Ridiculously Good Carrot Cake with Caramel Rum Sauce

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:

• Nordic Ware Bundt Pan
• Three 8-inch Round Cake Pans
• Wilton Cupcake/ Muffin pan

More Great Cake Recipes:

• Perfect Devil’s Food Cake
• Champagne Cake with Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream
• Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
• Butterscotch Bundt Cake

Carrot Cake Recipe with Caramel Rum Sauce

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★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews

• Author: Rebecca Blackwell
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 18

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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.

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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

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Instructions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Add the yogurt, vanilla, eggs and egg yolk and mix until slightly lightened – about 1 minute on medium speed.
5. In a separate bowl, blend the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg with a wire whisk until well combined.
6. 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.
7. Stir in the grated carrots. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s).
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.

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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.

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