This moist mini carrot cake recipe makes two 6-inch layers decorated with a swoon-worthy brown butter cream cheese frosting!
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This small carrot cake recipe is just what you need when you're in the mood for cake, but still need to get your veggies in😉. This cake comes together in a flash - all you need are two bowls, a whisk, and a bit of patience as it bakes! It bakes up beautifully moist and packed full of warm spices. Oh and the brown butter cream cheese frosting?! You will be fighting the urge to eat it by the spoonful. It's so dang good.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about 2 ½ cups of flour.
- Leaveners: You'll need both baking powder and baking soda to give this cake the perfect rise.
- Spices: I used a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil, like vegetable, canola, or light tasting olive oil.
- Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar to add the right amount of sweetness and moisture to this cake.
- Eggs: You'll need 2 large eggs at room temperature.
- Freshly Grated Carrots: You'll need about 2 ¼ cups of carrots, which is roughly 4-5 large carrots.
- Nuts: Add chopped pecans or walnuts (or really any other extra) if you'd like!
- Cream Cheese: Be sure to use cold cream cheese when making the frosting.
- Brown Butter: You'll need 227g or 1 cup of solid, room temperature brown butter. Start with at least 270g of unsalted butter to make the brown butter.
- Powdered Sugar: Add as much or as little powdered sugar as you would like depending on your preference of sweetness. I suggest no more than 3 cups or 340g.
Instructions
Step 1: Make the cake batter as directed.
Step 2: Bake the cakes for about 45 minutes. Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 3: Make the brown butter cream cheese frosting as directed. I recommend making the brown butter the day before so it has time to solidify again.
Step 4: Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, spread 3 scoops of frosting to the first layer.
Step 5: Add the second cake layer on top and two more scoops of frosting.
Step 6: Finish decorating the cake as desired. I chose a semi-naked look, but there is enough frosting for a thicker layer on the sides.
FAQ
Cakes may dome in the middle when they bake because the outside bakes faster than the center, so the center has more time to rise. This is not ideal for layer cakes, because it is a pain to have to trim away the top of the cake. The reverse creaming method helps with baking perfectly flat cake layers. But the best way to ensure your cake layers bake up flat rather than doming is to use cake strips. Soak the cake strips in cold water before wrapping around the outside of the cake pans. This will ensure that the outside of the cake does not bake faster than the center.
To make a cream cheese frosting that is smooth enough to decorate a cake, but sturdy enough to support thick cake layers I use 1 stick of butter for every ¾ block of cream cheese. Add as much or as little powdered sugar as you would like depending on your preference of sweetness. For this recipe, I suggest at least 2 ½ cups or 282g.
You can make the cake layers the day before (or even earlier), then freeze them overnight, and decorate the next day. This allows you to skip the crumb coat and makes it so much easier to frost. Just leave the cake out for a couple hours at room temperature before serving.
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Baking in grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed to create incredibly delicious baked goods that you can easily recreate in your own kitchen with success. The only way this is possible is to standardize the way ingredients are measured - by weight. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), I can ensure that you can make the recipe accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Print📖 Recipe
Mini Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 2 layer 6-inch cake 1x
- Category: cake
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This moist mini carrot cake recipe makes two 6-inch layers decorated with a swoon-worthy brown butter cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
For the carrot cake:
- 200g (1 ⅔ cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp cloves
- 132g (⅔ cup) neutral oil
- 213g (1 cup) brown sugar
- 66g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 250g (2 ¼ cup not packed) grated carrots (about 4-5)
- 85g (½ cup) finely chopped pecans*
For the brown butter cream cheese frosting:
- 227g (1 cup) brown butter (solid, room temp)*
- 12 oz (1 ½ blocks) cream cheese (cold)
- 282-340g (2 ½ - 3 cups) powdered sugar
Instructions
For the carrot cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugars until fully combined.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs, fully incorporating each before adding the next.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Then, fold in the grated carrots and pecans.
- Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake the cakes for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 min, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.
For the brown butter cream cheese frosting:
- Start by browning enough butter to account for water evaporation. You'll need 227g of brown butter, so start with at least 270g.
- To brown the butter, in a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat for several minutes, swirling to even out the color. The butter will be ready once the fat solids have separated and darkened, and the butter is an even medium amber color.
- Transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge to solidify again.
- Once the brown butter is solid, yet soft, stir to mix in all of the browned bits that have settled at the bottom.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and brown butter on high speed until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar in and beat until fully combined.
- Continue beating on low speed until no more lumps remain and the frosting is smooth.
For assembly:
- Secure the first cake layer on the cake stand with a small amount of frosting on the bottom. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to measure out the frosting for each layer. I used a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop and put 3 scoops of frosting on each layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top and spread 2, 3 tablespoons of buttercream on top.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting all around the outside of the cake for a semi-naked look.*
- Then, decorate the cake with the remaining frosting as desired. I used a star Ateco 865 for the top decoration and finished with chopped pecans.
Notes
- If adding pecans, be sure to chop them very finely. Big pieces will make it a little difficult to cut the cake.
- For the brown butter, start with at least 270g of unsalted butter.
- Be sure to account for the time of waiting for the brown butter to re-solidify. I recommend making it the day before and chilling it in the fridge overnight.
- The frosting recipe does make enough if you'd like to decorate the cake with a thicker layer of frosting on the sides.
- You can make the cake layers the day before (or even earlier), then freeze them overnight, and decorate the next day. This allows you to skip the crumb coat and makes it so much easier to frost. Just leave the cake out for a couple hours at room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 632
- Sugar: 57.8 g
- Sodium: 343.6 mg
- Fat: 32.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 81.9 g
- Protein: 6.9 g
- Cholesterol: 71.6 mg
Keywords: mini carrot cake, brown butter cream cheese frosting, small carrot cake recipe, small batch carrot cake, 6 inch carrot cake recipe
Amanda says
Hi! I am wanting to make a 2 layer 8 inch cake. If I double the recipe, would that be the right quantity? Thank you!
Sloane says
Hi Amanda! For a 2 layer 8 inch cake, I would at most scale it by 1.5x. Or you could leave it as is for slightly thinner layers. Would love to hear how it turns out!
Amanda says
I ended up making a single layer 8inch cake and just left the recipe as is. Made a beautiful deep cake!
Amanda says
Absolutely loved this recipe! Super moist and full of flavour! My friends and family loved it as much as I did
★★★★★
María Elena says
I need to make this. Quick question though, can you use cake flour? How would that change the consistency of the cake?
Thanks.
Sloane says
Hi Maria,
I'm not sure how cake four would affect the texture. It may end up being too delicate to handle since it's already a very moist cake. Would love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
TONI says
I MADE THIS CAKE IT WAS SO GOOD. FIRST I WAS NOT SURE ABOUT THE ICING BUT I LOVED IT! GREAT RECIPE
Suzanna says
Can drained crushed pineapple be added? I’m looking for a smaller scale carrot cake recipe and this seems to be the one, if I can add pineapple.
Sloane says
I haven't tested it before, but I think it should work! Would love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Angelica Gruenwald says
Hi, I have a question, is 45 minutes in the oven correct?? thanks
Sloane says
Yes, 6 inch cake layers will take about 40-45 minutes to bake. Of course, all ovens vary, so I recommend using an internal oven thermometer and watching your cakes closely around the 40 minute mark.