Chef John's Carrot Cake

I don't like the original recipe because it has too much sugar and oil. 2 cups of white sugar is too much. Remember that the carrot and pineapple are already sweet so I reduced the white sugar from 2 cups to 1 cup (so much better). The oil I used was 1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted). I didn't use butter only coconut oil and it's perfect. This would be a healthier version if you need to watch your sugar intake.

I made this for Easter. It. Was. Delicious. I followed exactly as written. But did use vegetable oil in place of the coconut oil. Thanks for sharing!

Easter bunny approved! I made some substitutions though... I didn't have enough coconut oil (or any veg oil) so I used 1c melted vegetable shortening with a 1/4c coconut oil. Instead of pineapple I used 8oz of chopped fresh strawberries. And toasted almonds instead of pecans. No butter in the icing either. And decorated with sliced strawberries. DELICIOUS!

Followed the recipe exactly with the exception of adding 1/2 tsp nutmeg in place of some of the cinnamon. Checked at 40 mins and it was done (will check sooner next time). First time using coconut oil, so I assumed 'unrefined' for this recipe (to lend some flavor). Seems to have been the right choice, everyone who tried the cake said it was fantastic. My family prefers things not super sweet, so I only used 2 cups conf sugar in the frosting, which was perfect for us. Thank you for this wonderful recipe... my 92 year old grandmother loves carrot cake and it makes me happy to bake one from scratch for her.

I will definitely make it again! Added double de ginger, and used whole wheat flour, really delicious! About the frosting will use less sugar for sure, since I have a sweet tooth issue! Super easy and loved the very explicit explanations on the video!

I made this and used vegetable oil instead of coconut oil, and walnuts instead of pecans. It came out deliciously! It was easy, straight forward, with amazing results!

Quite possibly the best carrot cake I've ever had. I plan on making it as soon as I get an excuse to.

I did not drain the pineapple and it was moist and delicious. I will make this many more times.!

Great Cake! I did use vegetable oil instead of coconut oil. I Brought it to my friends party and got tons of positive feedback! Great texture and taste! It is a must-have!

I made this recipe as a birthday cake and it was delicious! I added extra cinnamon and nutmeg to the cake batter because I enjoy those flavors and only used 1/2 cup of walnuts because I'm not a huge nut fan, but the crunch and nuttiness lent to a great taste profile. I also cut the sugar from 2 cups to 1 and 3/4 in the batter and for the frosting went from 3 cups confectionary sugar to 2 cups. Chef Jon you did it again! My fiance loves your easy, but tasty recipes. If you ever do a live demo, let us know! ;D

I don't know what is all the fuss about carrot cake, it never tastes like carrot!!! but this one was a great recipe to try and tasted awesome and it goes to my starred recipes. thank you chef John for sharing this.

OMG !!! Was Fantastic I will make this again!!

Followed recipe, but use 1 1/2 c chopped walnuts and no pecans, and 2 1/2 c. shredded carrots Cake was done in 40 min. in glass 13x9 in. pan. Big hit at friends birthday party

Great flavors in a moist and hearty cake! I cut the sugar in half and used 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 cup date sugar. Also substituted a cup of applesauce in place of the pineapple since that's what I had on hand. Added raisins and dates, about 3/4 cup. Used fresh ginger in place of dry, 1/2 tsp nutmeg in place of cinnamon (upsets hubby's stomach) and wow, the flavors were sublime! Will make again and again.

I did not care for this recipe.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS DELISH BUT ADDED 1 CUP COCONUT FLAKES/UNSWEETENED INTO BATTER.ALSO INCLUDED COCONUT FLAKES ON TOP OF CAKE WITH CHOPPED PECANS. HAVE CHILD WHO LOVES COCONUT. HE HAD 2 SLICES AND LOVES THE CAKE. TKS CHEF JOHN!

