This delicious Carrot Cake Roll recipe is everything you love about classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting…rolled up into this cute dessert!
Alright, my fellow pumpkin roll lovers. (And I know you’re out there, based on the fact that 10 million — yes, million — of you watched this video last Fall.) I have a new recipe that you’ve absolutely gotta try:
A Carrot Cake Roll!
You guessed it. This recipe is everything you love about a traditional pumpkin roll — the delicious spice cake, a decadent cream cheese filling, all bundled up together in one cute roll — but this one is made with a fantastic carrot cake instead of pumpkin. And when I say carrot, I mean lots of carrots. Because, believe it or not, there are two full cups of shredded fresh carrots hidden in there! Bugs Bunny would be so proud.
So if you love carrot cake, grab some fresh carrots, and let’s rock and roll this cake!
To make the carrot cake roll, begin first by making your carrot cake base. As with any cake roll, you don’t need a ton of batter for the cake part. Just mix it up, and then spread it out in a parchment-covered jelly roll pan (like this one). Bake until it’s cooked through.
Then once the cake is ready to go, remove it from the oven. Then immediately — and very carefully, so that you do not burn yourself — use some oven mitts to lift up the parchment paper (with the cake on top of it) and transfer it to a flat heat-proof surface. Carefully and quickly roll up the cake until it looks like the image above. Then let it cool until it reaches room temperature. While the cake is cooling, go ahead and make your cream cheese icing.
Then, once the cake has cooled, un-roll the cake so that it is mostly flat again, going very slowly and carefully so that the cake doesn’t stick to the parchment and break. Then spread your cream cheese filling evenly on top of the cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Then roll the cake back up, nice and tightly, until it forms a cute roll. Cover it completely in plastic wrap, and pop it in the fridge for a few hours until it is completely chilled.
When you’re ready to serve, unwrap the cake, sprinkle with powdered sugar…
…and voila! This super-delicious, perfectly-spiced, fluffy and moist (<– yes, I said it), ultra-creamy, AMAZING carrot cake roll will be yours to share and enjoy!
Totally perfect for Easter this weekend, or anytime you’re feeling like a small-batch carrot cake. Enjoy, friends!
Carrot Cake Roll
- Prep Time: 22 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 -10 servings 1x
Description
This carrot cake roll is everything you love about a delicious carrot cake, all rolled up into one delicious dessert!
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Roll Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup cane sugar (or granulated white sugar)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, homemade or store-bought
- 2 cups shredded carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots)
- 1 batch cream cheese filling (see below)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar for rolling
Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To Make The Carrot Cake Roll:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with parchment paper, leaving an extra 1-inch of parchment sticking up on both 15-inch sides of the pan so that you can easily lift the cake out after baking. (If you’d like the parchment to stick to the bottom of the pan more easily, sprinkle a little bit of water on the pan and then press the parchment paper on top of it. You can also lightly mist the top of the parchment paper with cooking spray for easier cake release afterwards, although it’s not required.)
- Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves (if using) in medium bowl until combined.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar for 1 minute until thick. Add in the oil, vanilla and shredded carrots, and whisk until just combined. Fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula, and stir together until just combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when touched. Carefully lift the parchment paper and cake out onto a flat (and heat-safe) surface. Then slowly, roll the cake — rolling from the short end to the short end — until it is completely rolled up. Transfer the cake roll to a wire rack, and cool until it reaches room temperature.
- While the cake is cooling, make the cream cheese filling (see below).
- When the cake has reached room temperature, transfer the cake roll to a flat surface, and carefully it until it is flat again (or mostly flat, it’s ok if the ends curl up a bit). Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over cake, leaving a 3/4-inch border on all sides. Then carefully re-roll the cake, gently peeling away the parchment paper as you roll until you can completely remove and discard it. Tightly wrap the carrot cake roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
- Remove and unwrap the carrot cake roll and transfer it to your serving dish. Lightly dust the carrot cake roll on all sides with powdered sugar, if you would like. Then slice* and serve.
- If you have leftovers, just re-wrap the carrot cake roll in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Make The Cream Cheese Filling:
- Whisk together cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract until smooth. If the filling is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a half teaspoon or two of water. (You want a medium consistency so that the filling is easy to spread, but not too warm or thin that it will ooze out of the cake when you’re rolling it up.)
Notes
*If you want the cake to be pretty on the very ends, I recommend slicing off about 1/2-inch of the cake on both ends before serving. Then you’ll definitely see those pretty cream cheese swirls!
**The listed recipe time does not include the hours needed for cooling and then chilling the cake in the refrigerator.
Slightly adapted from Fabulously Frugal and this Pumpkin Roll.
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This cake didn’t make enough batter to go end to end in the pan! Very thin! I won’t make this again! I did comment before but it was removed!
Can I add crushed pineapple to this? My carrot cake recipes have crushed pineapple so was wondering if it might add some extra flavor-or do I even need it?
So good!
Made it for my father-in-law as a birthday present. First time baking anything with carrots, first time making a roll. Easy to follow instructions made it super easy.
And when I cut the sides I tried some too, and oh my god… delicious!
Thank you so much!
Love this recipe. It turned out so good. Had extra so I cupcakes.
I am not a fan of carrot cake but this roll version is fabulous! The family asks for it all the time at holidays and birthdays. It’s a super easy to follow recipe
Have made this many times and the pumpkin version too.
A staple along with pie for thanksgiving (pumpkin version) and Easter (carrot cake version) always adored by everyone and so easy! Don’t let this recipe intimidate you♥️
This is currently chilling in my fridge as we speak. But don’t worry I had some scrap before putting it in there. This turned out really good! Way easier than I thought it would be. I used wax paper instead of parchment because I ran out and it worked perfect. Thanks for the recipe!!
My first ever carrot roll and it was do easy and good ,,, Great recipe 😋
Saw this recipe today and made it when I got home from work. All ingredients I already had on hand, and easy to follow video and instructions.
Turned out perfectly! Some of it disappeared before I could even wrap and chill… to rave reviews!
So easy and it looked spectacular! Now I’ll try the pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving!