A spiced carrot cake that is not too sweet and packed full of shredded carrots and apples, making it the most tender and distinctly cake-like cake you might ever enjoy. The goat cheese-cream cheese frosting just makes it better.
If you love cake, there are an endless array of flavors you can enjoy year-round. A few distinctly special cakes come to mind such as this Limoncello Syrup Lemon Cake, a stunning Buttery Almond Cake and this Mandarin Orange Sheet Cake. Make them all!
Spiced Apple Carrot Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting Recipe
Making a good carrot cake requires balancing a few variables. It needs to be sweet, but also spicy; tender but delicate; pretty, but not pretentious. This Spiced Carrot Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting takes your regular carrot cake up a few levels taste-wise.
The goat cheese addition to the cream cheese frosting adds another dimension of flavor into an already great tasting treat.
Unlike many carrot cakes, this version is not sickeningly sweet. It’s sweet enough that you know it’s dessert, but not so sweet that your teeth ache.
Ingredients for Spiced Carrot Cake
Full recipe and instructions can be found at the bottom of the page.
Pantry Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar – sugar acts as a tenderizer so don’t cut the amount
- baking soda
- baking powder
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground nutmeg
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- black pepper
- table salt
- vegetable oil or canola oil
- walnuts
- vanilla extract
- confectioners’ sugar
Fresh Ingredients
- eggs – size large and a yolk
- carrots
- Granny Smith apple
- goat cheese – mild in flavor
- cream cheese
- unsalted butter
How To Make Spiced Carrot Cake
Step one: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three, nonstick, 9-inch round baking pans with cooking spray. Set aside.
Step two: In a large bowl, SIFT together flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, unsweetened cocoa powder, black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine.
Step three: Stir in vegetable oil, lightly beaten eggs and 1 egg yolk until combined. Stir in carrots, apples and walnuts.
Step four: Divide the batter among the three baking pans. (To make sure layers are even, I weigh pans with the batter to make sure there are equal amounts in each one.) Bake for 25 minutes or until cakes pull away from pan sides and a cake tester inserted in each center comes out clean. Transfer cakes to cooling racks and let cool 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks and let cool completely.
Step five: For the frosting, beat goat cheese, cream cheese, vanilla extract and butter until smooth and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
Step six: Once cakes are cool, arrange first layer on a large platter. Spread some frosting over it, then top with the second layer and top with the third. Generously frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Press walnuts lightly into the sides of the cake. Chill before serving; about 3 hours.
Recipe Tips
- Pan preparation is paramount. Make sure your pans are nonstick and greased well. It’s optional, but, those precut parchment rounds for the bottom of your pans work great.
- Make sure you use cake pans that are exactly the same. It’s impossible to get consistent results when one pan is dark on the outside and the other dark on the inside, or one is nonstick and the other isn’t.
- Chill the cake well before serving.
Can I Freeze This Cake?
Yes. Before you frost it.
Wrap each cake layer separately with saran wrap and place in a zipped top freezer bag.
Freeze up to three months. Once thawed, you can frost as per the directions.
Storage Instructions for Carrot Cake
Because of the frosting, carrot cake needs to be stored in the refrigerator. It also tastes better when it’s cold.
Make sure while in the refrigerator, it is tightly covered. It will last up to a week this way.
Other Carrot Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy:
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Spiced Apple Carrot Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2-1/4 tsps baking soda
- 1-1/2 tsps baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsps unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs plus 1 yolk, lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 cups packed coarsely grated carrots (about 3)
- 1-1/2 cups packed coarsely grated Granny Smith apples (about 4)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, more for garnish
Frosting:
- 11 oz fresh, goat cheese, room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tbsps unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three, nonstick, 9-inch round baking pans with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, SIFT together flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, unsweetened cocoa powder, black pepper and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Stir in vegetable oil, lightly beaten eggs and 1 egg yolk until combined. Stir in carrots, apples and walnuts.
- Divide the batter among the three baking pans. (To make sure layers are even, I weigh pans with the batter to make sure there are equal amounts in each one.) Bake for 25 minutes or until cakes pull away from pan sides and a cake tester inserted in each center comes out clean. Transfer cakes to cooling racks and let cool 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks and let cool completely.
Frosting:
- Beat goat cheese, cream cheese, vanilla extract and butter until smooth and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combined.
- Once cakes are cool, arrange first layer on a large platter. Spread some frosting over it, then top with the second layer and top with the third. Generously frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Press walnuts lightly into the sides of the cake. Chill before serving; about 3 hours.
Nutrition
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