Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday, and he requested a carrot cake for his birthday cake. I haven’t made a two-layered cake in years, and never made a carrot cake, so I was a little nervous. I found an amazing carrot cake with brown butter frosting recipe on The Fauxmartha that looked wonderful. The cake was fairly easy to make and smelled amazing while it baked. The toasted coconut was a tasty and pretty garnish for the cake. My husband was thrilled, and so were my children. This easy carrot cake recipe was moist, flavorful, and seriously delicious with the best frosting ever.

Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake:

• 1 pound carrots, finely grated
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ cups coconut oil, melted
• ⅓ cup buttermilk
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp ground cloves

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, (room temperature)
• 16 oz. cream cheese, (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar

Garnish:

• ¼ cup shredded coconut, toasted

How to Make a Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with coconut oil spray.

Make the cake by using a food processor to grate the carrots. Mix the shredded carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until well combined.

Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in another bowl until mixed well.

Add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture until well combined.

Distribute batter evenly between the pans and place them into the oven.

Bake the cake by placing the pans into the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.

Allow cakes to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before icing.

Make the brown butter by placing one stick of butter in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until butter is browned, about 5 minutes.

Pour through a small sieve into a small bowl to remove any brown bits, then place into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to cool.

Make the frosting once the brown butter has cooled by creaming the browned butter, regular butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and salt with a hand mixer until smooth.

Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. After 2½ cups, taste to see if additional sugar is necessary. I only used 2½ cups.

To frost, place the bottom layer of cake on a cake stand, leveling the top if necessary.

Add a layer of icing.

Place the second layer on top, leveling if necessary.

Dirty ice the cake (click here for a link to instructions).

Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to chill.

Finish icing the rest of the cake using an offset spatula.

Garnish the bottom of the cake with toasted coconut and sprinkle some on top evenly.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve cake at room temperature. Enjoy!