This easy carrot cake is made with a spice cake mix – but you would never guess. It is fully loaded and topped with homemade cream cheese frosting. DELICIOUS!
I always love letting my kids pick their cake flavors for their birthdays and making them come alive.
Oliver has his birthday planned to a T this last year – and thankfully, his baby brother came early instead of on Oliver’s birthday (which is when we anticipated his arrival).
But still – I was only 12 days postpartum, so we had to keep things simple.
Oliver really wanted a carrot cake. But I didn’t have the energy to make one from scratch.
But I never feel like boxed carrot cakes are that amazing. As I thought about what DID make an amazing carrot cake, I realized I could easily adapt a spice cake mix and try to make it into a yummy carrot cake.
It turned out better than I could have expected. Everyone loved it and couldn’t believe it came from a box originally.
All of the mixins made it so much more delicious and moist.
With Easter quickly approaching I thought that I would share this recipe with all of you. I feel like Easter is a perfect time for a carrot cake
Are used to not like carrot cake then I realized how delicious it was. And this is definitely the best recipe around. Especially if you want it to be really easy!
You can use whatever cream cheese frosting you want, however, I really like using the one I list in this post for our favorite chocolate cake.
- 1 Spice Cake Mix (I used Betty Crocker brand)
- ½ cup salted butter – melted
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup sweetened coconut
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- Cream Cheese Frosting (the cream cheese frosting listed in this post is what I used)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease two cake pans.
Combine together spice cake mix, butter, eggs, and water until smooth.
Fold in remaining ingredients until combined.
Pour between the two cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool in pan a few minutes and remove to a cooling rack to cool remaining time.
Once completely cooled, frost and assemble cake – see pictures below for assembly:
Cheater Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Spice Cake Mix (I used Betty Crocker brand)
- ½ cup butter - melted
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup sweetened coconut
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- Cream Cheese Frosting (I use this one -- https://www.clarkscondensed.com/food/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe/)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease two cake pans.
Combine together spice cake mix, butter, eggs, and water until smooth.
Fold in remaining ingredients until combined.
Pour between the two cake pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool in pan a few minutes and remove to cooling rack to cool remaining time.
Once completely cooled, frost and assemble cake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 389Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 503mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 2gSugar: 31gProtein: 5g
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Katie is a Colorado-native, BYU graduated, and most importantly, wife to one and mother to three beautiful boys. She is passionate about sharing her experiences with others – especially about pregnancy, breastfeeding, cooking, and crafts. She is currently training to be a Certified Lactation Educator. She loves spending time with her family and helping others find joy in family life.
Dolly Cervi says
I made this cake for our monthly gospel sing and it was a hit. Very moist and delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I will definitely make this again.
Katie says
So glad to hear this!
Deb says
Would this make a good muffin?
Katie says
I think it would be great!
Janet says
Absolutely amazing taste . Made the cake for a wedding Bride loved it
Katie says
So happy to hear this!
Linn says
Holy cow! This is a delicious recipe!
I added the juice from the pineapple and one additional egg.
I also chopped way too many pecans so I threw them in the frosting. I will definitely be making this again!
Katie says
So glad you love it!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Deborah Barrow says
Can you use a box carrot cake mix instead of spice ?
Katie says
I think that would be fine!
Alma says
Can you make it in a 13×9 pan?
Katie says
I haven’t tried that! But you could definitely try it, just adjust the cooking time.