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Home » Cake & Cupcakes » Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Published: Oct 23, 2017 · Modified: Mar 29, 2021 by Allison · 89 Comments

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A combination of pumpkin cake and carrot cake; a moist and flavorful layer cake filled with carrots, pumpkin, and warm spices and finished with tangy cream cheese frosting.  A beautiful dessert for Thanksgiving or any fall occasion. VIDEO below!

Close up of three layer carrot cake with white frosting.

Is it safe to say that the holiday season is upon us? Halloween is in a week and after that there’s no turning back.

A piece of pumpkin carrot cake on a white plate.

This Pumpkin Carrot Cake has been part of our Thanksgiving dessert spread for the last several years and this year will be no exception. When I think of this cake I automatically think “Thanksgiving”, but, there’s no reason something this good should only be served on a special occasion.

Which is why on a random, cloudy Sunday in October I made this triple layer, fall scented, cream cheese smothered cake for no reason at all.

Three layer carrot cake on a white plate.

Yes, you read that right. No reason at all. It was glorious (and a tad indulgent). My family of four ate our fair share of the cake and then I sent the leftovers with my husband to work. It was gone in record time.

This cake is always met with rave reviews.

Carrot cake batter in a glass bowl

The Best Pumpkin Carrot Cake

What makes this cake so great? It’s tender and moist from pumpkin puree, crushed pineapple, and buttermilk. Pumpkin pie spice adds warm spices that will remind you of a pumpkin pie.

The sweetness of the cake gets balanced by the tangy cream cheese frosting. I covered the outside of the cake in toasted walnuts, which add a great crunch, but feel free to leave them off if you’d prefer.

Your guests/family/friends/co-workers/neighbors will devour every last bite of this beautiful cake.

Round layer cake with white frosting and walnuts

So now you have two options: Bookmark this cake for Thanksgiving (or any other holiday celebration) OR just go ahead and bake it right now.

Forget to buy buttermilk? This Buttermilk Substitute works beautifully in this cake.

You might also like:

  • Pineapple Carrot Cake
  • Carrot Cake Cupcakes (with brown sugar cream cheese frosting!)
  • Carrot Cake Cookies

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A slice of carrot cake on a white plate with a gold fork.

 

Recipe

Close up of three layer carrot cake with white frosting.

Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A combination of pumpkin cake and carrot cake - A moist and flavorful layer cake filled with carrots, pumpkin, and warm spices and finished with tangy cream cheese frosting. A beautiful dessert for Thanksgiving or any fall occasion.
5 from 34 votes
Print Pin SaveSaved!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 508kcal
Author: Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ⅓ cups canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1 cup grated carrots, (about 2 medium carrots see note)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2-4 teaspoons milk
  • 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts, optional

Instructions

Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease two or three 9-inch cake pans, and line the bottoms with a round of parchment.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.
  • With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat buttermilk, eggs, pumpkin, sugars, oil, vanilla, pineapple, and carrots until well combined. Slowly add flour mixture, beating until the flour is fully incorporated in the wet ingredients. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans (see note). Tap the pans on the countertop a few times to remove air bubbles.
  • If using two cake pans, bake for approximately 35 minutes. If using three cake pans, bake for 25-28 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

  • Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract for several minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
  • Using a butter knife or offset spatula, frost the cooled cake. Press chopped walnuts onto the sides of the cake. Transfer to the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Video

Notes

This cake is made in 9 inch pans not 8 inch pans (see below). The batter will overflow in 8 inch pans. When placing the batter in the cake pans, make sure that it is evenly divided. To do this, I use a 1 cup measure and scoop the batter into each pan, a cup at a time, until they are evenly filled.
Only have 8 inch pans? You can still make this cake, just don't put all the batter into the pans. Fill your pans about halfway full and use any remaining batter to make cupcakes. Adjust cooking time accordingly.
I use the medium or fine holes on a box grater to grate the carrots.
Recipe updated November 2022. Original recipe HERE.

Nutrition

Calories: 508kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 310mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 4999IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!

You might also like:

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

Stack of carrot cake cookies filled with frosting.

Healthier Carrot Cake

Square slice of carrot cake topped with white frosting.

« Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Skillet Cookie
Artichoke Dip »

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Comments

  1. Sharon Chen

    October 11, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    5 stars
    This cake looks perfect in every angle! I want to try it, too! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Esther

    October 12, 2016 at 10:41 am

    5 stars
    This looks so good. I am pinning this and might make it soon.

    Reply
  3. Brittany

    October 13, 2016 at 9:53 am

    Yum! This looks so good! I love pumpkin anything!

    Reply
  4. Khadija

    October 22, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    5 stars
    Made this cake for my sister’s birthday, everyone at the party said it was the best cake they ever had. It is so good moist and delicious . I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter and nuts to the batter and raisins. I am making again for my husbands birthday

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      October 22, 2016 at 1:04 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to let me know that you enjoyed it. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Carol

    November 07, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    5 stars
    I made this cake yesterday (11/6/16) for a friend’s birthday who likes all the main ingredients. If I had to toss all dessert recipes except one, this would be the keeper. DELICIOUS and MOIST. My friends liked it and I had four waitresses at the restaurant line up for a piece. One waitress said it was the best cake ever and “not too sweet”. People commented how you could taste each flavor–pumpkin, carrot, pineapple and coconut. It looked beautiful too, very much like yours, and appropriate for a special occasion. Something like Mom would have made for family celebrations.

    I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour and 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Perfect.

    Was not able to make a trial run of this cake and any worries were unfounded. Was it going to be done because it was so moist? Yes, few to no crumbs upon testing with a toothpick was fine. Was it overdone because the top looked so dark? No. Was it going to be moist enough if I served it within a few hours (seems some cakes taste better later in the day)? Absolutely. The layers were rounded out of the oven–how would the two layers stack together? They cooled to perfectly flat for easy assembly and decorating. Any trouble getting the cooled cake out of the well buttered and parchment bottom pan? Fell right out and the regular Wilton pan (not a non-stick) washed easily. And…I didn’t have a cake carrier so the frosted cake was uncovered a few hours before serving and the frosting was still soft.

    I would be proud to call this my “signature cake” that I bring to all gatherings. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      November 08, 2016 at 7:33 pm

      Hi, Carol. Thank you for your kind comment. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this cake, it is a favorite of mine too. Thanks for sharing your gluten free adaptation – that is great to know. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment. Take care!

      Reply
  6. Mae Quon

    November 19, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    I made this cake for our Bible Study group…it was a hit!! I didn’t have walnuts and used chopped pecans instead and whole pecans to outline the top of the cake.. Still a great tasting cake. Our group couldn’t say enough about thismoist cake. I usually don’t make scratch cakes but this was worth the time. There was enough batter to make three layers. Instructions were very clear. The use of parchment paper freed the cake easily. On my next cake I will add some raisins too. Thanks for this delish recipe!! This is going to be my go to cake for special and anytime occasions.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      November 19, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      Thank you for your kind comments! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Happy holidays!

      Reply
  7. Cathy Crocker

    February 08, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    Could you use a bundt cake pan to make this recipe.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      February 08, 2017 at 7:36 pm

      Hi, Cathy. I have never tried it, but according to the link below you should be able to. I think you might have a little too much batter for a standard sized bundt pan, so be careful not to overfill it. If you give it a try please let me know how it goes. Thanks! https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/8746-converting-layer-cakes-to-bundt

      Reply
  8. Dawn

    February 25, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    Made this for myself for my birthday and everyone loved it. Myself included! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

    Reply
    • Celebrating Sweets

      February 26, 2017 at 12:27 pm

      I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Happy belated birthday! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
      • Julia Crow

        June 08, 2017 at 3:20 pm

        Can I make this in cupcake form?

      • Celebrating Sweets

        June 13, 2017 at 2:37 pm

        Sorry for the late reply. Yes, you should be able to. Begin checking them around 15 minutes.

  9. Brian Jones

    October 23, 2017 at 10:57 pm

    5 stars
    That sounds lovely, fab set of ingredients for a cake all of which bring their own unique sweetness.

    Reply
  10. Emma | The Cake Mistress

    October 23, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    Never thought to add pumpkin into carrot cake before, but you’ve convinced me! This looks so moist and wonderful, and who can resist cream cheese frosting??

    Reply
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aboutHi, I'm Allison! I'm a busy wife and mom with a passion for cooking and baking. This is where you'll find my favorite homemade recipes, designed to help you make every day delicious! Read more....

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