An irresistible carrot cake recipe with absolutely necessary cream cheese frosting!

I thought I’d go super classic with you today and post a recipe for the dessert that just screams “spring!”  Carrot Cake, of course!

This carrot cake recipe is nothing fancy, and stays true to what a good carrot cake should be: tender but sturdy, and slathered in cream cheese frosting.  You just can’t have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting, right?!

However, some of you might notice the lack of a few ingredients that people tend to love in carrot cakes: walnuts, raisins, and coconut in the cake.  For some reason I just like my carrot cake pure and simple, without any crunch from nuts.  And the raisins?  Just, no.  I did, however, add some coconut to garnish the frosting.

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to decorating cakes, I just don’t have the touch.  I really did my best to try to make sure these cakes were leveled off and even but alas, it was leaning.  BUT!  A sprinkle of coconut all over and I barely noticed.  You could sprinkle with some walnuts too, if you prefer. You could also definitely add a cup of walnuts or raising to the cake batter if you really insist on it.

The important thing to me, was creating a recipe that was incredibly moist.  This is definitely not a dry cake!

Since I developed this recipe for GO VEGGIE, I used GO VEGGIE Vegan Classic Plain Cream Cheese Alternative for the frosting.  Not only is it dairy free, but it’s vegan, made with coconut, non-GMO, lactose, gluten, and cholesterol-free.  You can certainly use regular cream cheese in this recipe if you aren’t avoiding dairy!

If you are avoiding lactose and use GO VEGGIE, just know that the consistency of the frosting will be a little thinner than it would be with dairy cream cheese.  I found that refrigerating the cream cheese for 30 minutes prior to frosting the cake was helpful in it setting up a bit more.

Basically, this cake is a winner for any carrot cake lovers.  I’d say even people who think they don’t like carrot cake are going to love this cake, especially if what they don’t like about carrot cake is the walnuts and raisins.  😉  It’s utterly addicting and I had a hard time controlling myself with just one slice after lunch!  Make it for Easter brunch, make it for Mother’s Day, or make it just because!

Like this recipe for Carrot Cake?  Check these out, too!

Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

Healthy Carrot Cake Bars with Greek Yogurt Frosting

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

Carrot Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This post is sponsored by GO VEGGIE, as part of a long term brand partnership.  As always, all opinions and recipe are my own!