Carrot Sheet Cake

Looking for a GREAT Carrot Sheet Cake? We have just the one. This carrot cake, based on our homemade carrot layer cake, is sure to please a crowd!

It has fantastic flavor from shredded carrots, pecans, flaked coconut, crushed pineapple, and cinnamon.

Why we Love It

Carrot Cake is a longtime favorite on our site- and this carrot sheet cake tastes every bit as wonderful! It is moist, slightly dense without being heavy, and has the perfect balance of flavors and textures.

As an added bonus, sheet cakes are extra easy to decorate, transport, and serve! We've frosted ours with a classic Cream Cheese Frosting- it's simple, pipes great, and is the perfect match for this cake.

Ingredients

Here is a quick look at our ingredients:

• All purpose flour
• Baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Ground cinnamon for a warm, spiced flavor
• Sugar adds sweetness and moisture
• Large eggs add structure, richness, and emulsify the oil and liquids
• Vegetable oil- Makes for an extra moist, tender cake.
• Vanilla extract
• Grated carrots (Don't use pre-shredded as they are too dry)
• Chopped pecans add great flavor and texture
• Sweetened coconut add sweetness and texture
• Canned, crushed pineapple, drained- adds moisture, texture, and complements the other flavors beautifully.

*Not included in this list are the ingredients for our dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting, which you'll find the recipe card!

How to Make Carrot Sheet Cake

Once you've preheated the oven and prepared the 9x13" baking sheet, it is time to put it all together.

First, whisk together these dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside this flour mixture for now.

Next, in the bowl of your mixer, add sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed until well blended and lightened in color.

Using a spoon or spatula, gently stir in the flour mixture until moistened, then add the carrots, pecans, drained, crushed pineapple and coconut. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared sheet cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.

Cool cake layers in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack then turn out. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

Every carrot cake needs a good slathering of cream cheese frosting! We used a very simple recipe of softened cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

Mix the butter until smooth, add in the softened/room temperature cream cheese, and then the rest of the ingredients. You'll have a creamy, fantastic frosting in minutes.

*Cream cheese is softer than most frostings and so if it becomes overly soft at any time as you decorate, just pop the bowl or piping bag in the refrigerator as needed.

Decorating the Cake

Once the carrot sheet cake has completely cooled, it is time to frost it! You can decorate the cake however you like. We frosted ours with a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat), chilled it a bit to firm it up, and then went in with a second layer of cream cheese frosting.

We used an offset spatula to make it nice and swirled on top, and then finished it with a chunky border of piped shells around the top edge (1M piping tip).

More Classic Cakes

We hope that you love today's Carrot Sheet Cake! Make sure to leave a comment below if you give it a try!

We have several other classic cake recipes to share with you. Some of our favorites are Italian Cream Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Hummingbird Cake, and Red Velvet Cake!

Carrot Sheet Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe

This moist Carrot Sheet Cake has fantastic flavor from carrots, cinnamon, crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and coconut! It is a keeper!

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 15 servings

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Ingredients

For the Carrot Cake

• ▢ 2 ½ cups (325g) all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 cups (400g) sugar
• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup vegetable oil 218g
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups (180g) grated (small pieces) carrots (do not use packaged pre-shredded carrots, they are too dry)
• ▢ ¾ cup (92g) chopped pecans
• ▢ ¾ cup (50g) sweetened coconut (we used Baker's Angel Flake sweetened coconut)
• ▢ 1 8oz. can crushed pineapple put in a strainer and let the liquid drain off….I press with a fork to remove not all, but a bit more liquid.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• ▢ 16 oz cream cheese (We used two 8 oz packages) (Not reduced fat)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
• ▢ 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) confectioners' sugar

Instructions

For the Carrot Cake

• Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease and flour a 9x13 sheet cake pan. We like to line the bottom of the pan with parchment also.
• Whisk together for 30 seconds the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set Aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer, add 2 cups sugar , 4 eggs, 1 cup oil and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed until well blended and light colored.
• With a spoon stir in the flour mixture until moistened, then add the carrots, pecans crushed pineapple and coconut. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared sheet cake pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
• Makes 6 ½ cups batter
• Cool cake layers in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack then turn out. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
• Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
• Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended.
• Increase mixing speed and mix until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft.
• This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.

Frosting the Cake

• Once cooled, frost the cake however you like! We used every bit of the frosting. First, we crumb coated (thin coat) the sheet cake on the top and sides. As an optional step, we like to chill the cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (or a bit longer in the refrigerator) to firm up the frosting before adding the second coat. We applied the second coat of frosting, and added a "chunky" border of shell piping using a large 1M piping tip on top of the cake.

Storage and Refrigeration

• Chill the cake in an airtight container or sealed bakery box in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese frosting. However, for the very best texture, remove it from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving so that it can warm and soften.

Notes

As with most of our cakes, the carrot cake layer can be baked in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap followed by foil, and frozen for up to three months! (You can place it on a foil-wrapped cake cardboard for extract support if you'd like).

To thaw, move the wrapped cake to the kitchen counter. Unwrap after about 20 minutes and continue to bring to desired temp for decorating. (Some decorators like to frost cakes when partially frozen as they are less fragile.)

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