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Southern Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
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5 from 3 votes

SOUTHERN CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

This is a recipe for southern carrot cake with cream cheese icing
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot cake, homemade carrot cake
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 437kcal
Cost: $12

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for pans
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ½ tsp orange flavoring
  • 3 cups grated carrots
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans optional

For the Icing

  • 3 blocks of room temperature cream cheese
  • 1 ½ sticks room temperature whole butter
  • 8 oz powdered sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Sour Cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • milk to thin, if needed.

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare 3 9inch cake pans with either butter and flour or baking spray. Cut three parchment paper disks to insert into the bottom of each cake plan and then place them on top of the baking spray.
  • In a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, almond extract, orange flavoring, carrots and pecans and mix on low until well combined (about 1 minute).
  • Using a measuring cup, measure out even portions of the batter into each of the three cake pans (about 1 ⅓ cups each).
  • Bake at 350 until the cake is set and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
  • Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool on a baking rack until cool.
  • Mix together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, sour cream, vanilla extract and almond extract until blended creamy (if consistency is too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time to thin)

Icing the cake

  • Run a butter knife around the rim of the first cake to release it from the side and then Turn the first cake pan upside down into the palm of your hand. When the cake is removed, peel the parchment paper from the bottom.
  • Lay the cake on the plate of your cake stand upside down and spoon out about ½ - ¾ cup icing onto the cake. Smooth with a spatula.
  • Repeat the release of the cake and remove the parchment from the second cake laying it upside down atop the second cake and repeat with the icing.
  • Repeat the release of the third cake and remove the parchment laying it upside down on the second cake. Spoon the remainder of the icing onto the cake and spread out using a spatula. Carefully smooth the icing over the sides of the cake.

Notes

This is a recipe for carrot cake with cream cheese icing please see the post for all of the tips and tricks for the recipe

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 422mg | Potassium: 222mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 5433IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg