Carrot Bundt Cake

4.77 from 43 votes
85 Comments

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This Carrot Bundt Cake recipe has all the flavors of classic carrot cake, with a lighter texture that is more like the Nothing Bundt Cake’s Carrot Cake. Light, fluffy, so delicious!

Carrot Bundt Cake on a cake stand with prop carrots on the side and a tissue pom pom in the center.
Featured with this recipe
  1. Ingredients in Carrot Bundt Cake
  2. Cream Cheese Frosting
  3. A Change in Cake Texture
  4. What’s the Difference?
  5. Options for this Carrot Bundt Cake Recipe
  6. Frequently Asked Questions about Carrot Bundt Cake
  7. Other Carrot Cake Recipes
  8. More Bundt Cake Recipes
  9. How to make Carrot Bundt Cake
  10. Carrot Bundt Cake Recipe

This Carrot Bundt Cake is one of the best copycat recipes I’ve ever tried. Our homemade versions of the Nothing Bundt Cake cakes are easy to make and so delicious! They are always a hit at birthday parties and special events. If you’ve never tried a Nothing Bundt Cake, you have to try one! They are the best bundt cakes you can find anywhere. This Carrot Bundt Cake is perfect for Easter dessert or anytime, is easy to make and is always a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients to make Carrot Bundt Cake including carrot cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, shredded carrots, vanilla, butter, cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, eggs and crushed pineapple.


Ingredients in Carrot Bundt Cake

This carrot cake tastes like you made it from scratch, but this recipe gets a little help from some store bought ingredients to make things a little easier. Here’s what you need:

  • Carrot cake mix – if you can’t find carrot cake mix, you can try a spice cake mix. You won’t need additional all purpose flour, baking soda, salt or any other dry ingredients when you use a boxed cake mix. It’s all the flour mixture you’ll need. The cake mix has nutmeg, cloves ground cinnamon and other warm spices that taste delicious in carrot cake.
  • Instant vanilla pudding mix – you’ll just need the dry mix; don’t mix it according to the package. dry
  • Sour cream – substitute plain Greek yogurt if you like.
  • Large eggs – separate four egg yolks from the four egg whites.
  • Vegetable Oil – Half cup vegetable oil. Canola oil also works for this recipe
  • Water – you can also use pineapple juice if using crushed pineapple
  • Shredded carrots – you’ll never find a more delicious way to get vegetables into a cake!
  • Crushed pineapple – optional, but gives the cake an extra dimension of flavor and moisture.
Piping bag with cream cheese frosting and cut off tip with Carrot Bundt Cake in the background.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This cream cheese glaze is the perfect topper to carrot cake or any of our bundt cake recipes. And there’s only four ingredients!

  • Cream cheese – two packages, softened to room temperature.
  • Butter – also make sure your butter is softened but not completely melted.
  • Vanilla extract – two teaspoons
  • Powdered sugar – start with four cups and whisk in more if you want a thicker icing.
Spatula pulling out a slice of Carrot Bundt Cake.

A Change in Cake Texture

Many of our readers have tried our cakes and loved them too. We’ve had a few comments that our cakes are more dense than the actual Nothing Bundt Cakes. I like the dense, moist texture of our cakes, but I thought I would experiment a little with the recipe to see if I could come up with a lighter texture that is a closer resemblance to the original. I think I’ve come pretty close — you’ll have to give it a try and see for yourself. This Carrot Bundt Cake is more light and airy, but still has a moist, melt-in-your mouth taste and feel to it.

Cake Stand with Carrot Bundt Cake and a tissue Pom pom.

What’s the Difference?

