Here’s to a glorious mash-up of two desserts! This carrot Bundt cake is rich, tender, and flavorful just like my original carrot cake recipe and rippled through each slice is a creamy swirl of cheesecake. A 12-15 cup capacity tube pan is ideal for this large cake.
At first thought, putting vegetables in cake makes as much sense as cheese in apple pie. Hmm. There’s something here that doesn’t belong. But after you have a slice of today’s carrot Bundt cake, your mind may be swayed. Carrots are a sweeter vegetable—they’re excellent roasted with brown sugar sauce or warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. When grated or shredded, carrots release a lot of moisture which directly transfers into your baked cake.
Carrot cake is a popular choice because when done right, it’s super moist, flavorful, and tender! And when you have something as thick and heavy as Bundt cake, moisture is most certainly favorable.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Cheesecake Swirl Carrot Bundt Cake
- Cake is generously spiced with ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- It’s moist without being overly wet and greasy.
- Add-ins like chopped nuts and/or raisins add flavor, but are optional.
- Excellent plain, but you can garnish with vanilla or orange glaze.
- No complicated assembly required.
- It’s like carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, only inside out!
What’s the skill level? A beginner baker can absolutely handle this, but there are a few steps requiring your focus. This carrot cake batter is as simple as whisking and folding a bunch of ingredients together. You need a mixer for the cheesecake layer. And since we’re not creaming butter and sugar together, the carrot cake batter can be made by hand.
Key Ingredients in Carrot Bundt Cake
- Oil: Butter is great in cakes, but it can’t compete with oil’s lasting moisture. A lot of big cakes including pumpkin cake and chocolate cake do not rely on butter’s flavor and use oil instead.
- Brown Sugar: I tried to love carrot Bundt cake made with all or some white granulated sugar, but nothing compares to carrot Bundt cake made with all brown sugar. In such a big, heavy, essentially-upside-down cake, you want all the moisture you can get. End of story on that one!
- Eggs: This is a big cake and therefore requires 4 eggs in the batter for proper structure. You also need 1 egg in the cheesecake swirl. To ensure the batter comes together easily and evenly, bring any cold ingredients to room temperature first.
- Unsweetened Applesauce: Surprisingly, oil, brown sugar, eggs, and carrots don’t supply enough moisture to really make this an over-the-top tender cake. More oil lends a greasy cake, so add some moisture that will complement the other flavors. Unsweetened applesauce is KEY in this recipe and I swear by it in this carrot cake loaf as well. Another popular choice is crushed canned pineapple, an addition we all love in pineapple carrot cake!
- Baking Spices: Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves make a powerhouse pack of spices. I use a careful ratio of these spices because it’s easy to go overboard. Ginger adds a delicious zing and I swear by it in my regular carrot cake, too. Nutmeg and cloves can be overpowering, so use only 1/4 teaspoon of each.
- Carrots: Make sure you’re grating or shredding your own carrots rather than buying pre-shredded carrots. Why? Store-bought shredded carrots are usually very dry in comparison. When you grate carrots yourself, notice how wet they are—this is GOOD because it moistens the cake. There’s a difference between grating (small pieces) and shredding (larger pieces), but either are fine for this recipe. I usually shred large peeled carrots with a box grater and then give the shreds a rough chop with a knife. I recommend grating or shredding your own carrots in all of my carrot-cake inspired recipes, including this 1 layer carrot cake.
- Brick Cream Cheese: Not all cream cheese products are the same. In today’s cheesecake swirl, cream cheese frosting, and even regular cheesecake, it’s in your best interest to use full-fat brick cream cheese and not the kind you spread on homemade bagels.
You also need pantry staples like flour, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla extract. If you’re up for trying something new, add fresh orange zest like I recommend in the recipe below. Sounds odd, but it absolutely works and the flavors really come together if you choose an orange glaze for garnish.
How Do I Make Cheesecake Swirl Carrot Bundt Cake?
It’s really easy and let me show you.
Make your carrot cake batter by whisking the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then combining. At this point, you can fold in your chopped nuts and/or raisins.. Spread half of the batter into your greased Bundt pan.
Make your cheesecake batter with room temperature brick cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and do your best to spread on top of the cake batter. Try to avoid spreading the cheesecake batter all the way out to the edges of the pan.
Spread remaining carrot cake batter on top and gently swirl with a knife:
Gorgeous! Each slice is already pretty and you barely had to do any “decorating.”
Between all the flavor, texture, cheesecake, glaze, and moist carrot cake texture—your taste buds won’t even know what happened to them. This is most definitely the impressive spring, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, brunch, birthday, no-occasion-necessary dessert masterpiece we all need! If you’re looking for Easter dessert ideas, consider this Bundt cake your answer 🙂
Bundt Cake Success Tips
- Select a lighter-colored Bundt pan: Darker cake pans often mean a darker cake that can quickly over-cook on the edges.
- Capacity: Because of how much this cake rises, any tube pan holding 10 cups or less is not large enough. Look for 12-15 cup capacity.
- My favorites: I love and use Nordic Ware. (Not sponsored!) I love this Bundt pan and this Bundt pan and both are large enough for today’s recipe. This fluted tube pan also works.
- Generously grease: If your cakes continuously stick to the detailed edges of your Bundt pan, your pan is not greased enough. Even if the pan is non-stick, make sure you generously grease it.
