Caramel Carrot Sheet Cake

This caramel carrot sheet cake is so hearty and it’s a delicious addition to your Easter or even a birthday party! Its moist texture, warming spices, and subtle sweetness make it an irresistible treat for any occasion.

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Easter is right around the corner, so I thought I would share one more carrot recipe for you guys to bake at home! I hope this caramel carrot sheet cake made it to your dessert table!

This caramel carrot sheet cake is without a doubt the best carrot cake I’ve ever had! Super easy to make, so delicious, and baked in a 9-inch square baking dish. It’s moist, perfectly spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, loaded with carrots, combined with chopped walnuts and currants, and topped with caramel cream cheese frosting! Basically, it’s the best thing you’ll ever eat.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe >

Ingredients Needed & Notes >

Equipment You’ll Need >

Step By Step Instructions >

Baking Tips >

Serving & Storage >

Recipe Card >

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS CARAMEL CARROT SHEET CAKE

• This moist carrot cake is moist and perfectly spiced. It is a joy to eat.
• It has the perfect balance of flavors and textures.
• The frosting is not a regular cream cheese frosting. It’s a caramel cream cheese frosting! It’s the perfect creamy topping for the cake and that is to die for!
• Loaded with finely grated carrots. I personally feel good about eating this for breakfast.
• This is the cake when you’re in the mood for cake, but still need to get your veggies in.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED & NOTES

Carrots – You’ll want the carrots fresh and grate them finely. Use the smallest holes on your box grater and then you can chop them to make the carrot shreds nice and small. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store. they are too large and hard.

Nuts – You can use walnuts or pecans. You choose what you like best!

Dried Fruits – This recipe uses currants, but you can also use apricots, cranberries, or whatever dried fruit you prefer!

Flour – You’ll just need all-purpose flour to make this cake!

Spices – I use ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. If it is too much spice for you, you can just use cinnamon and it will taste lighter.

Salt – This helps to balance all the flavors.

Leavening Agent – We need quite a bit of baking powder to lift the cake batter.

Eggs – You’ll need 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks to make these carrot cake cookies. Make sure they’re large eggs and at room temperature.

Sugar – There are 3 types of sugar in this recipe. Brown sugar and granulated sugar for the cake batter, and powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar) for the frosting. I prefer light brown sugar for the cake batter, but both light brown and dark brown work well for this recipe!

Vanilla – A little bit of vanilla extract to enhance the flavor.

Oil – Canola oil is my favorite for baking, but you can use vegetable oil or any neutral oil.

Cream Cheese – You will need full-fat cream cheese to make the smoothest cream cheese frosting. Don’t use cream cheese spread or low-fat cream cheese.

Caramel Sauce – You can use store-bought caramel sauce or you can make this homemade caramel sauce by yourself.

Fondant or Gum paste – This is optional, but you can use this to make some decorations like carrots or bunny.

BAKING TOOLS & EQUIPMENT YOU’LL NEED

(Check my favorite baking tools and equipment here!)

• Electric mixer
• Whisk
• Mixing bowls
• Rubber spatula
• Offset spatula
• 9-inch baking dish or 8-inch baking pan
• Parchment paper

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THIS CARAMEL CARROT SHEET CAKE

(Be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions)

STEP 1 – Prepare the Baking Dish and Preheat the Oven

Grease a 9-inch baking dish or 8-inch baking pan with soft butter, then line with parchment paper. Let the excess hang over the sides to form a sling so you can easily lift the cake from the loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350F.

STEP 2 – Make the Cake

In a medium bowl, combine and whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla, and canola oil until well combined for about 2 minutes on medium speed.

Reduce mixer speed to medium-low, then slowly add in the flour mixture, about 2 tablespoons at a time. Whisk everything until just combined, do not overwork the cake batter. Remove from the mixer and switch to a silicone spatula. Fold in the carrots, walnuts, and raisins until just combined.

Transfer the cake batter to the prepared baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer or tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. A couple of moist crumbs on a toothpick is ok!

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes and then remove the cake and let it cool completely on a cooling rack.

STEP 3 – Make the frosting and Serve

If you decide to make your own caramel sauce, you’ll need to make this first and allow the caramel sauce to cool completely. It will thicken as it cools.

First thing first, make sure your cream cheese and butter are soft, at room temperature. In a medium mixing bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, unsalted butter, salt, and powdered sugar, then beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add in 1.5 tablespoons of caramel sauce and mix everything until well combined. The frosting should be soft and creamy, not runny.

Spread an even layer of salted caramel cream cheese frosting and swirl 2 – 3 tablespoons of caramel sauce over the frosting. Chill the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes before decorating or serving.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST CARAMEL CARROT SHEET CAKE

• Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Room-temperature ingredients blend easily and incorporate together to create a smooth batter without chunks of cold butter or flecks of eggs.
• Measure flour correctly. When measuring the flour with cups, make sure to spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup. Do not scoop and pack the flour. By doing this, you will yield too much flour and make the dough dry. A kitchen scale is the best option, it’s so much more accurate than cup measurements, that’s why I always write the recipe with grams. 1 cup flour = 125 grams.
• Keep your eyes on the cake while baking. Think of baking times just as suggestions, because every oven is different! The temperature can vary greatly, even when you set it to the same temperature as in the recipe.
• Finely grate the fresh carrots! Use the smallest holes on your box grater and then you can chop them to make the carrot shreds nice and small.

HERE’S HOW TO STORE THE LEFTOVERS

Don’t keep this cake at room temperature since they have cream cheese frosting. Place the leftovers in an air-tight container and store them in the fridge. They’re good for up to a week.

If you want to freeze the cake for later, I recommend cutting it into individual squares. Then, place the cake on a tray lined with parchment paper, and freeze for 1 hour until they’re frozen. Once frozen, wrap the cake individually with 2 layers of plastic wrap, then place them in an air-tight container. It will last in the freezer for up to 2 months.

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If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Send me a message or write a comment below.
Also, be sure to snap a picture and tag me on your social media posts with #thejobaker
Happy Baking!