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Carrot cake
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Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is a recipe we all know and love, and it absolutely HAS to come with cream cheese icing. That thick, cloud-like topping, which simply oozes creaminess. The grated carrots give the cake a wonderful moist and delicate crumb, and the mix of heady spices, and the bite of the chopped nuts combine to make the most delectable dessert or a tasty teatime treat.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cooling time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours 30 minutes
Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: Cake, Carrot, cream-Cheese, dessert, icing, Walnuts
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 589kcal

Equipment

  • free-standing mixer or hand whisk
  • 1 20cm/8" cake tin

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

  • 260 g plain flour white or preferably wholemeal
  • 320 g light soft brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp mixed spice
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 200 g vegetable oil rapeseed, sunflower or similar
  • 4 eggs
  • 300 g carrots
  • 150 g walnuts

Cream Cheese Icing

  • 200 g double cream
  • 100 g icing sugar
  • 200 g cream cheese
  • ½ vanilla paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp salt
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C and place the shelf in the middle of the oven. Line a 20cm/8" deep, round, loose-bottomed tin with baking paper.
  • Weigh all the dry ingredients into the large bowl of your free standing mixer (or a large bowl). Next, add in the oil, eggs, and mix everything on a slow speed to a smooth batter with the beater attachment. Scraping down the sides now and then. Otherwise, mix with a wooden spoon by hand.
  • Coarsely grate your carrots, and add them to the mix, giving them a good stir to distribute them evenly.
  • Chop the walnuts, and put all but 20g into the batter, and give everything a final mix. The remaining 20g will be used to decorate the cake later.
  • Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 90 minutes. The cake should be golden brown and when you insert a wooden toothpick it should come out dry. If it starts to brown too quickly, loosely cover with a sheet of foil.
  • Remove from the oven, cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin (discarding the baking paper) and place on a wire rack to cool completely for another hour.
  • Whilst the cake is cooling, you can turn your attention to the icing. Firstly sift your icing sugar into the bowl of your free-standing mixer (or a large bowl). I’m not one to waste time on sifting, but with icing sugar there are no shortcuts to having icing with no lumps!
  • Add in the double cream and with the whisk attachment (or hand whisk) whip the cream and sugar together until it forms stiff peaks. Ie. It’s just holding its shape.
  • You want to quickly whip the cream cheese in a separate bowl until it's smooth, to make it easier to mix quickly into the cream and sugar, and then add this to the main bowl. Whip again for approximately 1 minute.
  • Add in the vanilla and salt and mix one final time.
  • When the cake has totally cooled, put on your serving plate and smooth the icing on the top making swirls with a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining chopped walnuts on top.

Notes

  • You can use other nuts than walnuts – pecans work well as an alternative.
  • The carrot cake will keep for 3 days in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.  

Nutrition

Calories: 589kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 375mg | Potassium: 253mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 4729IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 1mg