All-Time Favorite Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream and Caramel Rum Sauce
This ridiculously good carrot cake is my all-time favorite recipe, having been tested and perfected over the past couple of decades. One recipe is all you need to bake up a delicious Carrot Cake Layer Cake, Bundt Cake, or Cupcakes – all slathered with Cream Cheese Buttercream & Salted Caramel Rum Sauce.
Years (and years) ago, my husband and I were at a restaurant where I saw Carrot Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce on the dessert menu. We didn’t order it, but the combination sounded so good that I decided to try and make it at home.
I made a basic carrot cake (probably from my Betty Crocker cookbook) and stirred some rum into a couple of jars of store bought caramel sauce. It was delicious, because….. well, it was cake covered in caramel rum sauce.
I’ve been making variations of carrot cake ever since, trying different carrot cake recipes, sometimes icing the cake with cream cheese buttercream and sometimes leaving it naked, spiking store bought caramel sauce with a very generous amount of rum and pouring it on top. It’s all good. But, when a friend asked me to make her birthday cake, I decided to up my game. This recipe is the result.
Thanks to the addition of yogurt, applesauce, cinnamon, and nutmeg, this recipe produces a carrot cake that’s just about as moist and flavorful as you can get. I also skipped the store bought caramel sauce and made a batch of from-scratch Salted Caramel Rum Sauce. 100% worth it. It’s smooth and silky and so divine you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful (or pour it into a shot glass!).
Topped with not-too-sweet Cream Cheese Buttercream, this carrot cake is rich and decadent and will cause people to swear their undying love if you would just make it for them one more time.
Tips for baking the perfect Carrot Cake (or Carrot Cake Cupcakes):
#1. Make sure to use plain full-fat or 2% Greek yogurt. Accidentally using sweetened yogurt will make this cake overly sweet. Also, avoid using nonfat Greek yogurt. Nonfat yogurt not only contains fillers and stabilizers that will affect the texture of this carrot cake, it will affect the balance of fat in the cake batter and result in a cake that is less rich and flavorful.
#2. Like Olive Oil Cake, this carrot cake recipe is oil based, replacing the more traditional butter. When compared to butter, cakes baked with oil are loftier, have a more even crumb and stay moist and fresh tasting much longer. So, why don’t all cake recipes use oil instead of butter?
Because butter adds flavor. In this cake, we can easily get away with using all oil because there is so much flavor in the other ingredients – yogurt, applesauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, carrots, and vanilla. Not to mention the cream cheese buttercream and caramel rum sauce.
#3. Make sure the eggs, butter, and yogurt are at room temperature. In this Carrot Cake recipe, as in most cake recipes, you’ll notice the words “at room temperature” after the butter, eggs, and yogurt. This is important because when at room temperature, eggs and dairy form an emulsion that traps air. This is a good thing because all that trapped air expands in the oven, producing a fluffy consistency.
#4. Applesauce and carrots make this cake super-duper moist. Applesauce and 2 packed cups of shredded carrots contribute so much moisture to this cake. In addition, applesauce also contains acidity, which boosts the flavor and helps create a tender texture.
#5. Frost with Cream Cheese Buttercream and serve with Salted Caramel Rum Sauce. This is my absolute FAVORITE super simple Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe. It makes a lot, so if you’re baking your carrot cake in a bundt pan or as an 8-inch layer cake, you’ll probably only need a half recipe. If you’re making cupcakes, and want to get a lovely big dome of frosting on each cupcake, you’ll need a full recipe of buttercream.
I am struggling with the words to tell you how good Salted Caramel Rum Sauce is on Carrot Cake. I have never ever served this cake to anyone who didn’t love the sauce – even if they weren’t carrot cake or cream cheese buttercream fans. (Yes, I know. How can anyone not be carrot cake or cream cheese buttercream fans? I don’t know, but they exist. Poor dears.)
Regardless, they say things like, “This cake doesn’t need the cream cheese buttercream. It just needs more caramel rum sauce.” OR, “Just give me a bowl of the caramel rum sauce.”
