Carrot Cake Recipe | Cooking with Nana Ling

The natural sweetness of carrots and subtle, fragrant spices in a soft, moist crumble cake – all topped with a cream cheese frosting. No wonder carrot cake is so popular.

I love carrot cake and I tested (and tasted!) a few to create my own version of the BEST carrot cake recipe EVER.

Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

There are SO MANY carrot cake recipes out there.

oil or butter?

Crazy or not?

Which spices?

pineapple or not?

What kind of sugar?

When I came up with this recipe, I had plenty of material to work with. Here are just some of the recipes in my collection.

The sheer volume of recipes tells us one thing for sure: this is an extremely popular cake.

I was a little overwhelmed by all of these recipes, but then I realized I’d eaten a ton of carrot cake over my time. Surely I could separate the good from the ordinary and find the great among the good.

And I think I did!

This recipe is based on some that were in the collection. I couldn’t find one in particular that seemed to have everything I was looking for, so I put pieces together here and there and was delighted with the result.

Why a Gugelhupf pan?

This cake is best made in one Ring cake pan (about 21 cm) or loaf pan.

I noticed that about 80% of the older recipes suggested a carrot cake ring shape.

Why?

Well, it cooks more evenly and since it’s a cake that tends to sink in the middle, it’s a safer option for success.

Once again, our grannies knew best!

Another good reason I think is that it gives you more surface area to cover with the delicious cream cheese frosting.

You can find ring tins in kitchen supply or online shops. If you want a cheaper option, I often see them at thrift stores.

As I mentioned above, you can also use a box shape, but the ring shape also looks very pretty.

Ingredients for carrot cake

To prepare this recipe you will need these ingredients:

• vegetable oil
• wizard Sugar (extremely fine sugar)
• eggs
• Cinammon
• spice mix
• Salt
• caustic soda
• carrots
• walnuts
• crushed canned pineapple
• SR Flour (or plain/all-purpose flour + baking powder).

You can find the quantities of the ingredients in the recipe card at the end of this article.

Why put pineapple in carrot cake?

Pineapple provides extra moisture without increasing the oil content and adds a mild note to the flavor profile. Very simple: it makes your carrot cake that little bit more delicious.

How to make carrot cake

Prepare

Get ready to bake by:

• Preheat the oven to medium (180 degrees Celsius, 355 degrees Fahrenheit)
• grease the cake pan And line with parchment paper.

Let’s bake cake!

Whisk together the oil, sugar and eggs Heat in a stand mixer on high for 5 minutes until pale and creamy.

Add the cinnamon, spice mix, salt and bicarbonate of soda and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds or until well combined.

You need to grate the carrot, chop the walnuts and drain the crushed pineapple – Then add all that add to the mixture and beat on lowest speed until well combined.

Next, add the sifted flour and mix on low speed until well combined.

Let’s bake!

Pour the batter into the cake pan.

Put in the preheated oven and Bake 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling tray.

Allow to cool completely before icing.

Cream cheese icing for carrot cake

In my opinion, cream cheese frosting is an absolute must when it comes to carrot cake.

The complementary flavors and textures make carrot cake and sweet cream cheese frosting a timeless and harmonious combination.

For the cream cheese frosting you will need:

• cream cheese (The block, not the spread)
• butter
• vanilla extract
• powdered sugar (confectioners/powdered sugar).

You can find the quantities of the ingredients in the recipe card at the end of this article.

Take the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge at least half an hour before icing to allow them to soften.

Cut cream cheese and butter into cubes and beat with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy.

Once the cake has completely cooled, spread the icing over the cake – Keep a few tablespoons of the glaze aside to create your “carrot” decorations.

Glazing and decorating your homemade carrot cake

Color in the rest of the glaze orange coloring.

Using a piping bag and a small plain tip (or a ziplock bag with the tip cut out at one corner) cane carrot molds Around the top of the cake by moving the nozzle down from side to side, making the movements smaller and smaller, until you reach an end point (the bottom of the carrot).

Place a small piece of parsley on top of the carrot.

You can also pipe small circles around the bottom of the cake and attach a sprig of parsley (to resemble the tops of carrots just plucked from the garden bed) in the center.

Sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top at the bottom of the carrots to resemble the garden bed.

Recipe FAQs

Q. How long does carrot cake keep?

make sure you Store carrot cakes in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If you keep it like this it should keep for up to a week.

Q. Can I freeze carrot cake?

Yes, you can – even if you have already covered it with cream cheese. Just make sure to wrap it well in food wrap.

Q. Is carrot cake healthy?

Carrot cake contains carrots and nuts, both of which are “healthy.” However, the sugar and oil suggest that this cake doesn’t fall into the “health food” category.

But try sitting down with a cup of tea with a carrot or a piece of carrot cake!

Q. Do you have other recipes with carrots?

I have a wonderful carrot pudding recipe and sweet carrot pastry that you might like.

Q. What about cake? Do you have any more old-fashioned recipes?

Secure. You may want to check out my sponge roll, sultana cake, Texas sheet cake, coconut cake, sponge cake, Victoria sponge cake, chocolate ripple cake and pumpkin pie recipes.