National Carrot Cake Day – February 3 – Recipes and Fun Facts

February 3 is National Carrot Cake Day. Today is a day that we get to eat our cake and vegetables at the same time.

There is a carrot cake recipe with cream cheese frosting at the bottom of this post, just in case you want to bake your own carrot cake today!

Any excuse to have some homemade carrot cake is a good one! Keep reading to learn more about carrot cake, and other ways to celebrate this February 3 national day.

What is carrot cake?

A carrot cake is cake that contains carrots which have been mixed into the batter. Most modern carrot cake recipes have a white cream cheese frosting but there are lots of options and varieties out there.

Carrot cakes can now be made gluten free, vegan, Paleo and there are many other options that fit into most diet plans.

The carrots add more nutrition value, fiber and texture than a normal cake recipe has.

Fun facts about carrot cakes

Brush up on your knowledge of carrot cake with these fun facts.

• There are around 350 calories in a piece of carrot cake with icing.
• Many food historians believe that carrot cake had its origins in carrot puddings eaten by Europeans during the Middle Ages.
• Sugar was expensive so early bakers used carrots because of their natural sweetness.
• Carrot cakes first became available in restaurants in the US in the 1960’s.
• Even though carrot cake is touted as a healthy cake, it still has lots of sugar in it.
• The largest carrot cake weighed 4,574 pounds and is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records.

How to observe National Carrot Cake Day

Here are some fun ways to celebrate National Carrot Cake Day.

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• Have a carrot cake swap. All guests bring a carrot cake to share along with the recipe for each to take home.
• Read the book Carrot Cake Murder.
• Plant some carrots to use later this year in your cakes.
• Burn a carrot cake candle.
• Do the word search puzzle for February to see if you can find Carrot Cake Day in it.
• Make a homemade carrot cake from scratch using one of the recipes below.
• Use the hashtag #NationalCarrotCakeDay and #carrotcakeday to spread the word about the day on social media. Here is a tweet to get you started:

Now you can tempt your sweet tooth and still use healthy ingredients like carrots.  It's #NationalCarrotCakeDay! 🥕🍰🥕 Share on X

What is a national day?

National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate odd and unusual foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out my national day’s guide for more fun days to celebrate.

There are close to 2000 national days in the year and over 150 of them are celebrated in February. Be sure to check out this post to discover more about the national days in February.

Be sure to also check out these other foodie national days this month:

• National Homemade Soup Day
• National Tortilla Chip Day
• National Cherry Pie Day
• National Food Days in February
• Super Chicken Wing Day

Pin this post for National Carrot Cake Day for later

Would you like a reminder of these recipes for National Carrot Cake Day? Just pin this image to one of your dessert boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

You can also view our YouTube video for more food themed national days to celebrate in February.

One of the best ways to enjoy National Carrot Cake Day is with a new recipe. Here are a few to try out:

• Pineapple Carrot Cake
• Vegan Carrot Cake
• Gluten Free Carrot Cake
• Instant Pot Carrot Cake
• Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
• Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake
• Paleo Carrot Cupcakes

And my favorite recipe is a traditional carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting. Print it out below.

Yield: 16

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Print

Moist and delicious - this carrot cake finishes with a sweet cream cheese frosting that is tasty and easy to make.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups carrots, finely grated.

Frosting

• 1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
• 6 oz of cream cheese, be sure it is at room temperature
• 4 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract
• green and yellow/orange food coloring (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 º F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray, then coat the pan with flour and tap off the excess.
2. Set the cake pan on a large baking sheet and put aside while you prepare the cake.
3. Whisk together the spices, flour and granulated sugar in a large bowl.
4. In another large bowl, mix the vegetable oil, eggs (one at a time) and vanilla extract.
5. Slowly add the flour/spices mixture to the oil/egg mixture slowly. Fold in carrots and mix until just combined.
6. our into the loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Place on a wire rack to cool.
7. To make the frosting, combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until fully combined and fluffy.
8. Cut the cooled cake in half and spread the bottom layer with the cream cheese frosting. Replace the top layer.
9. Put the frosting in a plastic bag with a large icing tip and pipe the frosting in swirls until the top is covered.
10. Place some of the icing in a bowl with yellow orange food coloring, and some in another bowl with green food coloring.
11. Replace in a bag with an icing tip and pipe the shape of a carrot on the top of the cake.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 374Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 310mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 1gSugar: 41gProtein: 3g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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