Carrot Cake with Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s time for cake! I’ve baked you up a delicious and decadent bourbon spiked layer cake! The carrots make it a health food right? No? Yeah, it’s slightly over the top, but it’s totally worth it!

Carrot cake is a spring time staple around my house. It’s easy to make and a great carrier for loads of amazing cream cheese frosting. Let’s be honest, you’ll probably need a double batch of the frosting for snacking and such.

Since I can’t seem to make many things in my kitchen without a splash of bourbon, both the cake and the frosting are lightly spiked. The bourbon gives the cake a great complex flavor and helps to round out the cream cheese frosting. Feel free to leave it out, but I’m not sure why you’d ever want to do that! Bourbon makes everything better.

Carrot Cake with Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

Print Recipe

An impressive layered Carrot Cake with Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting, perfect for celebrating!

• Author: Kristen Olson
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 12 Servings 1x
• Category: Dessert, Cake

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• Carrot Cake
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded carrots (3 to 4 medium)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted, if desired
• Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, toasted

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, grease the parchment paper round as well. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat sugars, coconut oil, yogurt, eggs, bourbon and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and salt; beat on low speed 1 minute. Stir in shredded carrots and walnuts. Divide batter between two prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. Beat in bourbon, until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add an additional 1 to 2 teaspoons of bourbon until desired consistency. Fill and frost cake rounds with frosting. Top with chopped walnuts, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Serving
• Calories: 617
• Sugar: 68g
• Sodium: 567mg
• Fat: 25g
• Saturated Fat: 15g
• Unsaturated Fat: 8g
• Carbohydrates: 88g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 8g
• Cholesterol: 80mg

What’s your favorite spring time cake?

Here are a few other Easter ready cakes…
Tangerine Buttermilk Cake with Vanilla Bean Icing from Bourbon and Honey
Speckled Egg Cake from The Cake Blog
Easter Bunny Peekaboo Cake from The Bearfoot Baker