Carrot Cake
An oil-based traybake with coarsely grated carrot, spiced heavily enough to stand up to the cream cheese frosting.
- Prep
- 25m
- Cook
- 45m
- Waiting
- 1h 35m
- Total
- 2h 45m
- Serves
- 12
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 250 g | Whisk the oil, sugars and eggs to a thick ribbon 4m | Fold the wet into the dry, then the carrot and nuts 5m Stop the moment the flour disappears. | Bake at 175°C / 350°F for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean 45m | Cool completely in the tin 1h | Spread the frosting over the cold cake and chill 30 minutes before cutting 35m Frosting a warm cake gives you a puddle. Wait. | |
| 200 g | ||||||
| 100 g | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 300 g | Whisk the dry ingredients together 2m | |||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 400 g | ||||||
| 100 g | ||||||
| 300 g | Beat the frosting until just smooth 3m Stop as soon as it comes together. Overbeaten cream cheese turns slack and will not hold. | |||||
| 75 g | ||||||
| 150 g | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
-
Whisk the oil, sugars and eggs to a thick ribbon
4m- sunflower oil 250 g
- light brown sugar 200 g
- caster sugar 100 g
- eggs 4
-
Whisk the dry ingredients together
2m- plain flour 300 g
- baking powder 2 tsp
- bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
- ground cinnamon 2 tsp
- ground ginger 1 tsp
- fine salt 1 tsp
-
Fold the wet into the dry, then the carrot and nuts
5m- from 1 Whisk the oil, sugars and eggs to a thick ribbon
- from 2 Whisk the dry ingredients together
- carrots 400 g
- walnuts (optional) 100 g
Stop the moment the flour disappears.
-
Bake at 175°C / 350°F for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
45m- from 3 Fold the wet into the dry, then the carrot and nuts
-
Cool completely in the tin
1h- from 4 Bake at 175°C / 350°F for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
-
Beat the frosting until just smooth
3m- full-fat cream cheese 300 g
- unsalted butter 75 g
- icing sugar 150 g
- lemon juice 1 tsp
Stop as soon as it comes together. Overbeaten cream cheese turns slack and will not hold.
-
Spread the frosting over the cold cake and chill 30 minutes before cutting
35m- from 5 Cool completely in the tin
- from 6 Beat the frosting until just smooth
Frosting a warm cake gives you a puddle. Wait.
Why oil, and why coarse carrot
Butter sets solid below about 15°C, so a butter cake eaten cold from the fridge tastes dry even when it is not. Oil stays liquid, which is why carrot cake still reads as moist the next day under a chilled frosting. The carrot is doing more than flavouring — grated coarsely, each shred releases its water slowly during baking and steams the crumb around it. Grated fine, the same carrot dissolves into the batter and you lose that effect entirely.
Notes
- Cream cheese frosting loosens when warm. Beat it cold and keep the butter to a quarter of the cheese by weight.
- Toast the walnuts. Raw ones taste faintly of damp cardboard against all that spice.
- It genuinely improves overnight as the spices bloom into the crumb.