Easy Rustic Homemade Christmas Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Center

There's the classic carrot cake recipe, and then there's this "rustic", spiced wonderful christmas carrot cake recipe with a middle layer of cream cheese "frosting" that has the consistency of a smooth cheesecake. It doesn't hurt that this homemade carrot cake is also pretty easy to make.

By Clara Gonzalez - Last revised Sep 30, 2025. Original Dec 13, 2014.

Why I ❤️ it Recipe Ingredients Preparation

Christmas carrot cake.

Why I ❤️ it

This is not the classic carrot cake, although nearly all the ingredients are the same. I've added a few touches that to me speak of Christmas: spices, ginger -- I may have a tiny obsession with ginger -- and cranberries.

The cream cheese filling in this dessert does not contain butter, and is made with low-fat cream cheese, though the result is still a very moist carrot cake. The addition of brown sugar gives it a lovely caramel color and a richer flavor, and it's made with whole-wheat flour for extra texture and nutrition. I hope you'll agree with me that this is the best carrot cake recipe for the holidays.

This free recipe contains Amazon affiliate links, and I receive a small commission when you purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you!

Utensils and tools

• Box grater
• Mixer
• 2 x 8" [20 cm] round baking pans
• Oven

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 pound carrot, [0.45 kg], peeled and grated finely
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus a bit to grease the baking pan
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour, plus a bit to dust the baking pans
• 3 medium eggs
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
• ¼ teaspoon clove powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon ginger powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup of crasins (dry sweetened cranberries)

For the filling

• 8 ounces low-fat cream cheese, [0.23 kg]
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, (any color)

Preparation

Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Step 1: Heat the oven

Heat oven to 300º F [150 ºC]. Grease the baking pans with oil, then dust with flour and turn and tap to get rid of the excess flour.

Step 2: Add the ingredients

To make the cake batter, first peel and grate the carrots with the medium size of the box grater.

Place the grated carrot in a large mixing bowl. To that add the ingredients for the cake (oil, flour, egg, brown sugar, cinnamon powder, clove powder, ginger powder, salt, baking powder, and cranberries). Mix very well with a spatula until everything is wel combined. Pour half of the batter into each baking pan.

Step 3: Bake

Bake them in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until you insert a skewer or knife in the center and it comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Step 4: Make the filling

To make the filling, combine all the ingredients for the cream cheese "frosting" in the mixer vase (cream cheese, lime zest, brown sugar, vanilla extract). Beat all the ingredients with the paddle attachment of the mixer at medium speed until all the brown sugar has dissolved (5-7 mins).

Step 5: Serving

Pour the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag, and pipe onto one of the cakes in concentric circles. Alternatively, you can spread with a cake spatula.

Cover it with the other cake and serve at room temperature.

Variations

You can make pipe double the amounts for the frosting ingredients and make twice as much to pipe a top layer for the cake, if you don't mind the extra calories.

Yes, you can turn this into a carrot cake cupcake recipe by scooping equal amount of the batter into lined muffin tins.

Serving suggestions

If you like walnuts, chop toasted almonds to sprinkle onto the cream cheese frosting, as served on the carrot cake muffins above.

If you want to try another of my favorites, try this carrot cake with ginger, this carrot cupcakes, and this olive oil cake. And for more seasonal recipes, try this Christmas panettone.

Top tips

Yes, you can make this into a frosted carrot cake recipe, all you have to do is double the ingredients for the frosting, and use half for the filling and the other half to ice the cake.

Nutritional information

Calories: 419kcal - Carbohydrates: 60g - Protein: 9g - Fat: 18g - Saturated Fat: 12g - Cholesterol: 102mg - Sodium: 313mg - Potassium: 488mg - Fiber: 5g - Sugar: 37g - Vitamin A: 12955IU - Vitamin C: 4.5mg - Calcium: 124mg - Iron: 1.6mg

FAQs

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