My Favourite Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
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 5 ½ cups) carrots, grated
- 375 g (2 ¼ 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
- 0.75 tsp ground nutmeg
- 0.5 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp cardamom powder (½ tsp if grinding fresh)
- 130 g (1 ¼ cup) walnuts, broken into chunks
For the cream cheese icing and decoration:
- 225 g (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 225 g (1 ½ cups + 3 tbsp) icing (powdered) sugar
- 1.5 tsp vanilla
- 350 g (1 ½ cups + 1 tbsp) full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
- 50 g (generous ⅓ cup) walnuts, broken into small pieces
- carrot ribbons, to decorate
Instructions
For the cake:
- Line two 8 inch round tins with parchment paper circles and set aside. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F whilst making the carrot cake batter.
- In a large jug or bowl, tip together the oil, buttermilk, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), salt and spices, giving it a quick whisk together. Pour in the wet ingredients and gently whisk it all together until mostly combined. Tip in the grated carrots and walnuts and fold through using a spatula.
- Divide the carrot cake mixture between the prepared tins and level the tops. Bake in the 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 the cakes are cool, make the cream cheese icing. First, beat the butter well until light and fluffy. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and beat again to combine completely and fluff up. Give the cream cheese a little mix to soften it slightly, then tip it in with the other ingredients and beat to fully combine.
- Level the cakes if required. Place the first cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand, then top with a little frosting, spreading to level. Repeat with the second cake layer, then use the remaining icing to cover the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the cake by gently running the off set spatula around the side of the cake to form shallow channels. Create circles on the top of the cake in the same way.
- To make the carrot roses, peel a carrot lengthways several times. Soak each of the ribbons in hot water for a few minutes to soften, then pat dry thoroughly. Starting at one end, roll each ribbon up and secure with a toothpick, snipping off any excess wood that is visible.
- To finish decorating the cake, gently press some walnuts along the base of the cake, then arrange the carrot roses over the top of the cake in any pattern you wish. I used a little dill to decorate too. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure you have all tools and ingredients prepared before you start mixing: line the baking tins with baking paper, preheat the oven and get the ingredients out ready to use. It is easy to forget something and get flustered for it once you get started!
- Do not overmix the cake batter once the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Overmixing will lead to more of a "gluey" cake texture, not the light and fluffy one we want instead.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before decorating them with the cream cheese icing. Decorating the cakes when still warm will melt the icing and result in a messy end result (but still delicious!)
- Use a good quality, full fat cream cheese in the icing. Having tried many different brands and alternatives, I always come back to Philadelphia as being reliable and good to work with (and it tastes good too!)
- Remember to beat the butter plenty enough when making the icing. This will give you a glorious soft and light icing which is just perfect on the cake.
- To make the carrot roses, peel strips of carrot down the length of the vegetable. Soak the ribbons in hot water for a couple of minutes, then pat dry throughly. Starting at one end, roll each ribbon up to form a rose. Using a wooden toothpick to pin the roll, holding it together, then snip off any excess. Repeat for as many roses as you desire.
Nutrition
Calories: 559kcal