The Best-Ever Carrot Cake
The Best-Ever Carrot Cake is moist, rich, and topped with a tasty cream-cheese frosting. We’ve tested this reader recipe, and trust us—it’s aptly named!

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Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13x9-inch baking pan.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, and vanilla just until combined. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the carrots, pineapple, and nuts. Stir just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven, place onto a rack, and let cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Instructions
Combine cream cheese, butter, orange zest, and confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth. Adjust the amount of confectioners’ sugar depending on how stiff you like the icing to be. Frost the cake and top with shredded coconut (if you like).
Reader Comments
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SUBBING APPLESAUCE FOR OIL
When making the substitution you can sub any amount up to the whole shebang. It just depends on how much fat and calories you want to cut out. Just experiment and see what works for you. Happy baking!
Gluten free?
Has anyone tried this cake with gluten free flour? I would appreciate any help as carrot cake is my beloved daughter's favorite and I would love to surprise her this Easter with a "moist" cake.
Thanks for any help
The Best EVER Carrot Cake
Yes "ever" should be in all caps; as this is the best carrot cake EVER! My husband is a "die for carrot cake" kind of guy and will travel miles to a well-made moist carrot cake. So I decided to give the recipe a try and the cake is very, very, very good. The twist in this recipe are the pineapple tidbits (I used crushed) which give the cake a tropical taste. Also, the way the recipe is put together gives it that moisture and fluffy texture. Ya know, I should have added few more "verys", and some "wows" and maybe "Oh----my----goodness" to describe this cake. Thanks for the recipe, I know I will be asked to make this cake over and over again.
the BEST!
We are loving your happiness! Thanks so much for letting us know how much you—and your husband—enjoy this!
best carrot cake
I received a similar recipe in the early 70's. I started substituting homemade apple sauce for the oil. It's the best! I've never eaten another carrot cake that is so moist!
Carrot cake with applesauce
Hi, using applesauce sounds perfect to me. Can you please tell me how much you used, Linda Mixer.
Just love the old time
Just love the old time recipes. Nothing better to bring back old memories.
Thanks so much for posting.
This is by far the best
This is by far the best carrot cake recipe. I have been making this one for the last 20 years and it never disappoints.
Absolutely melt-in-your-mouth
Absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious——this from a person who usually passes on carrot cake. It would benefit from a few raisins because that is a traditional ingredient, but it doesn't need them. A guarantee of goodness, indeed!
it's
it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice and glorious.
l so much love it.
it's
it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice and glorious.
l so much love it. and I will be glad to learn how to make it on my own.
thanks.