If you thought carrot cake with cream cheese frosting was good, just wait until you try this recipe! It’s my favorite carrot cake that’s deeply moist, perfectly spiced, and taken to the NEXT LEVEL with brown butter cream cheese frosting. The rich, nutty notes of the brown butter really enhance the cozy spices in this cake while giving it that classic tang of cream cheese frosting. It’s one of those cakes where people will stop mid-bite to ask what makes it so good!

Extra Moist, Perfectly Spiced Carrot Cake

Each bite of this carrot cake is beautifully moist, warmly spiced, and completely irresistible. Most of the flavor comes from brown sugar, fresh grated carrots, and four warming spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. I love that this carrot cake gets even better with time – making it a day or two ahead yields an even more moist and flavorful cake! Here are the key ingredients that make it so moist:

Brown sugar. Not only does this sweeten the cake perfectly and add a great depth of flavor, brown sugar contains molasses which does a great job of moistening the crumb.
Vegetable oil. I like to use plain vegetable oil, but you can use any kind of oil that you’re used to baking with (canola, avocado, olive, etc) as an alternative. The oil makes the cake super moist and helps maintain that moisture days after baking.
Eggs. There are four large eggs in this recipe. In addition to adding moisture, they help bind all of these ingredients together and create a uniform texture while also helping the cake rise.
Unsweetened Applesauce. This really boosts the moisture and helps create a really tender crumb. The pectin in applesauce also acts as a binding ingredient. You’ll want to make sure you use unsweetened applesauce since we’re already adding sugar to sweeten this cake.
Grated Carrots. You’ll need about four large carrots for this recipe, peeled and grated. I always grate my carrots by hand using the small-hole side of a box grater. This yields the perfect carrot shreds that blend into the batter well and bake into a beautiful crumb. You’ll also notice that the grated carrot contains some juice (aka even more moisture) – add it all to the cake!

Carrot Cake Add-In Ideas

While I love carrot cake without any add-ins, some people enjoy loading up their carrot cake batter with things like raisins, nuts, or shredded coconut. If you are one of those people, here are some extras you can fold in with the carrots at the end of this recipe:

1 Cup (145g) raisins
½ Cup (39g) shredded coconut
Up to 2 Cups (218g) toasted pecans

You can feel free to combine these add-ins, but be sure not to exceed 2 Cups worth of extra ingredients.

Heavenly Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

The brown butter cream cheese frosting adds a beautiful complexity to this cake. The rich, nutty caramel notes of the brown butter combined with the tang of the cream cheese just take things to a whole new level. It’s essentially a classic cream cheese frosting recipe, but instead of adding softened butter, you first brown the butter in a skillet and let it cool to room temperature before adding it in. If you’ve never browned butter before, don’t worry! I promise it’s easy if you read through the recipe first and follow the time guides.

carrot layer cake recipe with brown butter cream cheese frosting

brown butter cream cheese frosting on carrot cake

After making the brown butter cream cheese frosting, we’ll use it to fill and frost the carrot cake. If you’ve worked with cream cheese frosting before, you may know it to be a little softer than your average frosting, but over the years I’ve figured out ways to make it extra stable for cake decorating – even piping! Here are a few best practices:

Use full-fat brick-style cream cheese. It’s critical that you don’t use low-fat or spreadable cream cheese, as these variations contain way more water than the full-fat brick kind. That means your frosting will be extra soft, liquidy, and impossible to decorate with. I always use the Philadelphia brand, but feel free to experiment with other brands as long as they meet the general requirements.
Use refrigeration. If you find that your kitchen environment is humid or the frosting is still a bit soft, pop it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, then re-mix it on low in your stand mixer. The butter in the recipe will solidify a little bit in the refrigerator, so the overall buttercream will feel a bit thicker and easier to work with afterwards.
Add stabilizers if necessary. The powdered sugar in this recipe not only sweetens the frosting, it thickens it as well. I use the minimum amount of powdered sugar in this recipe to keep the sweetness down yet keep the stability. But to make it extra stable, I sometimes add a little buttermilk powder, cornstarch (aka corn flour), or meringue powder for more structure. The buttermilk powder adds a little more tang to the cream cheese frosting, but you won’t be able to taste the cornstarch or meringue powder.

carrot cake frosted with brown butter cream cheese frosting

How to Make Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Step 1. Grate the Carrots. Use the small side of your box grater to grate the carrots by hand. I find it best to have a kitchen scale for this part so you can accurately weigh the grated carrot.

Step 2. Make the Carrot Cake. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then use a separate medium bowl to whisk together the sugars and wet ingredients. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients before folding in the grated carrot.

Divide the batter evenly between greased and lined cake pans and bake at 350ºF (177ºC) for 35-40 minutes. Cool the cake layers in the pan for about 5 minutes before releasing and allowing to cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

Step 3. Brown the Butter. While the carrot cake layers are cooling, make the brown butter. Slice the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and add it into a large frying pan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts, then continue cooking and stirring constantly for another 5-7 minutes. During this time it will foam on top, then turn light brown in color with brown speckles and smell deliciously nutty. Remove from heat at this point and transfer to a glass container.

