until all three cups are added. Then beat on high until mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Use a spatula to smooth cream cheese frosting onto each slice top. Melt orange candy melts according to instructions and transfer to a piping bag or ziplock bag with a tiny tip cut off one corner. Pipe the orange icing across the top of each cake wedge.
- Prepare a baking sheet with wax paper. Melt the green candy melts and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe carrot stems onto wax paper, create 4-5" stalks and then add angled lines out of each side. Place the baking sheet with green stalks in a refrigerator to harden. When ready, insert a stem into the end of each carrot cake wedge.
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