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This one-layer carrot sheet cake is a moist, light and fluffy take on classic carrot cake! It’s topped with an orange-infused, whipped cream cheese frosting, has few add-in ingredients and made entirely from scratch!
Today we’re departing from the world of dense, traditional carrot cakes. Light and fluffy aren’t words we usually associate with carrot cake, but this one is!
What I love about this sheet cake is how it has all the elements of a classic carrot cake (minus raisins) but is unique in the sense that it’s light yet still very moist!
Layers? Fancy decorating? We’re not doing any of that unless you want to! This is just a single-layer cake with a layer of whipped cream cheese frosting. Once fully cooled, you can frost the sheet cake right in the pan if you want to!
Why this recipe works
Feel free to skip straight to the recipe card, but if you want to understand why this recipe works, read these tips!
- The ingredients and steps are intentional. Carrot cake is normally dense. Because we’re aiming for the opposite of that, you’ll want to follow the recipe closely!
- The flour is measured properly. This means using a spoon to fill the measuring cup with flour and leveling it. If you use the measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the bag it introduces more flour into the recipe, resulting in a dry cake.
- Add-ins are minimal. You won’t find pineapple, raisins or anything heavy that sinks to the bottom in this recipe. The only add-ins are nuts, which are chopped very small. Feel free to omit the nuts if you prefer.
- This recipe use fresh carrots. Pre-shredded carrots are bad news for carrot cake because they’re dry and shredded too coarsely.
- Egg whites are whipped and folded in by hand at the end. This technique is used when baking lighter cakes. It keeps the batter nice and airy.
- Consistent oven temperature. This means we are not going to open the oven door to peek on our cake! Opening the oven door while the cake is baking lets cool air in, thus throwing the baking temperature off. Opening and closing the oven door can also make your cake sink in the middle.
Recommended Tools
To achieve best results, I highly recommend using the following tools:
- 9x13x3 inch cake pan – make sure you’re using a cake pan with 3-inch deep sides!
- Parchment paper for lining the cake pan, this makes it easier/cleaner to lift the cake out of the pan
- Stand mixer is highly recommended for several steps in this recipe including beating the egg whites and whipping the frosting
- Box grater for shredding the carrots
- Rubber spatula for folding in the dry ingredients and whipped egg whites
Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this light and fluffy carrot sheet cake:
- Fresh carrots – they have to be fresh otherwise they’ll lose moisture and will dry out your cake. Shred them using the finer side of a box grater. There’s a photo in the directions for you to reference!
- Cake flour – normally cake flour is a no-no for carrot cake because it’s fine in texture but it works for this recipe because there aren’t many heavy ingredients. Cake flour is great for light and fluffy cakes.
- Eggs – you’ll need to separate yolks from whites because they’re added at different points in the recipe.
- Baking powder – helps the cake rise.
- Canola oil is lighter than butter and gives an airy texture to the cake.
- Orange for zesting and juicing
- Sugar – a mix of granulated (white) and brown sugar are used for this carrot cake. This recipe uses slightly more granulated sugar (for airiness) and brown sugar gives the cake color and moisture.
- Vanilla extract
- Spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ginger or pumpkin pie seasoning which contains all of these.
- Salt
- Frosting ingredients – unsalted butter, cream cheese, heavy or whipping cream, powdered sugar, orange zest, pinch of salt
How to make carrot cake
Prep the carrot cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13-inch pan with baking spray. Line the length of the baking pan with parchment (optional). Skip the parchment if you plan to slice and frost the cake in the pan.
- Peel and shred the carrots using the fine side of a box grater (shown in the photo below).
- Separate egg yolks from the whites and reserve both.
- In a dry, medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, dry spices and salt. Set aside.
Make the batter
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and oil together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add both sugars, vanilla extract, juice from half of the orange and half the orange zest. Continue to beat for 1 minute and turn the mixer off.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold the carrots and nuts into the wet mixture. Add the flour/dry ingredients and continue to fold until there aren’t any visible streaks of flour.
- Beat egg whites on high speed in a clean mixing bowl using a clean whisk until they form frothy peaks. If there are any traces of yolk in the bowl or on the whisk, the egg whites won’t get stiff!
- Fold egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula. Egg whites should be distributed evenly and batter should look frothy. Pour batter into the baking pan.
Bake the cake and let it cool
- Bake the cake for 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, it’s done. The edges of the cake should feel soft when you press them.
- Cool the cake fully in the pan. Run a butter knife along the edges and flip over to release the cake from the pan once fully cooled.
Expert tip: Carrot cake is dark in color because of the color of the carrots, brown sugar and spices. It can be hard be to judge whether it’s done or not by looking at the color alone, so this is why we rely on the toothpick test.
