Carrot Cake Tray Bake
This super easy carrot cake traybake features a deeply spiced, ultra-moist freshly grated carrot sponge packed with warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and crunchy walnuts. Topped with a silky, tangy cream cheese frosting, this simple British traybake recipe is an effortless crowd-pleaser for afternoon tea, bake sales, and weekend baking.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 180 ml (¾ cup) oil (I used vegetable oil)
- 160 ml (½ cup + 3 tbsp) buttermilk
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
- 150 g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 410 g (about 5½ cups) carrots, grated
- 375 g (2¼ cups + 1 tbsp) plain (all purpose) flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated)
- 0.25 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp cardamom powder (½ tsp if grinding fresh)
- 130 g (1¼ cup) walnuts, broken into chunks
For the icing and decoration
- 150 g (½ cup + 3 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 150 g (1 cup) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 325 g (1¼ cups + 3 tbsp) full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
- 50 g (generous ⅓ cup) walnuts, broken into small pieces
Instructions
For the cake
- Line your 8"x12" tray bake tin with parchment paper and set it aside. Preheat your oven to 170C/340F while you make your carrot cake batter.
- In a large jug or bowl, tip together your oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and sugars. Whisk to combine, then add in the grated carrots and stir to mix it all together. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), salt and spices, giving it a quick mix together. Pour in your wet ingredients and mix it all together with a spatula. Fold in the broken walnuts.
- Tip your carrot cake mixture into your prepared tin and spread into the corners, levelling the top. Bake in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until springy to touch and a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
For the cream cheese icing and decoration
- Once your cake is cool, make your cream cheese icing. First, beat your butter well until light and fluffy. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and beat again to combine completely and fluff up. Give your cream cheese a little mix to soften it slightly, then tip it in with the other ingredients and beat to fully combine.
- Spread your cream cheese icing over your cooled carrot cake, pushing it all the way to the edges. Use a knife or off set spatula to give your icing some texture, then sprinkle with walnut chunks. Cut into beautiful chunky pieces and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 541kcal