Carrot Cheesecake Cake
If you love carrot cake and cheesecake, today's amazing Carrot Cheesecake Cake is about to become your new favorite dessert!
This cake consists of a creamy cheesecake layer sandwiched between two homemade layers of decadent carrot cake!
Table of Contents
Why we Love It
- Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese are the perfect pair, so naturally, incorporating a cheesecake layer into this dessert takes it to a new level!
- Not difficult but looks so impressive! Makes a great birthday cake recipe, holiday cake, and more!
- The cheesecake layer is simple to make and not too heavy! It is light, creamy, and delicious.
What is a Cheesecake Cake?
Cheesecake cakes have gained popularity in recent years. As we mentioned above, a layer of cheesecake is sandwiched between two cake layers in this wonderful dessert.
The cheesecake in our recipes is not too rich or heavy, and is fairly thin--usually slightly shorter than each cake layer. But it makes for a decadent filling that you are sure to love.
We've made a Lemon Cheesecake Cake, Berry Cheesecake Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake Cake, Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake and Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake. We love them all!
How to Make a Carrot Cheesecake Cake
You can find the full, printable recipe card further down in this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!
It is best to prepare the cheesecake layer first, as it takes the most time to bake, cool, and firm up.
For the Water Bath
Some bakers wrap the bottom of the springform pan in aluminum foil and bake it in a water bath. However, we prefer this easy alternate method:
Place a 9x13 or roasting pan filled with about an inch or so of water in the oven on a lower rack and then preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
*This step promotes even baking and prevents cracking.
Preparing the Cheesecake Batter
- Next, line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese until smooth. (We used a handheld electric mixer).
- Mixing at low speed, add the granulated sugar, salt, and all purpose flour.
- Add vanilla extract and sour cream to the cream cheese mixture. Mix at low speed until smooth and incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix until well combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into springform pan lined with parchment and place on the oven rack just above the pan of water.
- Time to Bake!
- Bake for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should be set at this point- it may jiggle slightly.
- Next, turn off the oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 more minutes with the oven door slightly open. (This helps the cake to cool without cracking.)
- Then, allow the cheesecake to cool on the countertop.
- Next, place foil over the top of the pan and chill the cheesecake in the freezer for 2-3 hours. If you are not in a hurry, you can refrigerate the cake for 5-6 hours or overnight.
For the Carrot Cake Layers
We love this carrot cake recipe- it has been my absolute favorite for years! There is so much amazing flavor happening-- grated carrots, pecans, coconut, crushed pipeapple, and spices. Yum!
We are using two 9 inch cake pans today-- the same size as our cheesecake layer.
This is a simple carrot cake recipe, but because of the grated carrots and chopped pecans, it takes a bit longer to prepare. It is totally worth it though! :0)
- Preheat: First, preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare the Pans: Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans, and line the bottoms with circles of parchment or wax paper. Carrot cake has a tendency to stick so be sure to use the paper!
- Grate the Carrots and crush the pecans.
- Flour Mixture: Next, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt for 30 seconds. Set Aside.
- Sugar & Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer, add two cups sugar, four eggs, one cup vegetable oil and one teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix two to three minutes at medium speed until well blended and light colored.
- Remaining Ingredients: With a spoon or spatula, gently stir in the flour mixture until moistened.
- Then, add the carrots, pecans crushed pineapple and coconut.
- Time to Bake! Divide the cake batter between the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
- Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking times may vary slightly.
- Cool cake layers in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning out. Make sure to cool the cake layers completely before adding the cheesecake layer or frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
We used our favorite easy Cream Cheese Frosting for this recipe. It is so easy to make and is delightfully creamy and delicious!
It is a simple combination of softened cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Cream cheese frostings tend to be a bit on the softer side. For this reason, we usually refrigerate it for ten minutes or so right after whipping up a batch, before decorating the cake.
You can chill the bowl of frosting or piping bag as needed whenever it becomes too soft, and it will restore the consistency for easier decorating.
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first carrot cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal. Spread with a thin layer of frosting.
- Now for the cheesecake layer! Run a thin knife (I like to heat it with hot water) between the cheesecake and inside of the springform cake pan to help prevent sticking.
- Release the sides of the springform pan.
- Place the cheesecake upside down onto the first cake layer and remove the bottom of the pan (as well as the parchment!!). If it sticks at all, use a thin, hot knife to slide between the pan and the cake to release.
- Next, spread the cheesecake layer with a thin layer of frosting.
- Top with the second carrot cake layer and fill in any remaining gaps with frosting.
Decorating the Cake
- Now that the cake is assembled, it is time to decorate! You can decorate however you like. I first started with a crumb coat (thin coat) of frosting.
- Next, I chilled the cake in the freezer (or longer in the refrigerator) for about 15 minutes to firm everything up. I like to do this with all of my cakes before applying the final layer of frosting.
- I added texture to the final coat of my cream cheese frosting with an small rounded offset spatula.
- I then added a chunky shell border around the top of the cake using a large star tip (1M). (See our Basics of Piping with a Star Tip tutorial for more details!)
(You can find more details on star tip piping here if you are interested: Star Tip Piping Basics)
Here's a peek at the inside!
More Carrot Cakes
We have a few more delicious carrot cakes that you may be interested in!
