Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

This Carrot Cake Syrup will transform your morning coffee into a sweet, indulgent treat. It's packed with warm spice and flavor, and tastes just like homemade carrot cake in liquid form.

I've been meaning to share this recipe with you all for so long. I've made countless batches of this syrup, thinking I'll photograph it and finally write a post about it. But then I want to use a little in my morning latte... and before I know it, a few days have gone by and most of the syrup is gone. It's that good.

If you love this recipe and are looking for more sweet and spicy flavored syrups, try my Pumpkin Spice Syrup, Gingerbread Syrup, or Cinnamon Dolce Syrup (it's a Starbucks dupe!).

a small bottle full of carrot cake syrup.

Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients
Substitutions or variations
How to make carrot cake syrup
How to store your homemade syrup
How to use carrot cake syrup
More flavored syrup recipes

Why you'll love this recipe

It tastes just like carrot cake. I know, it's carrot cake syrup. So, duh. Of course it tastes like carrot cake. But really, it's so so good. And tastes just like a slice of cake.
It's a unique seasonal flavor. I think that carrot cake is most closely associated with springtime, BUT I think that we're really sleeping on carrot cake as a Fall flavor, too. It's warm, spicy, and oh-so-delicious. This syrup is a real double-threat.
It is very easy to make. The ratio of flavor to difficulty in making this syrup is in no way proportional. If you can simmer some liquid in a saucepan, you can totally make this flavored syrup.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Carrot juice: Make sure that your carrot juice is unsweetened and that the only ingredient is carrots. And maybe lemon juice. But you don't want any other ingredients in the juice that you use to make this syrup.
Sugar: Just like when baking a carrot cake, we're using a combination of white granulated and brown sugars.
Spices: We're using the same spices in this syrup that you'd use to bake a delicious carrot cake, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
Vanilla: Vanilla extract is optional (so optional, in fact, that I forgot to include it in the photo).

Substitutions or variations

Use cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon. I've made this syrup using both. Both ways turn out well.
Use fresh carrots in place of carrot juice. If you can't find carrot juice, or just don't want to use it, you can always use water and ½ cup or so of fresh, shredded carrots. The carrot flavor won't be as strong, but it will still do the trick.
Tweak the spices. You can fiddle with the amounts of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to suit your preferences.
Add other flavors. You could add some toasted chopped pecans or shredded coconut (sweetened and/or toasted) to the syrup mixture, too. Especially if you like nuts and coconut in your carrot cake!

How to make carrot cake syrup

carrot juice in a saucepan. — **Step 1**. Add carrot juice to a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

carrot juice and brown and white sugars in a saucepan. — **Step 2**. Add both sugars to the saucepan.

carrot juice, brown and white sugars, and spices in a saucepan. — **Step 3**. Add the spices to the saucepan.

carrot juice, brown and white sugars, and spices whisked together in a saucepan. — **Step 4**. Whisk to combine everything.

carrot cake syrup simmering in a saucepan. — **Step 5**. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, whisking occasionally.

**Step 7**. Allow the syrup to cool completely. Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer.

**Step 8**. Store the syrup in an airtight container in the fridge.

How to store your homemade syrup

Unlike store bought flavored syrups which can sit out at room temperature (thanks to them usually containing preservatives of some kind), you'll need to take a couple of extra steps when storing this homemade syrup. At minimum, you'll need to do these things:

Store the syrup in a clean, airtight container
Stash it in the fridge

Taking these steps, your carrot cake simple syrup should last about two weeks. If you don't use it all up before then, that is.

You can take some extra steps if you'd like to make the syrup last even longer. In addition to the steps listed above, you can:

Add a splash of plain vodka to the syrup (like 1 ounce or so, per cup of syrup) to prolong shelf life to 1 or 2 months.
You can actually freeze your simple syrups! You could use an ice cube tray or a Souper Cubes type of situation. It should last about 3-6 months or so when stored this way.

How to use carrot cake syrup

You can use this carrot cake syrup in a number of ways:

Coffee: I have three words for you: Carrot Cake Latte (hot or iced). It's unbelievably good. You could also add some of this syrup to your hot drip coffee, cold brew, or iced coffee.
Cocktails: Think: Carrot Cake Martini or Carrot Cake Espresso Martini
Desserts: Brush a little syrup on top of baked goods like layers of a cake, cupcakes, muffins, etc. to keep them super moist and flavorful. It would be really delicious drizzled on some vanilla ice cream, too.
Breakfast: Don't forget about breakfast! This carrot cake syrup would be SO good on pancakes, waffles, or French toast in place of maple syrup. You could also use it to flavor your oatmeal.