There are two things I tried with this Carrot Bundt Cake that made all the difference between a more dense bundt cake and a lighter texture:

  1. The first thing I did was sift the cake mix. Once you try it, you’ll see what a difference it really does make. It gives the cake mix a fine, smooth texture. The batter is smoother and the cake comes out lighter.
  2. The second thing I did was to separate the eggs and whip the egg whites. I mixed the egg yolks in with the other ingredients. Then I beat the egg whites until they were white and fluffy, almost to the stage of a meringue. After all of the ingredients were well blended, I mixed in the egg whites. The batter at this point is very smooth and light, and the cake was amazing! I can’t wait to try this method on our other bundt cake recipes.
Plate with a slice of Carrot Bundt Cake eaten with a fork.

Options for this Carrot Bundt Cake Recipe

  • If you like a nut texture, sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts into the cake batter.
  • Add raisins, craisins or chopped dates for a chewy texture.
  • This recipe makes one large bundt cake or you can use a mini bundt pan to make mini bundt cakes. They’re so cute to serve as individual cakes.
  • Sprinkle a dusting of light brown sugar or cinnamon on top as a garnish.

Frequently Asked Questions about Carrot Bundt Cake

How long should a cake cool before removing from the bundt pan?

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about ten minutes. Any longer and you run the risk of soggy cake. But if you try to invert the pan to a cooling rack to soon, the cake could break apart.

How do you get carrot cake out of a bundt pan?

Let the cake cool in the pan. Then tap on the pan firmly several times and shake it gently several times and shake it gently to help loosen the cake. Flip the cake over and once it’s out of the pan, let it continue to cool on a cooling rack or cake plate.Cake stand with Carrot Bundt Cake pan on top.

Why do bundt cakes have a hole?

Since bundt cake recipes are usually more dense and moist, the hole in the bundt pan helps the batter bake evenly and prevents sogginess or undercooking.

READ MORE:25+ Best Easter Desserts and Treats

Other Carrot Cake Recipes

If you love Carrot Bundt Cake be sure to try our traditional Carrot Cake and Carrot Cake Cookies!

More Bundt Cake Recipes

How to make Carrot Bundt Cake

Angle view of Carrot Bundt Cake on a cake stand with a decorative tissue pom pom in the center. Plates and forks on the side.

Carrot Bundt Cake

4.77 from 43 votes
This Carrot Bundt Cake recipe has all the flavors of classic carrot cake, with a lighter texture that is more like the Nothing Bundt Cake's Carrot Cake. Light, fluffy, so delicious!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Cooling Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Video

Equipment

  • Bundt Pan
  • Hand Mixer
  • Sifter

Ingredients

Frosting

Instructions

Carrot Bundt Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, pudding, sour cream, egg yolks, oil, and water for 2 minutes. Stir in carrots and pineapple.
    Mixing bowl with Carrot Bundt Cake batter with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple on top.
  • In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with a hand mixer until until white and frothy (almost meringue consistency). Fold or mix egg whites into the cake batter until well blended.
    Mixing bowl with Carrot Bundt Cake batter folding with whipped egg whites.
  • Pour cake batter into a greased Bundt cake pan (nonstick cooking spray works best).
    Bundt pan with Carrot Cake batter.
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes.Let cool for 20 minutes.
    Baked Carrot Bundt Cake in a bundt cake pan.
  • Remove the cake from the bundt pan and place it on a serving plate or cake stand. See post above for details on how to easily do this.
    Cake stand with Carrot Bundt Cake pan on top.
  • Wrap the cake well with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or for several hours before frosting and serving.
    Carrot Bundt Cake wrapped in plastic wrap on a cake stand.

Frosting

  • In a medium bowl or mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually add the powdered sugar. Start with 2 cups and then keep adding until the frosting is nice and thick.
    Mixing bowl with cream cheese frosting for Carrot Bundt Cake.
  • You can completely cover the bundt cake with the frosting or you can frost it as pictured. Spoon all of the frosting into a gallon size plastic bag. Squeeze the air out and seal it. Cut a corner off of one end of the bottom of the bag. Squeeze the frosting out in long strips as pictured starting at the outside of the cake and ending in the center. Fill the center of the cake with the remaining frosting. Keep refrigerated.
    Piping bag with cream cheese frosting and cut off tip with Carrot Bundt Cake in the background.

