I think carrot cake gets a bad rap. I mean who wants veggies in a cake? Some carrot cakes are deserving of that. But others, like this amazing recipe, are so delicious, it’s hard to say no to a second piece.
I found this recipe a couple years ago when I was searching for a new carrot cake recipe for my dad for Father’s Day. My dad lives in Ohio, but he often visits us in the summer and happened to be in town over Father’s Day. He likes carrot cake so I wanted to make him a good one. This cake was an instant hit – it’s moist and flavorful, with the orange cream cheese frosting as the perfect addition.
And no one has to know it starts with a box mix…shhhh! That will be our little secret!
(scroll down for the full, printable recipe)
What you’ll need:
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting (below)
We’ll start by combining the dry ingredients – add the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and cinnamon into a bowl and gently mix. (We don’t need a cloud of cake mix on our hands now, do we?)
In a separate medium-sized bowl, add all 4 eggs, orange juice, and the oil; whisk.
Pour the egg mixture into the dry stuff.
Once in awhile, I impress even myself with my multi-tasking – not a bad photo to take while pouring!
(In all reality, I was trying not to dump the egg mixture all over the counter all while trying to focus and play with the settings with my new camera. But I didn’t just tell you that. Taking photos while baking and cooking is complicated business, folks, I tell you!)
Okay, so mix that up really well – “beat until well blended.”
Add the carrots, raisins, and nuts.
Stir together – it will be really thick. That’s ok – we want thick. And it’s going to taste delicious.
Pour the batter into 2 greased and floured 9 inch round baking pans.
Personally, I spray with Baker’s Joy cooking spray and then dust with flour on top of it all. Hey, the Baker’s Joy normally works great, but for a yummy cake like this, I don’t want to risk any of it sticking. So extra flour it is.
Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pans to wire racks to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, we’ll make the frosting – the Orange Cream Cheese frosting
What you’ll need:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
Put the cream cheese and butter into your mixing bowl…
…and beat until it’s almost fluffy
Add 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar, 1 tablespoon of orange juice and the orange peel
Beat until it’s smooth.
Now this frosting isn’t your typical fluffy buttercream; it’s a denser, moister frosting. But you don’t want it too moist or thin.
So here’s where you add more confectioner’s sugar if you need to. You can also add up to 1 tablespoon more of orange juice.
I added the full 2 tablespoons of orange juice and needed 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar.
Once your cake is completely cool, frost.
You should have just enough frosting to cover the whole cake. I hate when there’s not enough frosting and will often double a recipe(if you’re going to make something, you may as well go all out!) But this recipe had just enough.
This cake needs to be stored in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups grated carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding,and cinnamon.
Whisk the eggs, orange juice and oil; add to dry ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in the carrots, raisins, and nuts (batter will be thick.)
Pour into two greased and floured 9" round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar, orange juice, and orange peel; beat until smooth. Add more confectioner's sugar as needed.
Frost the cake.
Store in the refrigerator
If you liked this recipe, please click the “pin it” button on top. Thank you!
Amazing Delectable Layered Carrot Cake #recipe – moist & flavorful w orange cream cheese frosting bit.ly/LSlYQ0 @erika105 #baking
— Erika Bragdon (@Erika105) May 11, 2012
*recipe credit goes to Taste of Home
About Erika
Twitter: KiddiesCorner
says:
Wow, my favorite cake in the whole entire world! It does look mouthwatering!!
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Twitter: mellissahanks
says:
Wow this sounds so fast and easy :O) My mother would love this.
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Twitter: mommy_GAGA
says:
Oh YUM! This needs to make an appearance at my house STAT!
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Twitter: conservamome
says:
Wow! That looks beyond amazing!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Twitter: feffer2077
says:
Oh goodness that looks sooo good. My girls and I will have to make that!
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It just looks so good! I’m glad you use raisins in yours too. I love it with raisins!
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Twitter: littleamberfate
says:
I don’t normally care for carrot cake, but yours looks DELICIOUS! Nomnomnom!
I love carrot cake! It’s healthy and definitely a hit for both kids and adults. Thank you for sharing with us your recipe! I’ll do this one for Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. Bookmarked and ready for printing!
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Twitter: H3artonF1r3
says:
I love Carrot Cake, and this version sounds delicious.
Twitter: llmg1960
says:
Can we say yum again. Loving your recipes. This looks so easy to make. Looking so forward to making one.
Btw I’m in Ohio also
Yum Yum YUM I love carrot cake and this one you found in a “Taste of Home” looks easy to make.
Thank you for the pictures, that will help.
thank you
Donna
I haven’t had carrot cake in a long time, this sounds like a delicious recipe.
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Twitter: lizzieboo1961
says:
I love Carrot Cake and your recipe sounds a whole lot easier then the one that I usually use. I usually do everything by scratch. I will for sure have to use this recipe the next time that I make a Carrot Cake. Sounds yummy!
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i just love carrot cake !
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