Carrot Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot Coffee Cake, a moist carrot cake with a nut-filled cinnamon crumb topping and a rich cream cheese glaze. This is the ultimate breakfast treat. I absolutely adore carrot cake. It is one of my favorite desserts ever. I love tons of nuts and the cinnamon and pineapple flavor of a good carrot cake. Of course, it’s got carrots in it, so it must be healthy too! This is a deconstructed form of that marvelous confection, with the nuts in a crumb topping and the cream cheese icing drizzled over the top. It is like if a New York Crumb Cake and a carrot cake had a baby!

When I used to work at the Lion King, and I had to come in early for a show call or day work, I would quite often stop by a conveniently located bakery just off the train station. They usually had an excellent selection of muffins I could grab as an on-the-go breakfast. People would usually choose blueberry or even chocolate, but I knew the beauty of their carrot cake muffin filled with this cream cheese filling. They were amazing. The original intent for this recipe was to recreate that muffin in a coffee cake form. Still, in the end, I decided to embellish with a fantastic nut and cinnamon crumb topping, and to guild the lily even more, the whole cake is then glazed in a rich cream cheese glaze. Someday I will get back to this idea and recreate that muffin. But this coffee cake is so good. I’m proud of how this coffee cake turned out.

Shredding all these carrots can take a bit of work for this recipe. If you have a food processor, it takes mere minutes and quickly makes this recipe come together. It calls for a 10-inch springform pan. This could be baked in a 13×9 pan as well if you want to serve it directly from the pan. You can find any of those things on Amazon if you need them. (I get a small commission at no cost to you from Amazon. If you use any link on this page, please consider helping fund my food journey.) This cake is also dairy-free if you omit the cream cheese glaze, though the glaze is terrific.

This Carrot Coffee Cake is delicious. You could serve it for dessert after a great meal or a wonderful afternoon tea. I think it is one of the best coffee cakes I have baked in a long time, and I hope you try this recipe on your next Sunday breakfast or brunch. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during these trying times. We all need to get through this together. Until next time!

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Carrot Coffee Cake

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 15 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

Carrot Coffee Cake, moist carrot cake topped with a nut-filled cinnamon crumb topping and a rich cream cheese glaze. This is the ultimate breakfast treat.

Course: Baking, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast treats, brunch ideas, carrot cake, coffee cake

Ingredients

Topping

• 2 cups chopped nuts walnuts or pecans
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter melted 4 tablespoons

Cake batter

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon if in high altitude
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple in juice.
• 3 large eggs beaten
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups peeled and grated carrots

Cream cheese glaze

• 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk or cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Spray or butter a 10-inch springform pan, or you could use a 13x9 inch pan.

For the topping

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, sugar.

2. Stir in the melted butter and the chopped nuts until it forms a crumbly mixture and set aside.

For the cake

1. Drain the pineapple reserving the juice. You should get about ¼ cup of juice. Adjust with water if necessary to get to the ¼ cup.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. Stir in the reserved juice, the beaten eggs, oil, and the vanilla. Make sure it is all moistened.

4. Stir in the crushed pineapple and the grated carrots. Stir to thoroughly combine.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared 13x9 pan. Tap the pan to release any large air pockets.
6. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake batter.

7. Bake the cake for 65-75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the cake is golden brown.

8. Let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the glaze

1. Blend together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk or cream.
2. Add more milk or cream to make a glaze consistency that can be drizzled.
3. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.

Recipe Notes

This cake is fabulous when slightly warm. But be aware if you pour it over a warm cake, the glaze will soften and not stay as pretty. It will be amazing either way.