Pumpkin Carrot Cake With Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

A beautiful marriage of pumpkin cake and carrot cake topped with a luscious cinnamon cream cheese frosting. This is THE cake of the season!

Slice of pumpkin carrot cake.

I love creating new cakes and desserts in my kitchen. The experimentation and imagination, all the different techniques and possibilities, the wonderful feeling of self accomplishment when something turns out right, this is my world and it is limitless!

I especially love it when my family likes my creations. Even the picky ones! My sister doesn’t like carrot cake but this she devoured 😉

Top view of pumpkin carrot cake.

A beautiful marriage of two very popular cakes, pumpkin and carrot, united together with a boat load of warm and delicious spices and topped with my favourite spice cake frosting. This cake is one of my all time favourites, it is so delicious I just love it!

Dimensions of this cake

  • Deeply flavoured dark brown sugar cake sponge with a molasses undertone.
  • Carrot cake flavour including the sweet carrot flavour, carrot cake spices and cream cheese frosting.
  • Pumpkin cake stick-to-your-fork-moist texture combined with that classic pumpkin spice flavour.
Slice of pumpkin carrot cake.

The crumb is sooo soft and moist and the flavour is spectacular. I was really trying to make sure that both the pumpkin cake and the carrot cake flavours shine through without one overtaking the other.
I had to play around a bit but this cake is the definition of perfect!

You need to make sure to add enough spice as pumpkin cakes need that to boost their flavour. I’ve used dark brown sugar here because that extra molasses-y taste is delicious and goes really well with the rest of the ingredients.

Inside slice of pumpkin carrot cake.

For an extra moist and velvety crumb I’ve used oil instead of butter as well as a bit of applesauce. I love to combine these two because it makes everything super moist without being greasy.

​One thing I’d like to mention is that it’s totally fine to use homemade pumpkin puree and homemade applesauce. I know that some of these are hard to find so you can just as easily make them on your own. Check out this post to see how I like to make applesauce at home.

As with all pumpkin and banana cakes it’s best to make them a day in advance so that they have enough time to fully develop. Seriously the cake I ate for breakfast the next day was not the same as the one before. It’s insane! 🙂

Whole pumpkin carrot cake.

Make this, eat it and tag me with your pics! @dutchbakerblog

Other spice cake favourites

Pumpkin Carrot Cake With Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

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Recipe by Linda @thedutchbaker
Servings

8

servings

Makes 1 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 /190gms all purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon 1 baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 baking soda

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons 1 1/2 cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon 1 pumpkin spice or use 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and pinch of cloves

  • 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 salt

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 /120mls oil

  • 2 large 2 eggs

  • 2 teaspoons 2 vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 /100gms dark soft brown sugar, light is okay too

  • 1/4 cup 1/4 /50gms white sugar

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 /120gms pumpkin puree*

  • 1/4 cup 1/4 /60gms unsweetened applesauce

  • 3/4 cup 3/4 finely shredded carrots

  • Optional: 1/2 cup nuts, raisins, dried fruits or shredded coconut

  • For the frosting
  • 6 tablespoons 6 /65gms softened butter

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 /4oz cream cheese

  • 1 1/4 cups 1 1/4 /150gms icing sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 cinnamon or to taste

  • 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 vanilla extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 160C/325F. Grease and flour a cake pan.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda until very well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin puree until well combined.
  • Add in half of the flour mix until just combined. Whisk in the applesauce until just combined.
  • To the remaining flour mix, toss in the carrots and stir to coat. This helps distribute the carrots evenly throughout the cake. Add this carrot flour mix to the batter and whisk until just combined. Don’t over mix, batter will be slightly thick and lumpy.
  • Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake until cooked through, 32 – 35 minutes. Check for doneness by gently pushing in the middle of the cake, if it springs back then it’s done. Cool cake completely before frosting.
  • For the frosting
  • Whisk butter and cream cheese until combined and creamy about 2 minutes.
  • Add in icing sugar and whisk smooth.
  • Add in vanilla and cinnamon to taste along with pinch of salt if needed. Frost cooled cake and top with nuts or caramel.

Notes

  • * If you can’t find ready made canned pumpkin puree then make your own by boiling or roasting a pumpkin until fork tender. Once done, remove the skin and puree the pumpkin in a food processor/ blender then squeeze through a cheesecloth or clean tea towel to remove any excess water.
  • To make your own applesauce, peel and chop one large apple. Cook in a saucepan over medium heat along with 2 tablespoons water until thickened. Puree in a blender and cool completely before using.
  • Recipe by the Dutch baker.

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11 Comments

  1. This cake is a serious show stopper, looks and sounds amazingly delicious!

    1. AW thanks Chef! 🙂 your words mean a lot to me 🙂 🙂

  2. Looks good!!! 🙂

    1. Thank you! 🙂

      1. Your welcome 🙂

  3. Lovely. This is going to be divine. Looking forward to this 🙂 Have a great weekend my friend. x

    1. I’ve been craving this all week ever since I made it, I hope you enjoy it hun xx you have a good one <3 thanks for stopping by 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! and thanks for stopping by 🙂 hope you have a good weekend <3

  4. This cake is sure to be a crowd-pleaser and a delicious addition to any dessert table.

    1. Thank you! 😊

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