Place the brown butter in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, until it’s solidified but soft. You should be able to easily press a finger into it.

Step 4. Make the Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. When the brown butter has solidified, make the brown butter cream cheese frosting. Beat together the brown butter and cream cheese, add in powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, then continue mixing until uniform.

Step 5. Make the Candied Pecans (Optional). I chose to garnish this cake with candied pecans. If you want to add these as well, you’ll combine brown sugar, spices, and water in a medium saucepan and cook until they start bubbling. Then, add chopped pecans to coat in the liquid, transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 6. Fill, Frost, and Decorate! Once the brown butter cream cheese frosting is made, use it to fill and stack, and frost the cake layers. You can decorate it any way you want, but to create the look pictured, I frosted a rustic buttercream finish, added some candied pecans as a border around the bottom, piped swirls on top with Wilton Tip 1M, and garnished with more candied pecan pieces.

carrot cake with brown butter frosting and candied pecans

Carrot Cake Recipe Video

Here’s a quick video of the process for making this carrot cake recipe so you can watch every step:

If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.

Similar Cake Recipes You’ll Love

If you love this carrot cake with brown butter frosting, here are some more recipes from my blog to add to your baking list:

carrot cake recipe with brown butter cream cheese frosting

I hope you love this carrot cake as much as I do! Let me know if you make it in the comments below and don’t forget to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic. I love to see what you create with my recipes!

Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

My all-time favorite carrot cake recipe that is deeply moist, has the most incredible spice flavor, is so easy to throw together, and is taken to the NEXT LEVEL with brown butter cream cheese frosting. The brown butter adds a rich, nutty caramel flavor that makes this cake extra cozy!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time:35

Cook Time:55

Cooling Time:3

Total Time:4 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Equipment

Box Grater

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

2 Cups (260g) grated carrots 3-4 large
2 1/2 Cups (330g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 Cups (300g) packed brown sugar light or dark
1 Cup (240ml) vegetable oil
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 Cup (135g) unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, cold and sliced into tbsp sized pieces
16 Oz (452g) full-fat brick-style cream cheese*, room temperature NOT the spread
8 Cups (960g) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Candied Pecans (Optional)

1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar light or dark
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp water
1/2 Cup (2 oz, 60g) chopped pecans

Instructions

Make the Carrot Cake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºF) and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottoms.
Grate the carrots by hand and measure them out into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. In another medium bowl, whisk together the white and brown sugars, vegetable oil, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together using a rubber spatula until just combined, then fold in the grated carrots. At this point you can fold in any add-ins if you wish.**
Pour the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out to cool fully on a wire rack or baking sheet.

Make the Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Brown the Butter: Add the butter into a large frying pan and cook over medium heat until the butter melts, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes while stirring constantly. The melted butter will start to foam on top, then will turn light brown in color and smell deliciously nutty. Remove from heat at this point and transfer to a glass container. Allow it to re-solidify for about 2-3 hours at room temperature or place it into the refrigerator for about 1-1.5 hours. It should be completely room temperature and solidified (but easy to press a spatula into) before continuing on with the buttercream recipe.
When the brown butter has cooled to the ideal consistency, place it into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and hand mixer) and add the cream cheese. Mix on medium-high until fluffy and light in color, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after mixing in each addition. Add the vanilla and salt and continue mixing on low speed until smooth and uniform. Use the frosting right away on cakes and cupcakes, or transfer it into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Note: If you're ready to use the frosting and it seems too soft right after making it, refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes before remixing on low speed. This will help the butter in the recipe solidify a bit more to add stability.

Make the Candied Pecans (optional)

In a small saucepan, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and water. Mix together while you cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble slightly. Reduce the heat slightly and add the pecans. Stir to coat them while you continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes, until the pecans are nicely coated and smell fragrant.
Place the candied pecans onto a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer to cool until room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Assembly

Once the cake layers have cooled completely, level them to your desired height. Fill and stack the cake layers with brown butter cream cheese frosting, then crumb coat the cake with more brown butter cream cheese frosting. Refrigerate the crumb coated cake for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
To create the design pictured, use the cream cheese frosting to frost a rustic finish on the cake. If using, press some of the candied pecans around the bottom third of the cake. Add the rest of the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 1M and pipe a swirl border on top of the cake. Garnish with more candied pecans.

Notes

*Cream Cheese: It’s very important to use full-fat brick-style cream cheese in this recipe (I use Philadelphia brand), not the spread or low-fat variations. The spreadable kind and reduced fat versions contain much more water content and will add too much liquid to the frosting, making it impossible to work with. If you don’t have access to brick-style cream cheese, I recommend making a double batch of my brown butter frosting instead.

**See the blog post above for ingredient ideas and amounts for adding in at the end of the recipe (raisins, nuts, etc.)

Make Ahead Tips:

The carrot cakes can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
The brown butter cream cheese frosting can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-mix it with your stand mixer on low speed until it’s smooth and uniform.
The decorated cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour or two before serving – it stores best cold but tastes best at room temperature.