Notes

  • For a lighter cake texture, sift the cake mix. Once you try it, you’ll see what a difference it really does make. It gives the cake mix a fine, smooth texture. The batter is smoother and the cake comes out lighter.
  • Also, separate the eggs and whip the egg whites. I mixed the egg yolks in with the other ingredients. Then I beat the egg whites until they were white and fluffy, almost to the stage of a meringue. After all of the ingredients were well blended, I mixed in the egg whites. The batter at this point is very smooth and light, and the cake was amazing! I can’t wait to try this method on our other bundt cake recipes.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 702kcalCarbohydrates: 90gProtein: 6gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 537mgPotassium: 290mgFiber: 1gSugar: 73gVitamin A: 2545IUVitamin C: 3.1mgCalcium: 103mgIron: 2.6mg

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About the author

Echo Blickenstaff

Echo lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah with her husband, Todd, who works in advertising, and her four kids: two girls and two boys. She deploys her accounting degree as the blog’s resident problem solver. In her time outside the kitchen, Echo loves to get away from the phones and busy schedules and spend quality time with the family. Anywhere’s great – but getting out into nature in the mountains or on the beach – is the best kind of getaway.

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Comments

  1. If I use pineapple on the carrot cake recipe, do I drain the pineapple and reserve the juice to add to the 1/4 c juice, or do I just measure 1/2 c of crushed pineapple then add 1/4 c of juice

    1. Drain and save the juice, add 1/2 cup of drained crushed pineapple, and add 1/4 cup of the juice. Hope this helps!

  2. Did I miss where it told how much sour cream or yogurt and how much water or juice to add? I love baking and know it’s about measurements.

  3. Do you have a gluten free version?? making for my granddaughter who loves the Nothing Bundt cake carrot cake but its not gluten free. I did not buy the box mix so i wanted to know if you would have the measurements for the scratch version.

    thank you

    1. We don’t have a gluten free version right now but we will keep that in mind for future recipes!

  4. 5 stars
    Absolutely the best and most moist carrot cake ever! And the frosting OMG.

    I made this for Easter Friends Dinner and everyone loved it! Only thing I did different was I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the frosting.

    It was amazing how much sifting the cake mix made a difference. I also sifted the powdered sugar for the frosting and it was the lightest and fluffiest I have ever made.

  5. 5 stars
    I made it for Easter and mine fell. The taste was still great, but there was nothing fluffy about it. Do you know what could have caused this? I used my Kitchenaid mixer so maybe over mixing? Any thoughts are appreciated.

    1. There are a couple of things that can cause a bundt cake to fall, usually it involves the oven temperature. If the oven door was opened during cooking, if the oven wasn’t fully preheated. It could also be due to the climate where you live. Do you live in a more dry climate?

  6. If I make this in 3 smaller bundt cake pans – how long and what temp would you recommend baking it? I also have the mini bundt pans which would be 6 little bundt cakes – how long and temp for that?

    1. We haven’t tried making it in smaller bundt pans so I am not sure! I would look up other mini bundt cake recipes and base it off of those!

  7. This recipe looks perfect, I can’t wait to make this for my niece’s babyshower!
    I was going to make these into cupcakes, either regular size or mini, aside from time to cook….any other suggestions?
    Thank you!!

  8. 5 stars
    This was my first time making carrot cake and was super nervous. This was a great recipe and I received many compliments so thank you. I did use the pineapple juice and crushed pineapple and it turned out perfectly and was very moist just like nothing Bundt cake’s version.

    1. Yay! I’m glad this recipe was a win for you! Congratulations! Thank you for letting us know how you liked it – and thank you for the 5-star rating. 🙂

  9. I’ve made this cake 3 times. All with great success. However I am unable to find a carrot cake mix. Can I use a spice cake mix and add an extra cup of carrots? Will the spices in the mix still work?

    1. You can definitely use a spice cake mix instead! I wouldn’t add the extra carrots because it will make the mixture too moist.

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