If there’s one cake that never goes out of style, it’s Almond Carrot Cake—and after years of perfecting my recipe, I can confidently say this is the one. Incredibly moist, warmly spiced, including raisins and pineapple then layered with the creamiest tangy-sweet almond cream cheese frosting, this cake is pure perfection in every bite.
I just made this recipe over the weekend and had two separate people tell me this was the best carrot cake recipe they'd ever tried! Trust me, once you make this, you'll never need another carrot cake recipe again. I could say the same for my Banana Coffee Cake recipe too!
Let's be honest..no time is a bad time for carrot cake. It's is traditionally served in the Spring, especially around Easter but I'm looking for excuses to eat it all year long.
Packed with warm spices, it's good to have in the Fall or Winter too. So basically what I'm saying is it's a year round cake!
If you are headed into fall, I love a good Sweet Potato Pound Cake. For Christmas you can't go wrong with a Peppermint Chocolate Cake.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This recipe is foolproof and crowd pleasing. Tested and perfected so that any baker can make this cake!
- Unbelievable moist and tender cake! Almond Carrot Cake has the perfect blend of carrots, pineapple and oil to keep your cake moist. Try Lemon Zucchini Cake for another moist cake recipe that sneaks veggies in.
- A cake is only as good as it's frosting and mine is the perfect compliment to the spiced cake. Almond is a non-traditional addition to cream cheese frosting making it fun and flavorful. Your guests will love it!
Recipe Ingredients
- Carrots: Grate up fresh carrots! Make sure you peel them first.
- Crushed Pineapple: Adds some moisture and a perfect sweetness.
- Raisins: These are a must in carrot cake.
- Spices: This is a spice cake at heart, so we need cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves.
- Almonds: Don't skip toasting these for a great flavor.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese gives the frosting a good tang that plays well with the warm spices. I won't use any other frosting on my carrot cake. Try making brown butter cream cheese frosting for this almond carrot cake too!
- Butter: This pairs with the cream cheese for the perfect tangy frosting.
- All Purpose Flour: This recipe has not been tested with any other flour but if you decide to try, I'd love to hear how it turns out!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Carrot Cake Recipe
Step 1: Preheat oven to 325° then spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper, spraying again on top. Whisk sugar and oil together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Mix eggs and vanilla extract into oil mixture.
Step 3: Stir in shredded carrots, raisins and pineapple into oil mixture.
Step 4: In a separate large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together.
Step 5: Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients to combine then pour carrot cake batter into prepared pans.
Step 6: Bake carrot cakes for 40 minutes.
Step 7: Beat cream cheese in a bowl for one minute.
Step 8: Add powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt then beat on high for 3 minutes.
Step 9: Frost the top of the first layer of cake.
Step 10: Add second layer of cake.
Step 11: Frost the top of the second layer of cake then add toasted almonds and carrot ribbons.
Step 12: Slice and serve almond carrot cake. Keep in the fridge when not eating.
Expert Baking Tips
- Use a food processor with the shredding blade for the carrots, it saves time and effort! Peel whole carrots, cut of each end, and toss them in. Much quicker than a box grater!
- If you'd like to save time the day of serving, you can make the cake ahead of time and freeze it. Take it out and frost it the day of. It will need to sit at room temp for at least 4 hours if coming straight out of the freezer before serving, but can be frosted while still frozen. I do this with all types of cakes and breads including Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting.
- The Almond Cream Cheese Frosting can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Make sure the cream cheese and the butter are both room temperature as well as sifting your powdered sugar. This can really impact how your frosting turns out, giving you a smooth, light and creamy frosting.
- Allow frosted cake to chill for 1-2 hours to help cream cheese icing become more sturdy before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, absolutely! You can freeze the cake by itself before adding frosting or after it's frosted. Before the frosting, you can just grab it right out of the freezer whenever you need it, and add the frosting and toasted almonds. It's a great time saver! You can freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 2 months double wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and wrapped with foil over the top of that to help prevent freezer burn. If you're freezing carrot cake with cream cheese frosting then freeze the cake on a sheet tray for 2 hours to harden the frosting, this prevents the plastic wrap from sticking to the frosting and making a mess. Remove it from the freezer and double wrap tightly in plastic wrap then again with a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil. It will hold in the freezer for up to 1 month. Remove from the freezer and thaw in the fridge overnight or allow to come to room temp on the counter.
Ahh, the age old question, is carrot cake healthy? Well...it depends on how you look at it. Does it have carrots in in which are healthy for you? Yes. Does it have sugar and oil in it? Also yes. So that is a question you will have to decide for yourself. It's kind of like if I eat kale with my Doritos is that healthy? If your answer is yes, then so is carrot cake.
No, I would not suggest replacing the oil with butter in this recipe. Oil plays a large part in this soft moist carrot cake recipe. If that were to be replaced, then other ingredients would need adjusting as well to get the same turnout.
Yes, the carrots should be peeled before shredding. Removing the skin can help remove any excess dirt as well as the slightly bitter taste a carrot skin can have.
Absolutely, you can use this almond carrot cake recipe to make cupcakes. Baking time will vary, I would suggest checking the cupcakes after 15-18 minutes. Insert a toothpick to the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan. You want the toothpick to come out clean or with only a few crumbs. Transfer moist carrot cake cupcakes to a wire rack 2 minute after removing them from the oven and allow them to fully cool before frosting. I like doing this with my cranberry cake with butter sauce too!
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📖Recipe
Almond Carrot Cake
Equipment
- 2 9" cake pans
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups carrots grated (I shred the carrots with a food processor)
- 8 oz crushed pineapple with juice
- ½ cup raisins
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups flour all purpose
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal brand
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ½ tsp ginger ground
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom ground
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves ground
- ¾ cup sliced almonds toasted
Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese room temp
- 1 cup butter room temp
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Diamond Crystal Brand
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Making the carrot cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease 2, 9-inch cake pans. Spray them with non-stick cooking spray then line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again
- Whisk oil and sugar together in a large mixing bowl
- Mix in eggs and vanilla extract
- Stir in carrots, pineapple and raisins
Dry Ingredients
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cardamom in a mixing bowl
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until combined
- Pour carrot cake batter into prepared cake pans then bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with only a few crumbs Allow cakes to cool 15 minutes then remove from pan and let them cool on a parchment lined wire rack. I refrigerate them to speed up the process but that's not necessary
Toasting Almonds
- Place the baking sheet with the almonds into the oven for 10 minutes or just until lightly browned. Set aside to cool
Making Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place both cream cheese and butter into a the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for one minute until smooth
- Mix in salt, almond extract, vanilla extract and powdered sugar until combined. Scrape down the sides and beat on high speed for another 3 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.
Frost Cake
- Once the cake is completely cooled pipe about ½-3/4 inch of Almond Cream Cheese Frosting on top of one of the layers. Top that with the second layer of cake then add frosting to the top, leaving the sides naked. Add toasted almonds and carrot peels for garnish then refrigerate for at least one hour to set the frosting.
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