Lightly toast the walnuts.

This cake calls for walnuts, and they should be lightly toasted before adding to the batter. Toast them just enough to draw out the flavorful oils, but not so much that the walnuts become bitter. I toast mine in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes or less. Use your sense of smell for this!

The recipe makes enough frosting to cover the cake, and if that's what you are going for, great! If you want a more decorative cake (like the one in the picture) with pattern and swirls you will need to increase the recipe by 50%, or double it and have more than enough for filling etc.

Speaking of fillings...

The cake pictured has layers of cheesecake for the filling. This is A LOT more work, but kind of worth it. It involves making my classic cheesecake recipe divided into two pans lined with parchment, baking those the day before and then using them between the carrot cake layers. This cake is really good on it's own, however, so you might want to keep it simple!

Fully Loaded Carrot Cake - Just Desserts Bakehouse

Name: Fully Loaded Carrot Cake
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: dessert
Ingredients: 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup sugar; 3/4 cup butter at room temperature; 3/4 cup vegetable oil; 3 eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 2 cups flour; 1 cup old fashioned oats; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 cups shredded carrots; 1 cup sweetened coconut; 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce; 1/2 cup buttermilk; 1 cup toasted walnuts chopped; 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature; pinch of salt; 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Fully Loaded Carrot Cake

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A classic layered carrot cake packed with nuts and spices. A perfect blend of moist and fluffy and flavorful.

Author: Darla McVay
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Category: cakes
Cuisine: dessert

Ingredients

Scale

For the Cake:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup sweetened coconut

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup toasted walnuts chopped

For the Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature

pinch of salt

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

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Instructions

Prepare three 8″ round cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350

Mix butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vegetable oil to combine. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the applesauce and buttermilk. Fold in the carrots, coconut and walnuts. Divide the batter between the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes. Mine were done at 28 minutes.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before turning them out onto racks. Cool completely before frosting the cake.

For the Frosting:

Mix the cream cheese and butter until combined. Add the salt and powdered sugar and mix until light and creamy.

Find it online: https://justdessertsbakehouse.com/fully-loaded-carrot-cake/