This layered carrot cake recipe was originally published on the cover of Southern Living magazine! It has layers of moist carrot cake, a tangy cream cheese frosting, candied pecans and a brown sugar caramel for the best carrot cake you might ever have!
This carrot cake recipe was previously published in the Southern Living magazine (featured on the cover!). They recently took it off their site and given the number of requests for the recipe, I’m re-posting it here. This truly is one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever developed and while this cake is definitely a labor of love, I think it’s entirely worth the effort.
After testing 12 different carrot cake recipes in the carrot cake bake off, I can say with certainty that this is one of the best carrot cakes I’ve ever tried. It does take a few notes from my beloved Pappas Family carrot cake (including adding pineapple and coconut to the batter). However, this cake has a different flair inspired by the Truluck’s carrot cake, which is topped with candied nuts and caramel.
The base of the cake is adapted from King Arthur’s moist and flavorful carrot cake (the bake off-winning carrot cake), which I think has the perfect balance of moisture, sweetness and spices.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Crunchy goodness: There’s no lack of texture here! The best part of this cake are the candied, crunchy, brown sugar-y pecans that get layered in between the moist carrot cake. The second best part of this cake is a rich brown sugar caramel (technically a butterscotch) layered over the pecans for an undeniable southern flair. Drizzle the extra butterscotch over each slice of cake for the most irresistible bites!
- Easy and moist carrot cake: To me, this oil-based carrot cake has the perfect amount of spice, moisture and texture from freshly shredded carrots, a little shredded coconut and crushed pineapple. It’s easy to make the batter in just one bowl, no mixer required.
- Quick bake time: Baking this cake in a half sheet pan means all four cake layers are done in just 30 minutes. However, you can also bake this cake in a 9×13 pan or 2 9″ cake pans if you wish.
Ingredients
- Fresh carrots: While it’s tempting to use pre-grated carrots, I always recommend freshly grated carrots for carrot cake. They have way more moisture than pre-shredded carrots and will yield a better texture.
- Neutral oil: I used vegetable oil, but canola, grapeseed, avocado, safflower, coconut or even olive oil can all work.
- Sweetened shredded coconut: I took a note from the Pappas Family carrot cake to add shredded coconut to the batter. You can omit the coconut without significantly affecting the cake, but I like the texture and flavor it provides.
- Crushed pineapple: I used canned crushed pineapple. Make sure to add a bit of the juices along with the pineapple to the batter for moisture. If you really hate pineapple, you can leave this out and it won’t drastically affect the cake texture or flavor (I promise it’s very subtle and not pineapple-forward)!
- Ginger, nutmeg and cloves: I use dry powdered spices for all of these. You can swap in freshly grated nutmeg if you wish for a spicier kick.
- Diced pecans: In total, you’ll need about 8 oz of pecans (preferably toasted) divided between the cake batter and the candied pecans that go in between the layers.
- Cream cheese: Definitely use full-fat cream cheese in the frosting for the best results! While I like to soften the butter for the frosting until it’s fairly soft (closer to room temperature but still a little cool), I like to use cream cheese that’s still cool from the fridge. If it’s too soft/warm, it’s easier to overbeat the frosting and turn the texture soupy. (If this happens, pop the frosting into the fridge for 10 minutes and then try re-whipping. As a last-ditch resort, you can add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it.)
How to make this layered carrot cake
This carrot cake requires 4 separate components: the cake, the candied pecans, the butterscotch and the cream cheese frosting. These are all relatively easy standalone recipes, but together they can be time-consuming. I like to break up the tasks by candying the nuts and baking the cake and freezing it overnight or a few days ahead. Then it’s easy to make the butterscotch and frosting the day you want to assemble the cake.
Step by step photos are below, but scroll all the way down to the recipe card for the full instructions!
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, baking soda, salt and spices.
Step 2: Stir in the flour, then fold in the carrots, pecans, pineapple and coconut.
Step 3: Pour batter into a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 350 for 28-33 minutes, using a toothpick or skewer to test for doneness (skewer should be clean or with a few moist crumbs).
Step 4: Let cake cool completely in pan before cutting into quarters.
Step 5: Make the candied pecans by whisking the egg white in a small bowl until foamy.
Step 6: Toss the pecans in the egg white until fully coated, then add the sugars, cinnamon and salt and mix until fully coated.
