Best Ever Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

May 19, 2010

Carrot Cake Best Ever

Here it is! I’ve bowed to public pressure to share my most requested cake recipe and most popular frosting.

And … *drum roll please* … it’s the first vegetable to appear on this website. Thank you, thank you, hold your applause.

No I don’t have a fever, smartie-pants. Ha ha.

Anyhoo, this is the super-moist and fluffy carrot cake that has converted carrot cake haters and induced the phrase ‘mouthgasm’.

I feel like a bit of a cheater, because it’s seriously the easiest and most foolproof cake ever: one bowl, beat it, you’re done. And once I paired it with the Creamcheese Frosting in the , it was a match made in heaven.

These babies have been whipped up for cake stalls, bake days, group study sessions and afternoon teas.

Go forth. Share the carrot cake love. It’s got vegetables in it, so it’s totes good for you ;)

FAQ and Tips:

  • Servings: This recipe makes TWO medium loaves, or one loaf and around 12 cupcakes. A medium loaf tin is 23cm long. Please split the batter across two tins, or halve the quantities to make one cake.
  • Baking time: Please note ALL ovens are different, and often the dial does not accurately reflect the temperature inside. I’ve found an average baking time of 40 minutes per medium loaf. Yours might take more or less. My tip is to set your oven timer at five minutes before expected bake-time and physically check the cake for doneness. It is ready when (1) a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, and (2) it is light golden brown in colour and the dome springs back when lightly touched. If it doesn’t pass the test, keep it in the oven longer and check every 3-5 minutes. If the top looks crusty but the middle isn’t ready, cover the top in aluminium foil and turn down your oven at least 10 degrees.
  • Cake tins: I use a medium rectangular loaf tin measuring 23cm long. The cake can be cooked in any size pan, bearing in mind that a smaller volume will take less time to cook, and a larger volume will take more time. How much time? I honestly don’t know. Follow the baking time tips above to determine when it’s ready.
  • Ingredient Substitutions: Cake baking is chemistry. The ingredients interact a certain way to ensure a cake has body, sound structure and moistness. Altering major ingredients like flour, eggs, fats (butter, oil) and milk is risky. You’ll be safe changing the quantities and nature of the smaller ingredients (cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts), but I can’t predict how your cake might turn out if it deviates too far from the original recipe.
  • Conversions: 1 cup = 250ml
  • Brown sugar, dark brown sugar, or muscovado sugar are all fine to use in the cake. A light vegetable oil is recommended e.g. Canola. Do not use olive oil. Self raising flour must be used as well. But if you’ve only got plain flour you need to add two teaspoons of baking powder to each cup of plain flour.

 

 

BEST EVER CARROT CAKE

Makes 12 cupcakes and one loaf
(unknown source)

You Will Need
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
3 Large Eggs
Pinch Salt
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
2 cups Self Raising Flour
2 cups finely grated Carrot (around 4 large carrots)
1/2 cup Walnuts, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting
From Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

300g Icing sugar
125g Cream Cheese, cold
50g Unsalted Butter, room temp

DIRECTIONS

Cake
Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Beat sugar and oil until thick, then add 1 egg at a time and keep beating for a few more minutes.
Add salt, bicarb soda, carrots, flour, walnuts and spices.
Mix with wooden spoon until all combined.
Put batter in well greased loaf pan or tin and bake for 35-45 minutes (cake) or 15-20 minutes (cupcakes), or until light golden and cake springs back when touched in the middle. Baking time might vary depending on your personal oven.

Frosting
Beat the icing sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until well mixed.
Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated.
Turn the mixer up to medium high. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny.

 

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Tagged as: Brown sugar, Carrot, Cinnamon, Cream cheese, Icing sugar, Nutmeg, Nuts, Walnuts

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  • Thanks for sharing the baking time with me.

  • Hey guys!!! I’m baking this cake for the weekend.. I just wanted to know from you, dearest cake mistress… Can this cake mature for a couple of days in die fridge?? I’ve read that adding a cup of coconut to a carrot cake recipe will help with this?? If it can mature for a day or two, where do you suggest – fridge or room temp? I don’t want to bake it tonite (Thursday eve) and then by Saturday midday it’s all dried up you know???

    What do you think>

    Lovely website by the way***
    Bonny, South Africa

  • Hi Bonny,

    Thanks for reading :) That’s an interesting question regarding the coconut. I’ve honestly never experimented with coconut in that way, so I’m not sure how to advise on that. But for storage, I do recommend wrapping the unfrosted cake in clingfilm and storing at room temperature in an airtight container. The recipe has a good quantity of oil, so it should hopefully remain nice and moist.

    Happy Baking!
    The Cake Mistress

  • This carrot cake wasvery light and great tasting. The icing was way too sweet. So much sugar that it was hard to dissolve. I treied that recipe with altering the sugar in the cream – 100gm sugar 10 250gm cream cheese and it was devine!