If you are in search of a cake mix version of carrot cake, make sure to try our Carrot Cake Doctored Cake Mix Recipe and Carrot Cake Cupcakes!
We also have a fantastic fall version of carrot cake that incorporates maple flavor as well!: Maple Carrot Cake Recipe
Finally, if you'd like to bake the cake in a bundt pan, we have a Carrot Bundt Cake recipe as well!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure to check out our full collection of cake recipes, which includes both cake recipes from scratch as well as cake mix recipes!
Also, if you are interested in cake design, we have so many cake tutorials to share with you. We have tutorials for How to Make a Cake, How to Frost a Cake, Buttercream Piping Techniques, themed Birthday Cake Ideas, and so many more!
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Carrot Cheesecake Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cheesecake Layer
- 16 oz Cream Cheese, softened.Softened. (We used two 8 oz packages, full fat)
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (23g) All Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup (182g) Sour Cream (full fat)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the Carrot Cake Layers
- 2 ½ cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ (7g) teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¼ (6g) teaspoons baking powder
- 2 (5g) teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
- 1 cup (218g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (180g) grated (small pieces) carrots (preferably not pre-shredded carrots, they are too dry)
- ¾ cup (92g) chopped pecans
- ¾ cup (50g) coconut (optional)( we used Baker's Angel Flake sweetened coconut)
- 8 oz crushed pineapple, put in a strainer and let the liquid drain off. I press with a fork to remove not all, but a bit more liquid.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 16 oz cream cheese (total weight 452g),softened (We use two 8 oz packages, full fat)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar Adjust up or down to your liking.
Instructions
For the Cheesecake Layer
- Water Bath: Place a 9x13 (or similar size) pan filled with one inch of water on a rack in the bottom ⅔ of the oven. (Just under the rack where your cheesecake layer will bake)
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese until smooth.
- Mixing at low speed, add sugar, salt, flour.
- Add vanilla extract and sour cream. Mix at low speed until smooth and incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. Mix until well combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into springform pan lined with parchment and place on a rack just above the pan of water.
- Bake for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should be set at this point- it may jiggle slightly.
- Turn off the oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 more minutes with the oven door slightly open. (This helps the cake to cool without cracking.)
- Then, allow the cheesecake to cool on the countertop. Then, place foil on the pan and chill in the freezer for 2-3 hours. If you are not in a hurry, you can refrigerate the cake for 5-6 hours or overnight.
- For the Carrot Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line the bottoms of 2 (9 inch) round pans with wax or parchment paper, grease with shortening and flour the paper and pans for easy release when turning out……carrot cake has a tendency to stick so be sure to use the paper.
- Whisk together for 30 seconds the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set Aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add 2 cups sugar , 4 eggs, 1 cup oil and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed until well blended and light colored.
- With a spoon stir in the flour until moistened, then add the carrots, pecans crushed pineapple and coconut.
- Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Refrain from opening the oven door or touching the center of the cake to test for doneness until very near the end of baking time or it could cause the cake to sink slightly in the center.
- Makes 6 ½ cups batter
- Cool cake layers in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack then turn out. Cool completely before assembling the cake and frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix as needed.
Cake Assembly
- Place the first carrot cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal. Spread with a thin layer of frosting.
- For the cheesecake layer: Run a thin knife (I like to heat it with hot water) between the cake and side of the cake pan to help prevent sticking.
- Release the sides of the springform pan.
- Place the cheesecake upside down onto the first cake layer. Remove the bottom of the springform cake pan. If it sticks at all, use a thin, hot knife to slide between the pan and the cake to release.
- Peel the parchment off of the cheesecake layer- it blends in! ;0)
- Spread the cheesecake layer with a thin layer of frosting. Top with the second carrot cake layer.
- *If your cheesecake layer is slightly wider than your cake layers, just trim away the excess with a hot knife.
- Frost the cake as usual. If at any time the frosting becomes too soft, or the layers are sliding, just pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm things up. (And you can refrigerate the bowl of frosting also as needed.)
- Decorate however you like- I added texture to my frosting with an offset spatula, and added a large shell border on top using a 1M piping tip.
- Because of the cream cheese frosting and cheesecake, this cake needs to be refrigerated. Refrigerate until within an hour of serving.
OMGosh! Definitely going to make that :-) Looks incredible! So many awesome recipes :-)
Thanks Teri!! xo
Amazing!! I was thrilled by how well this turned out and love the different approach to the water bath. Every component came out almost perfectly. Can definitely feed a group because it is so rich, anything more than a tiny slice brings on a sugar coma. Scrumptious. The site says my pic is too big of a file to post. So sad because I am so proud of it.
Hi Emily! I'm so glad that you made it and enjoyed it! Yes, a small slice is just right ;0) -- If you'd like, you can e-mail the photo to me at info@mycakeschool.com & I'll resize & post it for you ;0) Thanks for your feedback!
Awesome job! Thanks so much for sharing! xoxo ;0)
I used this recipe and was thrilled with how it turned out!! It went together easily and tasted delicious!! I have used several of your recipes and every time had perfect results!! Thank you for sharing your recipes !!!
Hi Lillian! Thank you so much for your review of the recipe, I'm so glad that you enjoyed the cake! xoxo