Step 7: Bake the pecans on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 300 for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp.
Step 8: Make the brown sugar caramel by whisking the egg yolk, cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan.
Step 9: Bring to a boil over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Let boil for 2-3 minutes, or until mixture looks thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and salt. Set aside to cool.
Step 10: Make the cream cheese frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Gradually add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the salt and vanilla.
Step 11: To assemble, layer a rectangle of cake with cream cheese frosting, a layer of pecans and a drizzle of brown sugar caramel.
Step 12: Repeat with the remaining layers of cake, filling in any drooping edges with extra nuts. You can frost the sides of the cake or leave them unfrosted–your choice!
Can I make this cake in a different size pan?
Yes! The cake itself is based on King Arthur’s carrot cake, which is originally baked in 2 9″ round pans or one 9×13″ pan. I like the look of a 4-layer rectangular cake, but for ease, you can use whatever baking pans you have and torte them into layers as needed. King Arthur recommends baking for 35-40 minutes in their recommended pans.
Can I reduce the sugar?
Personally, I enjoy the sweetness level of this cake as is and many others do as well. But if you’re sensitive to overly sweet desserts, a few people have reported back making the cake with 1/4 cup less sugar and it still turned out well.
To reduce the overall amount of sugar, you can omit the butterscotch and the cake will still turn out totally fine! As one last option, you can also try halving the amount of sugar in the candied pecans.
Make ahead
Bake the layers up to 2 weeks ahead of time: Like most cakes, I prefer making the cake layers a few days ahead of serving the cake. After baking, I’ll wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 weeks (I like this compostable plastic wrap). To defrost the cake, place it in the fridge around 2-4 hours before you’d like to frost the cake. It’s best to frost the cake while it’s still slightly chilled to reduce loose crumbs and general mess!
Make the candied pecans a week ahead of time: Store the cooled candied pecans in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake.
Make the butterscotch a day or two ahead of time: You can make the butterscotch a few days ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to rewarm it and stir well before assembling the cake.
Make the frosting the day of: The day you plan to serve the cake, make the frosting right before assembling. The cake is best served the day it’s assembled, though it also keeps well for days afterwards.
Storage
Like some carrot cakes, this cake almost gets better with age–the nuts will preserve their crunch for at least a few days in the fridge (though they’ll be at peak crunch the day of assembly).
Store any leftover cake in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. If you’d like to store it for longer, you can wrap individual slices of cake in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a few weeks.
Carrot Cake with Candied Pecans
Equipment
- 1 half sheet pan (13×18") OR 9×13" pan OR 2 -3 9" round cake pans
Ingredients
For the carrot cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar 400g
- 1.5 cups neutral oil (vegetable, canola, grapeseed will all work) 300g
- 4 large eggs 200g
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated or dry)
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240g
- 3 cups finely grated carrots 297g
- 3/4 cup diced pecans, toasted if possible 85g
- scant 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, partially drained 113g/4 oz
- 3/4 cup sweetened flaked or shredded coconut 62g
For the candied pecans
- 1 large egg white (reserve the yolk for the caramel) 30-35g
- 2 cups diced pecans 228g
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar 50g
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar 57g
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
For the butterscotch
- 1 cup light brown sugar 213g
- 1/2 cup heavy cream 113g
- 1 large egg yolk 14g
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter 14g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt or flaky salt
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, cool 226g
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 113g
- 3 cups powdered sugar 339g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan (13×18) with parchment paper, creasing the edges so that it fits neatly in the pan.
- Whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Stir in the flour, then fold in the carrots, nuts, pineapple and coconut. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 28-33 minutes, using a toothpick or skewer to test for doneness (skewer should be clean or with a few moist crumbs). Let cake cool completely in pan.
Make the candied pecans
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.
- Give the egg white a whisk until slightly foamy, then toss with the pecans in a small bowl until fully coated. Add the sugars, cinnamon and salt and mix until fully coated.
- Spread out on prepared baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes. Pecans should look brown, crisp and smell amazing. They'll crisp up further as they cool—let cool completely before using.
Make the butterscotch
- Whisk together the egg yolk, cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (the constant stirring over low heat is to avoid scrambling the yolk, but tends to also cause a bit of crystallization in the butterscotch once it cools–this is totally normal! You won't notice it once everything is layered together). Let boil for 2-3 minutes, or until thickened and bubbling.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and salt. Let cool completely before using.
Make the cream cheese frosting
- Cream the cream cheese and butter together just until smooth (don't overwhip or the mixture can become too soft). Gradually add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating until just incorporated. Beat in the salt and vanilla, then beat on medium high for 1-2 minutes, or until pale and fluffy.If you prefer a stiffer, sweeter frosting, you can increase to 4 cups of sugar. If you prefer a thinner frosting, add a tablespoon or two of milk.
To assemble
- Cut the cooled cake in half lengthwise, then widthwise for 4 rectangular pieces of cake.
- Working with one piece of cake at a time, layer with cream cheese frosting, then an even layer of around 1/4 of the pecans followed by a generous drizzle of butterscotch. Repeat with the remaining layers of cake, filling in any drooping edges with extra nuts. I tend to leave the sides unfrosted for a rustic look, but feel free to frost the sides if you wish! Serve slices drizzled with any leftover butterscotch and pecans.
Naomi
Thank you for an incredible recipe! Made it for a birthday cake and it was a hit!
Can this be made into carrot cake cupcakes?
erika
So happy to hear! I’m sure the cake itself can be baked as cupcakes though I’ve never tried. I would probably fill the muffin tins up 3/4 of the way full and start checking on them after 20 min (might take closer to 25-30 min to bake all the way)!
April
I never leave comments, but this recipe is exceptional. I’ve made many yummy treats over the decades, but this takes the cake! I did use unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened, and did less powdered sugar and more cream cheese in the icing to make it barely sweet. It’s absolutely magical! I freeze the slices so that we can enjoy them as a rare treat, and they almost taste even better out of the freezer!
erika
Freezing slices is so brilliant! So happy you enjoyed and thanks for reporting back with your sugar modifications!
Sam
This might be the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. I don’t normally like identifiable “stuff’ in my cakes, but the pecans were incredibly soft and pleasant. Even the shredded coconut ended up nearly disappearing without leaving an undesirable texture. The entire recipe just worked really really well.
If I have any feedback for readers considering this cake in the future, it is that the result is very very sweet. I will make it again, but I will experiment with unsweetened shredded conconut and perhaps some amount of a less-sweet sugar.
The time commitment was much longer than indicated by the recipe, but I don’t begrudge it. I am not an experienced baker. I can follow instructions but have no real experience to rely on. Every component came together really well — I don’t know if it was like the cake, “forgiving,” but honestly the hardest parts were separating the cake from the parchment and icing.
Based on the difficulty applying icing cleanly (without crumb showing through) I think I’d either need a bigger icing recipe or find a way to get the cake itself very close to freezing to firm it up prior to assembly. Leaving it in the fridge overnight didn’t seem to suffice.
Thank you Erika!
erika
Really good feedback, thank you Sam! It definitely is a sweet cake so I hear you on reducing the sugar (and great idea with the unsweetened coconut). I’ve also heard from other people that more icing could be welcome so I may make some tweaks–thanks again!
Linda
I would like to bake this in two 9″ round pans and then torte or cut each layer into 2 layers. Would the frosting, pecans, and sauce over power the flavor of the thinner carrot cake layers? If not, recommendations regarding amounts of frosting, etc. between the layers? Thanks.
erika
Hi! I actually think the layers might be similar in thickness if baked and torted as you described. I would still make the same amount of all the components and use your best judgement on how much to use between the layers–but I have a feeling you’ll use it all (or almost all) up!
Lora
Best carrot cake I’ve ever had! People keep asking me to make it again, which I’ve made five times now and again this Saturday
erika
So thrilled to hear it!!
Deb
Excuse my language but HOLY SHIT this cake is FANTASTIC!! Add this to your to-do list and put it at the top of the list. I admit I was I made a few adjustments for personal preference but I know the original is perfect. For the cake I used 3/4 cup granulated and 3/4 cup brown sugar after reading other reviews that it was too sweet. I omitted the nuts in the cake batter because I figured the candied pecans would be sufficient and they were. I also subbed 1/2 cup of the oil for unsweetened apple sauce. The cake baked up beautifully. I made the butterscotch as written and I could have eaten the entire jar of it. For the candied pecans I reduced sugar a bit and cooked them 10 minutes less than indicated, my oven is probably too hot but they would have been burned in my oven if I had cooked them for the full amount of time. For the cream cheese frosting, I browned the butter first and let it firm up in the fridge for a few hours before making the frosting. Oh my gosh, every component was delicious on its own and when it all came together the cake was to die for. Carrot cake is our family favorite and we have a beloved recipe so I was skeptical about the hype on this recipe. Our old family fave recipe has been dethroned by this one.
erika
Omg sounds amazing!!
Daniela
Well… I LOVED IT, but sadly I couldn’t eat much of it 😩 I finished assembling the cake on Thursday to share it with my coworkers on Friday, we did a goodbye party to one of the girls and oh man… the cake was INHALED. I barely could snatch a piece for myself and two pieces for my mom and my husband. They both were upset because they thought I would bring back more cake from the activity XD. Next time I’ll just double up the recipe, I just have to buy more pans ‘cause I only have 2. The recipe was a success, I sent the Instagram video and the link to this post to many of my coworkers cause all of them wanted to do it at home too. I was very nervous about the taste because it was my first time baking it but they all loved it. The only thing I altered was the amount of sugar for the cream cheese frosting, it was already pretty sweet and I left out like 1/2 cup of sugar. I also added a little bit more coconut and walnuts instead of pecans to the batter cause I realized I was short on pecans for the batter and the candied pecans for decoration. I also used 2 9” pans ( I think that’s the measure I don’t really remember) and used the butterscotch to decorate the sides of the cake, dripping on top of the frosting. It came out great!! Both in flavor and decoration. Sorry for the long review, I just really loved it as well as everyone else who tried it. Thank you Erika so much for sharing and all of the extra tips on your site, my next recipes of yours will be the almond pop tart thingy cause I LOVE almond frangipane, the Black Forest cake and the pumpkin streusel loaf. I’m sure I will love all of them. Signed by: a girl that is almost pre diabetic, doesn’t like to cook except for sweet things and it’s always trying to diet to avoid going to the gym… I shouldn’t have found your Insta 😩😩
erika
Awww this is so sweet, thank you so much for the thoughtful review!
Emma Bakerman
I want you to know that I made this cake for a friend for her birthday. Carrot cake is her favorite. I first made a small sample size from the recipe halved. She picked it from a blind taste test of 7 other cakes, and when I told her I made it, she was shocked.
When I made it for her party, I did it in a 13×18 (half sheet cake) size pan and cut the cake layer in half for a two layer cake. I made that three days before the party and wrapped it in wax paper, saran wrap and foil. I did the pecans at the same time. The butterscotch I made the day before and the cream cheese frosting I did the day of. I did add the extra powdered sugar to make it firmer. I also had to bake my cake layer a little longer, but it was incredibly moist even after sitting out for three days ( I did not refrigerate or freeze it).
The reviews were insane. Everyone raved about how good the cake was and how of a baker I am. I do bake well, but this recipe is stellar. One woman who doesn’t eat sweets was convinced to try it and decided to get her own piece. Absolutely amazing. It is sweet so I did cut the slices pretty small. We were able to get about 20 – 24 slices out of 3/4 of the cake. A few people went back for slices. I had some this morning, and I cannot lie, this is really the best carrot cake I have ever had. Ten out of ten. Thank you a thousand times.
erika
Ahhh this review absolutely made my day! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review!
Miriam
You mention preferably using toasted pecans…do you mean they should be toasted before the doing the candy coating? Should they go in the oven twice? Thank you!
erika
I prefer toasting the pecans that go into the cake batter! The candied pecans don’t need to be toasted before getting candied 🙂
Shalini
I’m not a fan of carrot cake – never have been. But this recipe? It completely changed my mind.
Erika didn’t just replicate the iconic carrot cake from Truluck’s – she perfected it. The cake was even more moist than the one served at the restaurant, with a rich and slightly crunchy texture that left me wanting more. Every element, from the warm spices to the luscious frosting, was balanced to perfection.
I went into it with low expectations (carrot cake usually isn’t my thing), but this version absolutely knocked it out of the park. If you think you don’t like carrot cake, try this recipe. It might just convert you, too. I will definitely be making it again. It’s a true crowd-pleaser.
erika
Wow!!! What a review, thank you so much Shalini!