Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake

We all know that carrot cake and cream cheese are a match made in heaven. With this recipe, you get a sweet cream cheese glaze that’s thick enough to pass for frosting. AND you get a surprise cream cheese filling on the inside! This Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake is easy to make, but looks like a million bucks! Make it for your next get-together and you’ll be the talk of the party. 😉

This carrot cake recipe consists of three parts: the batter, the filling and the glaze. I’ll go over each part in detail below. If you prefer to skip straight to the recipe card, click the link below!

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THE BATTER

The recipe for the carrot cake batter was adapted from my mother-in-law. It’s a tried-and-true recipe that always turns out moist, sweet and fluffy. With plenty of grated carrots! The ingredients you’ll need for the batter are:

• 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups grated carrots

Making the carrot cake batter is very simple. You’ll mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl first until they’re creamed together nicely. You’ll then add the dry ingredients right into the same bowl and use an electric mixer to blend everything together.

Lastly, you’ll fold in the grated carrots and fold them into the batter with a spoon. You’ll get a nice, thick batter with a lovely orange color.

THE FILLING

For the cream cheese filling, you’ll need a small list of ingredients that include:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 Tbs flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

The egg and the flour help hold the cream cheese filling together as the cake bakes. It prevents the filling from becoming too runny and blending in with the batter. Once baked, you’ll be able to make a clean cut into the cake and see a very distinct cream cheese layer on the inside.

THE GLAZE

The glaze also consists of a very simple list of ingredients:

• 4 oz softened cream cheese
• 1 Tbs softened butter
• 3 Tbs milk
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar

As you can see, the cream cheese glaze is very similar to cream cheese frosting. The only difference is that it has a slightly looser consistency so that you can pour it over the cake instead of spreading it. If you’d like a different consistency, you can adjust the milk and powdered sugar ratio as desired. For an even looser consistency, add more milk. For a thicker, more frosting-like consistency, add more powdered sugar.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE BATTER & FILLING BEFORE BAKING

In order to get that nice layer of cream cheese filling on the inside, it’s best to use a Bundt pan or angel food cake pan. The shape of these pans (with the hole in the middle) allows the cream cheese filling to be nestled comfortably in the center of the carrot cake batter. Follow the steps below to assemble the cake batter & cream cheese filling in the cake pan:

1. Pour HALF the carrot cake batter into the bottom of the cake pan, spreading evenly.

2. Spoon the cream cheese filling on top of the batter, evenly all around creating a circle. Try to keep the filling in the middle and not touch the sides of the cake pan (please see my pictures for reference!)

3. Pour the remaining HALF of the carrot cake batter on top of the cream cheese filling

You’ll then bake the cake on 350 degrees for about 1 hour. But for the last 15 minutes of baking, I like to cover the cake lightly with foil to prevent it from browning any further. If you don’t mind a darker cake, then you can definitely skip this step.

Once the cake is baked and completely cool, pour that sweet glaze on for the finishing touch! You can also add a little extra pizazz with some shredded coconut and crushed walnuts if you desire. Hope you guys will give this Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake recipe a try! Let me know how it turns out in the comments below. Enjoy!

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CHECK OUT THESE SWEET SPRING DESSERTS NEXT!

1. Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Pie
2. Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
3. Coconut Cream Pie with Toasted Coconuts

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