How to make whipped cream cheese frosting
“I wish I was topped with buttercream frosting”, said no carrot-cake ever. Carrot cake and cream-cheese frosting must go together. Make sure that your cake is fully cooled before frosting it!
- Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract together until smooth.
- Add confectioner’s sugar ¼ of a cup at a time and continue to beat at medium speed.
- Mix in the heavy cream and continue to beat until the frosting is fluffy and creamy (about 2 full minutes). Add remaining orange zest during the last few seconds of beating.
- Once the cake has fully cooled, you can frost the cake right in the pan or you can remove the cake from the pan and frost the top and sides. Cut the cake into squares and serve.
Carrot cake FAQ’s and substitutes
Yes, you can substitute the canola oil for another neutral-tasting oil. I suggest using vegetable oil or corn oil. I don’t recommend using coconut oil because the properties are slightly different and it resulted in a dense cake when I tested this recipe.
Pumpkin spice is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves which are all used in carrot cake. Some brands of pumpkin pie spice contain allspice, the brand that I use does not. If your pumpkin spice does contain allspice, you can still use it.
Pumpkin spice is convenient when you don’t have all of the spices listed in this recipe on hand. It’s also inexpensive.
Yes, you can make a layered cake using this recipe. Use two 8-inch round baking pans.
Just because we keep the add-ins to a minimum with this light version of carrot cake, doesn’t mean we can’t add toppings! The whipped cream cheese frosting is a must but feel free to add additional toppings like more nuts or flaked coconut to the top!
Other baking recipes you may enjoy:
The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Classic Tiramisu Recipe – Easy!
Easy Portuguese Sweet Bread Recipe (Pão Doce/Massa Sovada)
PrintLight and Fluffy Carrot Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This one-layer carrot sheet cake is moist, light and fluffy perfection! Made from scratch with only a few add-ins and topped with an orange-infused, whipped cream and cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
Carrot cake ingredients
- 2 cups finely shredded carrots
- 2 and ¼ cups cake flour
- 4 eggs – separate the whites from the yolks
- 2 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and ½ cups canola oil
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 1 and ⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie seasoning (see note below)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup walnuts or pecans – chopped small
- 1 orange for zesting and juicing (you’ll want to reserve half of the zest for the frosting)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened at room-temperature
- 8 ounce container of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 2 and ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream or whipping cream
- remaining orange zest (refer to carrot cake ingredients above)
Instructions
Carrot cake steps
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F and spray your 9×13-inch pan with baking spray. Line the length of the baking pan with parchment (optional). Skip the parchment if you plan to slice and frost the cake in the pan.
- Peel and shred the carrots using the fine side of the box grater.
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites and reserve both.
- In a clean, dry, medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, dry spices and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and oil together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add both sugars, vanilla extract, the juice from ½ of the orange and half of the orange zest. Continue to beat for 1 minute, then turn the mixer off.
- Use a rubber spatula to fold the carrots and nuts into the wet mixture. Add the flour/dry ingredients and continue to fold until you can’t see any streaks of flour.
- Beat the egg whites on high speed in a clean mixing bowl with a clean whisk until they form frothy peaks (this takes about 2 minutes). If there are any traces of yolk in the bowl or on the whisk, the egg whites won’t get stiff!
- Fold the egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula. The egg whites should be distributed evenly and the batter will look frothy. Pour the batter into the baking pan.
- Bake the carrot cake for 40 minutes When your cake comes out of the oven, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, it’s done. The edges of the cake should feel soft when you press down gently on them.
- Cool the cake fully in the pan or run a butter knife along the edges and flip it over to release it once fully cooled.
Frosting the carrot cake
- Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract together until smooth.
- Add confectioner’s sugar ¼ of a cup at a time and continue to beat at medium speed.
- Add the heavy cream and continue to beat the frosting until it’s fluffy and creamy (about 2 full minutes). Add remaining orange zest during the last few seconds of beating.
- Once the cake has fully cooled, you can frost the cake right in the pan or you can remove the cake from the pan and frost the top and sides. Cut the cake into squares and serve.
Notes
- Use 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. nutmeg, ½ tsp. ground cloves and ½ tsp. ground ginger in place of pumpkin pie spice.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes and then transfer to a metal cooling rack and let finish cooling. I recommend a total cooling time of at least 1 hour. You can also frost the cake right in the pan, but it may take slightly longer to cool.
V says
Thanks for the recipe! It is delicious! My daughter and I made it today for Easter and we were very pleased with the results.
C. Michele says
Hi V!
I am so glad you liked it! Thank you for trying the recipe and letting me know how it came out! Happy Easter!
-Crystal
Mary says
This looks delicious. I am going to be making it this weekend. I specifically looked for a recipe that had separated eggs and whipped egg whites. Can’t wait to try it. By the way, one stick of butter is 1/2 cup not 1/4 cup. Thank you for this recipe!