  • Found your recipe by accident and tried it yesterday – delicious!!!!! This will part of my recipe collection. Thanks for sharing!!

  • If it’s as good as you say I’ll have to try this recipe. Carrot cakes are one of my favorites so I’m always excited to try different versions!

  • Hello!
    I’ve often added around one teaspoon of lemon zest to the creamcheese frosting for an extra zing. If you didn’t want cupcakes, there’s enough batter to fill at least one medium loaf pan, maybe even two depending on the height you’d like to achieve.

    Happy Baking!
    Emma

    The Cake Mistress

  • i made this but instead of using walnuts i used pecans, definitely worth it – it was delicious!

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  • First time making this receipe today, My husband loves it! I used a tin 22cm L x 12cm W x 6.5cm D and found the cake not cooked properly in the middle. And seemed to fall out of its shape when taken out of the tin. Side of cake were perfect. Could you advise the correct size loaf pan or tin please. So I can made this yummy cake again.

  • Hi Sharmick,

    That’s a shame that the cake fell apart. It’s the same size pan that I use for my carrot cake. I find there’s too much batter for the one tin, so I only fill it until 3/4 full and turn the leftover batter into cupcakes.
    Baking time can be tricky depending on the oven, because sometimes they can be hotter or cooler than the oven dial, or heat unevenly. Regardless of time, don’t remove the cake from the oven until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If you find the top and sides of the cake getting extra crusty and brown before the centre is cooked, turn down the heat by 10-15 degrees and place aluminium foil over the top to prevent burning.

    Good luck with the cake!
    Emma

    The Cake Mistress

  •  This really and truly is the best tasting carrot cake ever!!! I tried it tonight and it turned out fantastic!!! Thank you for sharing! I’ve blogged about it (will link the recipe to you of course!!)

  • Hi Mina,
    Thanks for reading! I use 1 cup = 250ml as a measurement.

    Regards,

    Emma

  • Hello!

    The cake is fairly sweet, so you could cut down the amount of sugar without too much trouble. However, I don’t recommend replacing oil with applesauce. There wouldn’t be enough “fat” in the cake for it to work.

    Regards,
    Emma

  • Hi Zena,
    Sorry, just caught your message now. In the carrot cake, I use light brown sugar. Dark brown is ok as well, but because it’s stickier it tends to clump like you’ve found. Just check there are no lumps before it gets added and it’ll be fine too.
    Regards,
    Emma

    The Cake Mistress

  • One is no domestic goddess – but this cake is so easy!  Have made it 5 times and each time fantastic!!!  (Even when a little over-cooked).  Love your recipes!  Thank you x

  • Found your blog this morning and have just made this cake. Oh yum! This is the absolute BEST carrot cake I have ever made – so very light and melt in the mouth. 

    Looking forward to trying out more of your recipes. 

  • BEST CAKE EVER- came across your site looking for the best carrot cake icing and well your blog on this cake was just too irresistible so i made your entire recipe and as I sit here enjoying how light it is and yummy, I pity when hubby comes home as im sure i would have eaten most of it by then. lol.

  • Never made carrot cake before this – great recipe and I didn’t manage to flop it!

  • Brilliant! 
    Try making it while drunk! …

  • Just made this…with a few alterations…I used 3/4 cup of oil and 3/4 cup sugar, I also used wholemeal self rising flour and instead of walnuts I used saltanes…By this stage it was looking a little dry so I put a dash of milk and some lsa mix ( linseed, sunflower and almond meal)…and cooked for 25 mins and no icing as I was trying to make this cake as healthy as possible…it turned out so nice, and hubby loved it even though he claims he doesn’t like carrot cake!

  • Umm… would love to make this recipe as cup cakes, but it doesn’t say what amount of time you should cook it for if you are doing it in cup cake tins ? Can anyone advise what amount of time in the oven ?

  • Hi Karen,

    Try 15-20 minutes for the cupcakes. They’ll be done when the top springs back when touched lightly.

    Regards,
    Emma

    The Cake Mistress

  • hi,

    my cake looked (well, in my opinion!) fantastic but…

    it tasted awful! i cant quite figure out why as i carefully measured everything (with the help of my 2 year old – perhaps that’s where i went wrong!).

    the main problem is it just tastes really, really oily. consistency, colour and smell are all spot on but the flavour is just, well… oily!

    where’d i go wrong?!

    cheers,

    jake

  • That’s so lovely that you bake with your 2 two old! Do you know what type of oil was used? It needs to be a very light flavoured oil, like vegetable, sunflower or grapeseed. If a different oil, especially Olive Oil, was used, the taste would be very oily.