{Note} Carrot Cake is a Building Block Recipe. Building Blocks are tried-and-true recipes that I find myself coming back to time and time again, sometimes to make them exactly as is, and sometimes as a starting point for something new. -> More Building Block Recipes.
Used in this Recipe:
More Great Cake Recipes:
- Intensely Flavorful, Moist Spice Cake
- Perfect Devil’s Food Cake
- Champagne Cake with Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
- Butterscotch Bundt Cake
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream
Carrot Cake Recipe with Caramel Rum Sauce
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 18
Description
This one tested and perfected Carrot Cake Recipe is all you need to bake up a delicious Carrot Cake Layer Cake, Bundt Cake, or Cupcakes – all slathered with Cream Cheese Buttercream & Salted Caramel Rum Sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup whole milk or 2% plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 eggs + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 cups grated carrots (pack the carrots gently into the measuring cup so you have a generous 2 cups of carrots)
- Perfect Cream Cheese Buttercream (*See note.)
- Caramel Rum Sauce
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan. OR line the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease and flour the pans. OR set 24 paper cupcake liners in two cupcake pans.
- If baking a carrot cake bundt cake or cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If baking two 8-inch layers, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire whisk (or a large mixing bowl and a hand whisk), mix together the sugars, vegetable oil and applesauce until well combined.
- Add the yogurt, vanilla, eggs and egg yolk and mix until slightly lightened – about 1 minute on medium speed.
- In a separate bowl, blend the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg with a wire whisk until well combined.
- If you’re using a standing mixer, switch to the paddle attachment and blend the flour mixture into the wet ingredients on medium-low until combined and smooth – about 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the grated carrots. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s).
- If baking a bundt cake, bake for about 50 minutes. If baking cupcakes, bake for 22-25 minutes. If baking two 8-inch layers, bake for 45-50 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake or into one of the cupcakes. It will have some cake crumbs stuck to it, but not raw batter.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then invert cake (s) onto a wire rack to cool completely. If making cupcakes, let them cool in the cupcake tin before removing.
- Ice cooled cake or cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream. Serve immediately with generous amounts of Caramel Rum Sauce, or store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- If frosting a bundt cake or filling and frosting 2 8-inch layer cakes, you’ll only need a half recipe of Perfect Cream Cheese Buttercream. If topping 24 cupcakes with a generous amount of Cream Cheese Buttercream, you’ll need the full recipe.
© Of Batter and Dough. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Of Batter and Dough.
Is it okay to bake this in cake pans, instead of bundt pan?
★★★★★
Absolutely! This recipe should give you enough batter for two 8-inch layers. Let me know if you have any more questions! xo
I’ve never baked carrot cake, but after reading this recipe I think I must give it a try.
Yeeessss! You must. 🙂 Please let me know what you think. xo
Hi. How much Caramel sauce does this yield. You mention using a jar of Caramel sauce and adding the rum.
What size is the jar of Caramel sauce?
Thank you
Hi there! The homemade caramel rum sauce recipe makes about 3 cups of sauce – which really is more than you’ll need for one carrot cake. I think you’d be fine with a 12 ounce jar of purchased caramel sauce. Add about 1/4 of rum to the sauce and taste it to see what you think. If you want a stronger rum flavor, just keep adding more until you have enough. Please let me know if you have any more questions and I’d love to know what you think of this cake after you bake it! xo
If I make the Carmel sauce several hours before serving should I keep it in the fridge and if so is it still soft enough to pour on the cake? Do you recommend warming up the Carmel sauce before serving? Thanks!
Hi Jen! It’s been a couple of days since you left this comment, (so sorry! My husband and I were traveling this weekend.) so by now you’ve probably answered your own question. But, yes – keep the caramel sauce in the refrigerator until ready to serve. I usually like to warm mine slightly before serving, simply because it makes drizzling it slightly easier. But, you certainly don’t have to. How did the cake come out? xo
The texture of this cake isn’t the only perfection here… that caramel rum sauce makes this a showstopper! Can’t wait to make this again to impress my friends for Thanksgiving. It was so good! They’re going to be blown away.
