This scrumptious carrot cake—JoJo’s Carrot Cake as we like to call it—is my mother’s recipe! It’s moist, flavorful, and effortless to whip up. It can also be made nut and dairy-free.
My Mom’s Carrot Cake Recipe
When people ask me what my favorite dessert is, the answer is always JoJo’s Carrot Cake. Just thinking about it while I write this makes my mouth water.
It’s my mom’s famous carrot cake, comprised of a fluffy cream cheese frosting paired with delicious flavors of carrot, nut, and sugar. It’s a staple in our household and we enjoy it for just about every celebration.
Heck, even if we’re not celebrating anything, it’s the first dessert we gravitate to! Often times, I’ll double the batch and freeze one cake for when we need it next.
Make sure you check out the listed notes for substitutions. This recipe can easily be made dairy free and nut free without taking away from the rich taste in every bite! And if you’re looking for a lighter take on carrot cake, try these Healthier Carrot Cake Bars or this Pumpkin Carrot Cake too!
FEATURED COMMENT
Recipe Ingredients
- Shredded carrots: These are crucial as they are our cake’s main flavor. I highly recommend you shred your own as they’ll contribute to a moister cake.
- Lemon flavoring: Seems odd to add lemon to a carrot cake, but it adds depth of flavor and keeps this cake bright.
- Chopped nuts: My favorites are walnuts or pecans. Hazelnuts or -istachios would be tasty, too. Omit if you are making this a nut free cake.
- Cream Cheese: Used in our frosting to bring this cake to life! Be sure it’s softened before using.
- Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness to the frosting and a fluffy texture as compared to using regular white sugar.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and heavily grease two or three (depending on desired thickness and stack) cake pans with coconut oil spray or butter. I recommend using 9 x 12 x 2″ circular pans or 9 x 9″ square pans.
2. Add vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla extract until sugar is dissolved. Note: the mixture will be really oily.
3. Add one egg at a time into the mixing bowl, beating well after each addition. Batter will start to form. Fold in shredded carrots.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the mixer: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. After fold in chopped nuts and lemon flavoring.
5. Pour the mixture into two or three greased pans (depending on preference). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool before removing from the pans.
6. For the frosting, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl: butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt if desired. Blend frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth. All of the clumps of powdered sugar should be dissolved. Layer the cakes with frosting in between each layer.
7. Tip: Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before frosting the top and outside layer. This will help with structure! Top with crushed nuts or other flavors and enjoy. Best chilled but can be served room temperature.
Do I need to make this in a stand mixer?
My mom makes this full recipe in her food processor! It’s a great alternative to a stand mixer. It’s crucial to beat the batter after each egg on high speed so the liquid can adequately absorb into the dry baking ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
Store leftovers of this cake in the fridge. If I am making it a day in advance, I will keep the cake and frosting chilled separately.
This cake DOES freeze well! Store it in an airtight container. I don’t recommend storing it for more than 2 months. I love the taste of an extra cold, dense cake!
To garnish this Carrot Cake, you can also use candied oranges, cinnamon sticks, or coconut shavings. All elegant, beautiful, and delicious!
You can easily make JoJo’s Carrot Cake dairy or nut free or both! For the cake, exclude nuts from the batter. For the frosting, use a plant based butter and cream cheese. I’ve not tried making a gluten free version, but I’d be willing to bet gluten free 1:1 baking flour would work (using ~2-3 less tablespoons of flour since GF flour is slightly drier).
PRO TIPS
Short on time? You can bake this cake in a greased 9×13 pan for 45-55 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center). Make it cute by piping orange carrots and green stems on the top for festive fun!
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Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and comment in the recipe card below. Thanks for visiting!
JoJo’s Carrot Cake
Equipment
- Standing or hand mixer
- Cake pans (2) or 9×13 pan
- Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
- Food Processor
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 4 eggs
- 3-4 cups fresh carrots, shredded
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped nuts, walnuts and pecans are best
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 – 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 – 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 dash salt, if desired
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and heavily grease the pans you're using (if 9×13, add a piece of parchment paper in for convenience).
- Add vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla and lemon extract into stand mixing bowl. Beat together. Note: the mixture will be really oily but mix until the sugar looks dissolved.
- Add one egg at a time into the mixing bowl, beating well after each addition. Batter will start to form. Fold in shredded carrots.
- Add the dry ingredients into the mixer: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. After fold in chopped nuts.
- Pour mixture into baking pan(s).
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool before removing from the pans.
- For the frosting, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl: butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Blend frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth. All of the clumps of powdered sugar should be dissolved.
- Layer the cakes with frosting in between each layer.
- Tip: Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before frosting the top and outside layer. This will help with structure! Top with crushed nuts or other flavors and enjoy. Best chilled but can be served room temperature. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find JOJO’S CARROT CAKE calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
A friend brought this over and it is amazing! I type this while eating the rest she left over. I cannot wait to make this for my family! I usually don’t love nuts in baked goods but the pecans in this cake were the perfect crunch!
cake is not my dessert of choice…. unless it’s THIS CARROT CAKE. so simple to make, but so tasty. Thanks for sharing!
My mom makes this for EVERY family event and it’s the BEST. She’ll make it for my wedding one day. GAHHH it’s so good!!!!
This cake was gone in minutes. I have never made a carrot cake before (such a newb) and used a veggie peeler to peel my carrots lol. I was so nervous with how long my shreds were that the cake would turn out stringy. BUT, nope, it came out perfect!! Tender, moist, & bursting with all the yummy flavors. The cream cheese frosting is just the chefs kiss on top of this amazing recipe. Will be a staple I make every year!
Ooops forgot to rate… 6/5 stars baby!!
Love this recipe!! The perfect Easter dessert and also one of my favs. Highly recommend!! Easy to swap for gluten free as well
I brought this cake to a family event and everyone LOVED it!! It was the perfect dessert and I’ll be bringing it to many more events!
So delicious and so easy to make!
My daughter and I made this cake for Easter, it was delicious! The hint of lemon makes it even better. We will for sure make this recipe again!
Simply the best carrot cake recipe to ever exist!!
I made this for my boyfriend’s birthday and it was a hit! Everyone wanted a second serving of cake. It was so tasty and so simple to make. It will be our new birthday tradition.
A freaking stunner! The store bought carrot cakes sat uneaten and ours was devoured. Such an easy recipe and it was so delicious. Worth all the hype.
Yummy! Made this for family Easter dinner and received so many compliments! Even my teenager who said not to take carrot cake because no one likes it decided to try it and thought it was good!
This was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. My mother, who can be picky, even had me leave some with her… first time ever!
WOW was this good!! I made this for Easter with my family and it was the star of brunch! Everyone was talking about how delicious it was and I had fun making it.
I wish I could give this more stars. This is the best carrot cake I’ve ever had.. thank you APOP for bringing us this recipe!!!!!
Have you ever made this recipe into cupcakes? Wondering how the baking time would change. Thanks!
Hi Mollie! This recipe as cupcakes works great! We reccomend baking for 18-22 minutes, but check the center with a toothpick for doneness. Let us know how it turns out:)
Amazing recipe!! Can’t wait to make it again. 10/10 everyone loved.