Grandma’s Old fashioned Carrot Cake is the ultimate indulgent dessert! The carrot cake keeps moist from freshly shaved carrots while the sweet cream cheese frosting balances out the flavors to make for an irresistible piece (or two!) of carrot cake!
This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may make a commission at no cost to you. Please see my full disclosure policy for more details.
How to Make Old Fashioned Carrot Cake Moist
There is nothing worse than a dry carrot cake! There are a couple steps you can take to ensure your cake comes out soft, moist, and delicious!
- Shred Your Own Carrots: It can be a bit tedious to use a grater to shred carrots, but it’s worth it! By doing this is, your batter will have so much more moisture than if you use pre-shredded matchstick carrots.
- Don’t Skimp On The Oil: Oil is a liquid while butter is a solid. Using vegetable oil instead of butter in this recipes upholds it’s beloved moisture content. Don’t believe me? Here is an article that breaks it down in a very understandable way!
Are Nuts Necessary?
Some people don’t like any of the common additions in their carrot cake such as: walnuts, pecans, or raisins. If you don’t want these additional tastes and textures, omit them. There is no need to make a substitution or changes to the recipes of you do not add them!
Grandma’s recommendation is to use whole walnuts and roughly chop them with a knife. She says that walnuts are more flavorful than pecans, but to each their own!
By doing this rough chopping method you get more flavor and a larger crunch in the carrot cake! If you prefer smaller pieces you can either purchase them pre-chopped, or pulse them in a food processor.
What is Oleo?
Because this is an old-fashioned recipe, it does require an old-fashioned ingredient or two!
If you’re like me you have no clue what oleo is. I quickly called my grandma while perusing the butter aisle and unable to find a package with the word oleo.
She informed me that she uses Blue Bonnet margarine. My follow-up question was wondering if I could use butter instead? She directly said no.
So, when you are at the grocery store grabbing ingredients in preparation to make Grandma’s Old Fashioned Carrot Cake be sure to get Blue Bonnet margarine. Grandma says there’s no substitution!
Cream Cheese Frosting for Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
Is there anything better than a cream cheese frosting? If you said yes, let me know what it is in a comment down below because I think there’s nothing better than cream cheese frosting!
This cream cheese frosting is simple with just cream cheese, oleo, powdered sugar, and vanilla!
Grandma puts a thick layer of frosting on her carrot cake. I recommend you do the same! I’m not saying you need to make a double batch of frosting but if you want to have a little leftover for some extra indulgence dipping, I’d do it.
Craving More?
If you give Grandma’s Old Fashioned Carrot Cake a taste be sure to leave a 5-Star rating and comment down below! This really supports me and entices others to also give the recipe a go!
You can also share a photo of your creation by tagging me on Instagram! I’d love to see how it turned out!
You may also want to try my:
Grandma's Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 Cups Vegetable Oil
- 3 Eggs
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup Nuts I used chopped walnuts
- 3 Cups Shredded Carrot
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 Stick Oleo Blue Bonnet Margarine
- 8 Ounces Cream cheese
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Use a cheese grater to finely shred carrots. Set aside.
- In a bowl combine sugar, oil, and eggs. Once mixed well, add in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Continue to mix for about 4 minutes. Fold in carrots and nuts.
- Add mixture to baking dish and evenly spread out batter. Place in oven to bake for 40 minutes or until you can poke in a toothpick and it comes out clean.
- While baking, begin making cream cheese frosting. In a large bowl cream together oleo, cream cheese, and vanilla. Once creamed together slowly mix in powdered sugar in small increments.
- Allow carrot cake to fully cool, then top with frosting. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you do not allow cake to fully cool before adding the frosting, it will just melt right off!
Yum! This cake looks just like MY grandma’s carrot cake. In the ingredient list, you have 1-1/2 cups vegetable broth? Is it supposed to be vegetable oil? Just checking 😊
Ope! Thank you for catching that! I don’t believe that would turn out well- LOl! Let me know if you make the cake!!