  • hi,

    just checked the oil and it’s just regular vegetable oil…

    the cake definitely tasted better once it’d be in the fridge for a day. i tried it out on a couple of people over the weekend (who i trust not to be polite!) and they liked it ;)

    i just snuck another slither now and there’s still a hint of oil, mainly in the top middle part of the cake…

    gonna give it another go, and this time – i’ll let the 2 year old do ALL the measuring! i have a feeling she’ll be less distracted that i was…

    and we’ll try a different oil, just to be on the safe side ;)

    thank you for taking the time to me,

    jake

  • Just found your lovely wevsite, looking for a good recipe for Carrot cake with cream cheese. I found yours and I can’t wait to bake it tommorow in my home ec. class. It looks amazing !!! I’ll comment and tell you the end results, can’t wait.

  • Hi, this looks absolutely amazingggg! Can I make it in a round cake pan instead of a loaf pan?

  • HI, I have made this cake and it was an big hit. I absolutely loved it. I have my gluten intolerant Nan coming for lunch tomorrow and was going to try with gluten free flour but i am sick and don’t feel like heading to the shop. I have some almond meal- could the cake work or would it be too dense?

    Thanks :)

  • I added vanila instead od nutmeg.Instead of the icing, try spreading top of the cake with cumquat marmalade followed by a layer of organic quark.A reduced sugar,yummy alternative.

  • I like it

  • yum yum yum, made the cupcakes and had them sitting on the counter cooling. even the cat loves them haha.. cant wait to find another recipe to try :)

  • Hi there, Oh my gosh!! i have just made this carrot cake and I have to agree, ITS THE BEST recipe ever! ive tried others but this one was so good. It turned out so beautiful and my tasting team (my husband and kids) absolutely loved it!
    Well done on the great recipe and thank you soo much for sharing it, this will be surely be one famous recipe in my my family from now on.

  • Best cake ever, kind of ate a quarter of it before anyone else got home…oops! I only put maybe 100g of icing sugar with 30g butter and 220g of cream cheese for the icing. Also added the lemon zest and it was sooooooooo good!

  • There’s some important information missing from this recipe. I coiled it in a loaf pan until it sprang back when touched, turned it out of the pan and the centre oozed out uncooked. Reading the comments I discover there’s more than a loaf’s worth of mixture in the recipe, that a skewer is a more accurate way to test doneness, that the temperature may need to be reduced 10-15C and the top may need to be covered with foil. If you would consider adding these points to the main instructions, you might save someone else wasting time and ingredients on an undercooked cake.

  • This is the best carrot cake recipe I have ever tried. It turned out perfect. I used canola oil instead as I didn’t have any vegetable oil. As mention previously olive oil would be to oily. I will be defiantly be making this again again and again.

    Thank you for sharing your recipe and all the comments/suggestions as they are also very helpful .

  • DELICIOUS!!!! Thanku, it was my first attempt at carrot cake & it rocked!

  • is it okay to substitute bi carb soda with baking powder? or do you have to use bi carb soda?
    -please reply!

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  • Hi there, I have made this cake before and my friends begged me for the recipe! I had to credit you. :)
    Do you have any idea whether this cake would work as a slice, ie in a square shallow-ish cake tin? I need to make ‘slabs’ of carrot cake for a picnic. I also need to know whether the cake itself freezes well, so I can just take it out and ice it on the day.
    Cheers, Eliza

  • Hi Eliza,
    Yup, it should be fine in the square tin too. Just be mindful of not over/under filling the tin and watching the bake time carefully. Could be more or less depending on the size of the tin and amount of batter in there.
    I’m sure it can be freezed (un-frosted) and brought to room temperature on the day. Not that I’ve tried before, but the same can be done for a similar banana loaf.

    Happy baking!

  • Love this receipe! No exaggerations! Defintely the best I have whipped up :)

  •  This recipe sounds great, but I was just wondering can I use half oil and half water instead of all oil?

  • This was simply superb! Did it today and was so wonderful!! This has been my first carrot cake and was enjoyed by my husband and kids. Thank you. 

  • Made this recipe (cupcakes) Saturday evening for a family Easter gathering Sunday morning. I don’t normally “risk it” with recipes online that I haven’t vetted. But you wrote so convincingly and the comments raved. How could I go wrong? Turns out, this doesn’t make what I would call carrot cake AT ALL. It makes carrot MUFFINS. Carrot cake is sweet. It’s a dessert. This makes a sweet bread or muffins, but NOT cupcakes in any traditional sense. After using up all my eggs, staying up til 10 pm, and toiling away, I was devastated to taste the first batch of these. They are MUFFINS!!! My husband agreed. I was tasked with bringing dessert to his family’s Easter dinner tomorrow. I’ll have to pray there’s a bakery open on the way, as I would never show up with these, claiming they’re carrot cake or anything resembling dessert. 

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  • Looks sooo good! 
    Can I bake it in an 8 inch tin? How long should i bake it for?

  • your blog is lovely, thanks for going to the trouble!

  • The most delicious carrot cake recipe ever!! :)

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