★★★★★
So happy to hear that you liked this cake Candice! As many times as I’ve made this over the years, I’ve never thought to make it for Thanksgiving. I don’t know why because my family would be THRILLED. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment for me! xo
Carrot cake is my absolute favourite dessert. I request it every year for my birthday. And just when I thought carrot cake couldn’t get any better with its wonderful texture and frosting, you add caramel rum sauce! I’m in heaven just looking at your photos!
★★★★★
That picture of the rum caramel sauce dripping down the cake is completely mouthwatering! I can’t wait to devour a slice (or two, let’s be honest!) of this cake!
★★★★★
Omgosh obsessed with this caramel rum sauce! Suuuuch a good idea. And carrot cake is always a fave of mine.
★★★★★
I’m pretty sure that caramel rum sauce is calling my name 🙂 What a great combination of flavors you’ve created. Just in time for fall parties!
★★★★★
Have you ever made this in the microwave? I’d like to bake individual cakes in mason jars.
Hi Cinwin! I’ve never tried baking this cake in the microwave… honestly, I’ve never baked any kind of cake in the microwave. 🙂 But, if you try it, will you please let me know how it goes? I’m super curious now! ❤️
I love this cheesecake Rebecca! I’ve made the bundt version twice this week! For my son-in-law’s birthday and again today to share with neighbors. The cake is moist and the cream cheese buttercream is amazing! My 8 year old grandson asked what the sauce was. When I described rum to him, he decided he would not like it. But later he said it was delicious and when it cooks the alcohol goes out. Needless to say it was a hit with all ages. Tonight I’m sharing it with neighbors who worked a volunteer event all day. A welcome treat, I’m sure!
★★★★★
Oops, was also checking out your cheesecake recipes! This should read Carrot Cake!
★★★★★
Cheesecake, carrot cake, it’s aaaaallllll good. 🙂
I am so happy to hear this Barb! This is one of my favorite recipes as well. I’ve been making it for years and it’s one of the cakes my family requests the most often – especially with the caramel rum sauce! Your family and neighbors are lucky to have you making it for them! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I appreciate it so much!
I stumbled across your site while searching for carrot cake recipes and decided to make this cake with the cream cheese frosting and caramel sauce as well.
Holy. Moly. !!! I didn’t think I liked carrot cake OR cream cheese frosting – safe to say I’m a convert now! It was also a huge hit with my parents for Easter. I am in love with all 3 recipes. Not just the end results (which are delicious) but how detailed and helpful all the instructions are as well. And I feel like I learn something about baking with each new recipe of yours that I read! I am so grateful to have found your site and fantastic recipes. This cake was truly delicious and will definitely be made again.
I didn’t have rum on hand for the caramel sauce but will make it with that next time (when I’m more prepared!). I made it as a 3-layer cake using 6” pans. I mixed some of the caramel in with the frosting for an extra pop of caramel flavor and sprinkled some chopped pecans on top of the finished cake. It was divine!
I just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to share your wonderful recipes in such a detailed, thorough, and fun way to follow. I can’t wait to try more!!!
★★★★★
Caitlin! I can’t even tell you how happy this comment makes me. Seriously. You made my whole week. ♥️ I love that you added caramel sauce to the frosting and added chopped pecans. Really great idea that I might be stealing the next time I make this. Please let me know if you ever have any questions about any of the recipes you find on here. I love to connect with other home bakers. Thank you again! xo
Hi – Looks delish, I’m going to attempt it this weekend! Is it 2 or 3 8inc cake pans? The picture looks like 3 and it calls for 3 in the “needed” list, but then it also says 2 pans further down. Thank you!
Hi Kristin! I am so happy you’re going to try this cake! It’s seriously one of my all-time favorite recipes and I can’t wait to hear what you think. So sorry for the confusion with the number of pans. You can bake this in two or three layers bu I almost always bake it in two. I don’t know why I listed three pans in the list above the recipe (🤦🏻♀️) but I’m changing that now. So sorry! Please let me know if you have any more questions! xoxo