This is the BEST recipe for carrot cake I have EVER had! My entire family LOVED this recipe. I accidentally used a 20 ounce can of pineapple (drained) instead of 8 oz. I also placed the final batter in a sheet pan so they would bake faster and would feed more guest. Lastly, my icing only required 2 cups of powdered sugar (by my taste). All in all, it's a crowd pleaser! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I have a new favorite carrot cake recipe! I make carrot cake for my husband's birthday every year, but I decided to try a new recipe. I've made a few of Chef John's recipes and they've all turned out great, so I trust his judgement that this is a good one too. I didn't really alter much, just used pecans instead of walnuts and 3/4 coconut oil and 1/4 vegetable. Oh, and I added a sprinkle of nutmeg too. Made in two 8in cake pans for a double-layer cake and cooked it for 45 mins. Great texture and flavor, love the addition of the crushed pineapple. Nicely done, Chef John.

I made this cake and icing exactly as the recipe instructed (omitting the optional nuts), and it was DELICIOUS!!! Moist, full of flavour, just the right consistency, a perfect cake! Wouldn't change a thing - a definite keeper.

Made it exactly as the recipe except I used fresh pineapple instead of canned. Would this cause the cake not to rise? Flavor of cake is absolutely wonderful!

Substituted 1/2 cup sugar with brown sugar and added 1 package of vanilla pudding mix then topped off 1 cup of white sugar. Includding the pudding. I also added 1/4 teaspoon clove, all spice and nutmeg. Included some pecans with walnuts.used butter and coconut oil, added some roasted coconut and black olives and raisins/cranraisin mix. In the frosting I made two mixes one for in the layers same as yours but for the top and side mixed up some fresh cream topping with caramel pudding mix. For decoration I had the roasted coconut, walnut and pecan mixter mixed with some graham cracker crumb on top and around the base.

Not bad. I used the cream cheese icing recipe Chef John had posted somewhere else though. I also left out the pecans. I served the cake at a gathering and received a lot of positive feedback. Sadly, I didn't get to have any myself.

I prepared this cake as Chef John instructed. I thought it was very good and everyone else (3 people) at the picnic where very complimentary... I didn't give it five stars because it was the first carrot cake I have had in ten years and I felt unqualified to rate it :( .

More Covid-19 baking, but sadly this one will not go into my top favorites. The cake was almost too moist and too pineapple-y tasting, more of a pineapple upside down cake than a carrot cake. A tad bit too sweet. I will try making the recipe one more time, with a few tweeks, like less sugar, less pineapple and more carrots.

Added some chopped dried dates

Really good cake, I doubled the frosting with a little less cream cheese. And I ran out of coconut oil so I used all butter but a little bit less around 1 cup and 2 tablespoons I also used extra walnuts instead of the pecans.

I made this just as directed and it was fantastic! This is a new family favorite.

It was delicious! My husband loved it.I followed the recipe, except used veg. oil instead of the coconut oil. It is our anniversary cake, so I will make it at least once a year. Thank you, John

I made this cake and icing exactly as the recipe instructed (omitting the optional nuts), and it was DELICIOUS!!! Moist, full of flavour, just the right consistency, a perfect cake! Wouldn't change a thing - a definite keeper.

My favorite carrot cake recipe. I usually add closer to three cups carrots and 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raisins. I do cut back the sugar by 1/2 cup since I use raisins.

Everyone says this is the best carrot cake they've ever had! It is the best, just like Chef John

Chef John, you never disappoint! AWESOME!

I did make the recipe with about three cups of carrots and also used more cream cheese for the frosting. It was delicious!

Delicious cake

I made this recipe as written, only added 3 cups carrot, 1/4c chopped dates, 1/8c finely chopped candied ginger, and just over 1/3c raisins to the batter, and the zest and 1/8 c juice of one orange to the frosting. did find that this recipe with the mods made 3 med sized rounds, which i had really hoped to be able to do by making 2 batches of this recipe and hopefully a little batch of muffins- but I didn't have any more oil for it- so was very pleased with that. 2 rounds would've overflowed and made a big messy in my oven. I was surprised how wonderfully this turned out. truly award winning. It did require that I double the frosting recipe, but then again I did get a whole extra cake round that was not accounted for in the original recipe. My cake turned out SO beautifully, and disappeared way too fast to even get a proper photo of ONE slice.

