Carrot cakes are fantastic. They’re the perfect cake with a grown-up feel and the tastiest way of eating your veggies. Yes, carrots are super nutritious, and although not everyone loves their earthy taste, you can’t even taste the carrots in a proper carrot cake. Besides, carrots add the loveliest moisture to the crumb!

Carrot cakes are beauty in simplicity; they’re just sophisticated, and although they look complicated to make, they aren’t. Here’s our easy recipe for carrot cake, ready in about an hour and large enough to feed a crowd.

Why Make Carrot Cake?

Carrot cakes are never too dry or sweet. They’re balanced, and balance is perfection. This type of cake also looks the part, as it has the loveliest orange hue. The best thing about carrot cakes is their fantastic flavor and moist texture. No other cake matches the mouthfeel of a homemade carrot cake.

Carrot cakes are superb ways of ending a dinner party, and they’re also delicious on weeknights. Besides, this recipe is for you if you ever have leftover carrots from the day before.

What Goes into a Carrot Cake?

To make a proper carrot cake, you need the usual cake ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, eggs and salt. We’ll also add canola oil to the batter to give the cake a glossy feel.

You’ll also need carrots and brown spices — carrots are deliciously compatible with cinnamon and nutmeg but use any similar seasoning you have in hand. And since we don’t want our carrot cake to be too sweet, we’ll only add half a cup of brown sugar. A dash of vanilla extract will help with extra aromatics, but that’s it — the perfect carrot cake recipe.

Carrot Cake Recipe

Servings: 8-10

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cake:

·      2 cups all-purpose flour

·      1 tsp baking soda

·      1 tsp baking powder

·      1 tbsp ground cinnamon

·      1 tsp ground nutmeg

·      1/2 tsp salt

·      1 cup canola oil

·      4 eggs

·      1.5 cups brown sugar

·      1/2 cup granulated sugar

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

·      3 cups grated carrots, drained and patted dry.

·      Cooking oil in spray

For the cream cheese frosting:

·      ½ cup butter, softened

·      8 ounces cream cheese

·      4 cups confectioners’ sugar

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a tall, 9-inch cake pan with oil. Set aside.

2.     In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3.     In a second bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract.

4.     Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients while whisking.

5.     Fold in the grated carrots and mix well.

6.     Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.

7.     To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and incorporate the sugar and vanilla. Mix well.

8.     Allow the carrot cake to cool before spreading the frosting.

9.     Alternatively, top with crushed pecans or walnuts.