Carrot Cake Dessert Cups with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Carrot cake dessert cups combine the warm spiced flavors of traditional carrot cake with decadent cream cheese frosting. We are serving them individually for a super-cute, low-stress party dessert that carrot cake fans will love. 

Mini Carrot Cakes FTW

Special occasions and entertaining are quite a bit of work. Whether you are celebrating a birthday or serving these for Easter dinner, the goal here is to enjoy our time and connect with our loved ones. These cakes are gorgeous. Everyone I know completely lights up when they see these mini dessert cakes.

The reason I love them so much... They are genuinely fun to make. I love the decorating part of this recipe. They are also effortless to serve, and the clean-up is a breeze. They literally check all of the boxes. 

Simple and Easy Ingredients

​You get to decide how much work these little cups will be. The components are super simple though, so get that grocery app open and add these to your next curbside order.

• Baked Carrot Cake- this can be homemade from scratch, your favorite boxed carrot cake mix, or a store-bought carrot cake from your grocery store bakery. The choice is yours! Here is the best carrot cake recipe I have ever had. 
• Cream Cheese Frosting- there is no substitute for homemade cream cheese frosting, though. I'll list this below.
• Sprinkles- Easter-themed or carrot-themed sprinkles. (optional)
• Orange and Green frosting for decorating. 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting, you will need:

• 8-ounce block of cream cheese
• 2 sticks of room temperature butter
• 3 or 4 cups of powdered sugar depending on preference
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Must Have Supplies and Serving Items

• ​Dispoable Mini Dessert Cups with Spoons
• Piping Bags- disposable tipless bags are great for this recipe
• Knife for cutting cake
• Offset Spatula or butter knife
• Mixing Bowl with Electric Mixer or Stand Mixer for the frosting

How to Make These Carrot Cake Cups

The first step will be to get your hands on the carrot cake and frosting. If you are using a boxed cake mix, follow the instructions on the package. After you bake the cake, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate it for 24 hours. Chilled cake holds its shape the best when we cut it, which is important for these mini dessert cups.

Make your frosting. Whip the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla for a few minutes in a large bowl or stand mixer. Transfer the frosting to a large piping bag or keep refrigerated until you are ready to assemble your cake cups.

When you are ready to assemble your dessert cups, create an assembly station. Cut your prepared carrot cake into cubes. Add a layer of carrot cake to the bottom of the dessert cups. Pipe a thick layer of cream cheese filling over the cake.

Add a second layer of cake and add a second layer of frosting. I like to smooth out the top of the frosting so I have a clean top for decorating. 

Finish the top with your desired decorations. 

Ways to Decorate Your Carrot Cups

Aside from the layers of moist carrot cake and delicious frosting, the best part about these mini desserts is the presentation.

To pipe on orange carrots and green leaves, you'll want to color some of that cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of frosting with a few drops of orange food coloring. I like the natural food dye best for my household, but use whatever you like. For the green frosting, you should only need a half a cup. Transfer your colored frosting to piping bags. Remove the tips and pipe carrots with green tops on the individual carrot cakes.

Other options include topping your cakes with decorative whipped cream and chopped pecans. 

The easiest option of all would be sprinkles. You can grab Easter sprinkles, orange and green sprinkles, or something spring-themed. 

Can We Make These Dessert Cups In Advance

You can, and you should make these the day before you plan to serve them. Just make sure to keep the tops covered so the frosting doesn't dry out.