Carrot Cake!
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Delicious and moist carrot cake, decorated with a lovely light vanilla buttercream and nuts!
Carrot cake
I love carrot cake. When I was little, I despised it because who on earth would want vegetables in a cake?! Little me was obviously wrong as it is DELICIOUS.
I posted my recipe for my carrot & walnut cupcakes a while ago and they’ve been a massive hit – they’re a big reader favourite as they’re so light and flavoursome and yumyumyum.
Recipe
I love this recipe as it has delicious spices from the flavours of mixed spice, cinnamon and ginger – I love this combination because it suits the light moistness of the carrot cake so well, but doesn’t over power it.
I was asked on my Facebook page for a whole carrot cake recipe as sometimes people don’t like transferring a cupcake recipe to a cake as they don’t know the baking times, or how much it’ll actually make – this led me to this beauty.
Buttercream Frosting
I decorate mine with either cream cheese frosting or vanilla buttercream – as this one was made as a request from my friend, we went with the buttercream! The vanilla from the buttercream gives it a delightful sweetness that I think is a cakey marriage made in heaven!
You can obviously use cream cheese frosting, I like to switch it up now and again. My carrot loaf cake has a cream cheese frosting and it is DELICIOUS! I quite like that cream cheese frosting doesn’t necessarily go with every cake so when you do have it, its not boring and always tastes amazing!
Decoration
I decorated my carrot cake with some small carrot toppers and a nice sprinkles of walnuts! You can of course leave the nuts off if you would prefer but I personally love the texture the walnuts give a carrot cake.
As with every bake, the decoration is optional and can be left if preferred or even scaled up a notch! You can add sprinkles instead of/as well as walnuts or you can top with dried fruit instead – the choice is yours! ENJOY!
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 225 ml sunflower oil
- 5 medium eggs
- 275 g light brown sugar
- 300 g grated carrots
- 100 g raisins optional
- Zest of 1 orange
- 275 g self raising flour
- 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100 g walnuts/chopped pecans optional
Buttercream/Decoration
- 250 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 500 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 - 3 tbsp boiling water
- Chopped nuts
- Carrot shapes/sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan
- Grease & line two 8" cake tins with parchment paper
- Pour the sunflower oil and eggs into a large bowl and add the light brown sugar
- Mix lightly and combine
- Add the grated carrots and raisins (if using) and orange zest and fold through to combine
- Add the self raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, ginger, and cinnamon and mix again - try not to over mix!
- Once combined, fold through the nuts (if using) and pour into the prepared tins
- Bake the cakes in the oven for 30-35 minutes until cooked through (test with a cake tester, should be clean!)
- Leave to cool in the tin
Buttercream
- Beat the unsalted butter for a couple of minutes so its very smooth in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
- Gradually add the icing sugar until all combined and beat on a high speed for a couple of minutes
- Once mixed, add the vanilla extract and mix again
- Whilst mixing, gradually add the boiling water until you reach your desired consistency
- Beat for another 5 minutes so its super light and fluffy
- Place one of your sponges onto the plate you're using, spread half of the buttercream on top, add the other sponge, and spread the rest of the buttercream on
- Decorate to your desire
- ENJOY!
Notes
- I prefer my carrot cake with just buttercream in-between and on top of the layers, but there is enough buttercream to spread it around the edges slightly too.
- You don't have to include the nuts, or the raisins, but I would recommend using at least one of them as the flavour is so delicious!
- This cake will last 4 days covered at room temperature!
- I used this tin!
- I used this piping bag!
- I used this piping tip!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi Jane, I want to make this as a 3 layer 6 inch cake how do I adapt the recipe?
Thank you 😊
I need to make a 4 layer carrot cake for a birthday. I am assuming I would double the recipe and bake time? I have 2 x very deep 20cm tins
For the buttercream would you use Stork or would you use unsalted / salted butter ? Can’t wait to make this x
Never stork for buttercream – only unsalted or salted block butter!
im looking at doing this recipe but i have a 6 inch tin,
what would you change the recipe to for this size?
thank you x
Usually it’s 2/3 of a recipe! x
Hi Jane,
If I wanted to put walnuts instead of raisins, would I put the same amount in?
Many thanks
Yes!! x
Hey Jane!
To make a nice thick 3 layer 8” cake would
You 1.5 the recipe or more? Thank you x
Yes 1.5x the recipe!xx
How much would i need for 9 inch tin
Typically 9″ is about 1.3x the recipe!
I have 9 inch tins and stuck to the recipe for 8 inch. My cake was deep enough and very moist and spongy. No need to increase the ingredients in my opinion.
Hello! Should I squeeze the water out of the grated carrots or not?
Thank you!
Hey, no you don’t need to do this xx
Hi Jane
Would this work with gluten free flour?
Hiya! Yes this should be fine! Enjoy! x
Hi Jane , Can I freeze the undecorated carrot cake ? Made it today but friend doesn’t want until next week 🙈
Hey! Yes you can!xx
Hi Jane.
I’m planning to use this recipe to make a four layer drip cake for my little boy’s birthday. Do you think it will be sturdy enough to do this?
It is a bit soft, but just really chill the sponges first and it will be fine! x
Do you have the link for the cream cheese frosting please? Thanks
Hi Jane, thanks for the lovely recipe!! I’m having trouble getting the light brown sugar atm as I’m on a small island. Any idea if ordinary brown sugar will still be okay?
Thanks in advance x
Muscovado sugar is the closest alternative (as I’m not sure what you mean by ordinary brown sugar?) x
Taste wise is this the same or close to the cupcake recipe? And what would you recommend if I wanted to bake half of this recipe or or cupcakes recipe into a 4inch cake tin, enough for 2layers in one tin (hope you know what I mean 😊) what temp and how long would you do it?sorry for being awkward. By the way love and always use your recipes. Thank you x
Hi Jane, love this recipe, had such great compliments! It’s my birthday on Friday & I’m making my own cake (lockdown eh! 😕) but I have 7inch tins & hope to do 3 layers. As smaller tins, how long do you think (roughly) to bake if these measurements were divided by 3 in 7inch, rather than 2 in 8inch please? I hope I’m making sense! Thanks 😊 x
Honestly I really don’t know – I never bake 7″ cakes I am afraid but it would obviously be a little less as its a smaller tin and not two layers! x
Hi Jane, I did it! Divided into 3 layers, 27mins each in 7inch tins. I’ve tagged you on Instagram so you can see my birthday cake I’ve baked for me 🎂😍
Hi Jane. I just want to say that I have all your books and I have made countless of your recipes and they have all been wonderful. You are a talented lady. I had my first Christmas Fayre last weekend and I made your carrot cake for the first time. All week, people have been coming back to say how wonderful it was. I even had an 90 year old man say that he was a Baker to trade and that the carrot cake was the best he has ever tasted. Praise for your lovely recipe. I never even got to taste it, so I will just have to make another one lol.
Made this cake today for my other half for valentines. I just wanted to say that the vanilla buttercream works really well with the carrot cake, it tastes great! I’d definitely make this carrot cake again with vanilla buttercream! X
Hi Jane!
I started my own baking page on Instagram using your recipes which I love!
I’ve been asked to this cake as a tray bake. Would all the measurements be the same for a tray bake or do I need to change anything?
Thanks again for all your recipes!
X
Have a look at the traybake carrot cake recipe on my blog! And thank you! xx
Hi Jane! Can I use this recipe for 6 inch tins so I can make a taller cake? How would the cooking times vary?
I haven’t made this in 6″ tins before so I really am not sure, sorry!