Crystal says
Thank you Mary! I’ve fixed the typo!
Kendra says
I made this recipe for my sons birthday (he loves carrot cake), the whole family was impressed. The pumpkin pie seasoning is brilliant!!! Thanks for the recipe, its my new go-to carrot cake.
priya says
the taste is lovely but i have a concern and would appreciate your inputs. i halved the recipe and felt the quantity of canola oil was on a higher end. baked as per the timing shared but the middle of the cake was raw. it felt extremely delicate and was falling apart during the frosting process. i even left th cool to cool overnight. unsure what i did wrong, please advise.
Crystal says
Hi Priya,
Thank you for reaching out! This is probably one of my most tested recipes and I haven’t run into this problem so far. For best results I would definitely recommend following the exact measurements in the recipe, and not halving. Also, oven temperatures can vary. Acozykitchen.com has a great recipe for a cake half of this size.
Paula says
Would this fit in 9×5 loaf tin as i only have a table top oven and it looks fantastic.
Crystal DaCruz says
Hi Paula! I think a 9×5 loaf tin might be a little small but you could try 2 I suppose? It hasn’t been tested with anything smaller than 9×13,so I cant guarantee perfect results, but if you’re ok with experimenting then I would say go for it! Good luck!
Abby says
This is the best carrot cake recipe ever! I was so sick of overly dense and flavorless carrot cakes typically found in restaurants and bakeries. Wanted to make a very special cake for my parents’ 61st anniversary. I made this one as a 2 layer cake in 9 inch round pans, and there was no need to alter the ingredient quantities or bake time. It came out perfect! The orange zest in both the cake and the frosting, and the pumpkin pie spice in the cake, elevated the flavor and aroma to the “to die for” level. I used a pineapple filling from another recipe, which complimented this cake well, and was perfect to make all the flavors dance across your mouth. Best carrot cake ever! Will never buy one from a bakery again!
Crystal DaCruz says
Abby! This review seriously just made me want to do a cartwheel! I am so happy you got such great results! Thank you so much for this stellar review!
Anna says
Thanks for the recipe
Is very moist and soft and I receive good reviews from my family and friends for the cake.
Crystal DaCruz says
Aww Anna! Thank you so much for the great review! I am so happy that your family enjoyed this cake! It’s my favorite!
Wendy says
Hi! Planning to make this soon, but wondering… it looks like you made this in a really shallow pan. Is that a cookie sheet?
Crystal DaCruz says
Hi Wendy! No the cookie sheet is just for display purposes. It’s a 9×13 cake pan that you need. There’s a photo of the actual pan in the recipe directions. I can see how it’s unclear about the type of pan to use, so I’ll be updating the recipe soon. Thank you!
Wendy says
Thank you! I made it this weekend and it turned out great! Thank you for the detailed directions!
★★★★★
Crystal DaCruz says
Thank YOU for making it and letting me know how it went!
Shontae says
At what point did you add THE FLOUR/DRY INGREDIENTS 🤔
Crystal DaCruz says
Hi Shontae, thanks for your patience. The flour is added in step 6 of the carrot cake steps. Thanks!
Tamyra Vander Kooi says
Awesome recipe. I only had AP flour but made my own cake flour and it was a perfect mix. The only thing I wish I hadn’t done was add orange zest & juice. It took over the flavor and I wasn’t able to taste the carrot. I did use a very juicy orange. Other than that, it is exactly as I had hoped it would be.
★★★★★
Crystal DaCruz says
Awesome Tamyra!! Thank you for the feedback! I wondered if the orange was a bit much! I think you confirmed it for me! I’ve been meaning to update the recipe!! Thank you, I’m so happy you liked it!
trae says
This is a fantastic carrot cake recipe and it is officially the base for my go to carrot cake from here on, and I am very VERY passionate about my carrot cake. that being said, after reading some of the comments i did change a couple of things slightly based off of the results it sounded like a couple people who had tried it out had;
– i weighed out my flour, and used slightly more than the recipe called for. in total i used 285g of cake flour. i also weighed the carrots at 200g.
– i reduced the oil to 1 1/4 cups or 300mL.
– i baked this in 2 8” round pans with cake strips for about 40 minutes like the recipe said, but i did cook them at a slightly lower temperature.
– i did not add nuts.
despite these changes i made to the original recipe, i am still giving it 5 stars because it gave me exactly what i was looking for. and i want anyone searching for a fluffy carrot cake to find this recipe because it is truly incredible. thank you very much!
★★★★★
Crystal DaCruz says
What an awesome review! Thanks so much! I LOVE when people put their own touch on my recipes! Thanks so much for visiting!