This is my go-to carrot cake recipe. Truly delicious. I personally like the layered cake best as it gives a better cake to icing ratio. We love this recipe!!!

I made exactly as suggested and it was the by far the most delicious carrot cake I have ever had.

I was making my first carrot cake to bring to a friends gathering of 4 at Easter. My friends absolutely raved over this cake. In fact the husband told me where he’s had the best carrot cake and then proceeded to say that my cake was better than that one is. Of coarse I thought he was just being nice but he said that he was serious. So yes this recipe is fabulous. By the way, it was very moist and the frosting was sinfully delicious!

Very good cake and extremely moist. Tried to trim top and it crumbled. I highly recommend it

I thought it was delicious while still warm however once it has been refrigerated the coconut oil turns into a buttery consistency and I did not like how it tasted.

We loved the taste of this cake! I didn't make any revisions but since I have different size cake pans I made a medium and small cake. We won't use any other carrot cake recipe than this one.

Made it three times; first time, as written. Verdict: not enough spice and too much orange in the frosting. Second time? Too wet but had better cake flavoring after doubling spices . and, it sank cuz I put in a whole can of pineapple. So, on number three, I got it right. Here we go: Double the spices, add half of a grated nutmeg and some cloves (ground) and use fresh ginger. Stay exactly to 8 ounces of drained pineapple and no more than two and a quarter cup of carrots. Keep other measures EXACT. It was perfection.

It tasted fine, but it was very oily, and the top started to go black after only 15 minutes in the oven. I covered the cake with aluminium foil, but it took at least another 45minutes or so before it was fully cooked, and by then, it was jellyish in the middle and dry on the outside. Maybe I did it wrong, but next time I'll lower the oven temperature.

The cake was amazing everyone loved it thank you for such delicious recipe!!!

Good but Too sweet. Second time I made it I used only 2/3 of the sugar in the cake recipe and only 1/2 of the sugar in the frosting. Much better.

Followed your recipe and was delicious thanks John

As always, I find Chef John’s recipes nothing short of outstanding and this dessert is no exception. It is the best carrot cake recipe I have had. I did add 1 tsp Allspice to the dry ingredients.

I found that the icing did not firm up, next time I will not add butter to cream cheese. Also I made two 9 inch layer cakes rather than 9 X 13 and it was done in 35 minutes.

This may be the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. The frosting is amazing. I did add about 3/4 cup more powdered sugar than the frosting recipe called for. Instead of pecans and walnuts in the cake, I just doubled the pecans and omitted the walnuts. Everyone at our Thanksgiving dinner loved it.

Definitely the best carrot cake ever!!

Very nice recipe!

Great taste and good texture. No frosting required. Love it.

This is the best carrot cake recipe, ever. Don't change it unless you are going to double the recipe.

I made no changes. If I were a child I would love it but I am old and the overly sweet overly oily cake was just Not to my taste anymore. I have nothing against sugar or fat they both are great in cake, thats why I made the cake in the first place. The cake has eye appeal and if you like real sweet you will like this.

Chef John does it again. Best. Cake. Ever. Very moist. Pineapple is a great addition. Cream cheese frosting is perfect as directed. Best when thoroughly chilled.

Baked carrot cake for the first time. Was super fun. Tasted amazing.

I made a few changes... 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of brown, 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup of applesauce. 2 cups of confectioners sugar for the frosting. Baked for 40 min. Everyone devoured it. it was so moist and delicious

A really good, fairly easy to make carrot cake. I add a half cup of carrot, but delicious as it is.