Mini Carrot Cakes

These Mini Carrot Cakes are everything you love about classic carrot cake but in an adorable, mini size! Perfect to serve at Easter celebrations, afternoon tea, or as a party dessert. Made using grated carrot, crunchy walnuts, warming spices and zesty orange, these mini carrot carrot cakes are soft, moist and full of flavour. They’re sandwiched with tangy cream cheese frosting and finished with an adorable carrot decoration.

This recipe is part of my Mini Cake Recipe Series which also includes these delicious Mini Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cakes. More mini cake recipes coming soon!

The recipe has been developed in partnership with Tala Cooking. I only ever recommend products I personally use, love and trust!

Your Ingredient List

To make these cute mini carrot cakes, gather the following ingredients:

• Butter & plain flour: Used to prep the baking tin to stop the mini carrot cakes from sticking.
• Self-raising flour: Gives the sponge structure, helps it rise and gives it a fluffy texture. You can use 180g plain flour instead, just remember to add a teaspoon of baking powder.
• Brown sugar: Sweetens the sponge, adds moisture and a subtle caramel-like flavour.
• Cinnamon & mixed spice: Essential for that classic carrot cake flavour.
• Orange zest: Infuses the sponge with a bright, zesty and citrus flavour.
• Eggs: Gives the cake structure and an airy texture. For this recipe, you’ll need 3 medium eggs or 2 large eggs.
• Sunflower oil: Using oil instead of butter gives the sponge a soft, moist and tender crumb.
• Vanilla extract: Adds extra warmth and sweetness to the sponge.
• Carrots: It wouldn’t be a carrot cake without them! The carrots are grated and folded into the cake mixture; they soften and melt into the sponge when baked, bringing extra sweetness and a perfectly moist texture.
• Walnuts: Adds a little crunch in each bite! Finely chop the walnuts so they’re more evenly distributed throughout the sponge.
• Cream cheese frosting: The perfect filling for carrot cake. It’s a simple recipe of butter, icing sugar & cream cheese. Avoid using low-fat or ‘light’ cream cheese, as this will result in runny frosting.
• Orange food colouring & rosemary: To make the cute little carrot decoration on top of the mini cakes!

Mini Cakes Baking Tin

For these Mini Carrot Cakes, I put Tala Cooking’s 6-cup Mini Sandwich Tin to the test and I’m pleased to say it worked a treat! The tin is perfect for baking individual mini cakes, cheesecakes and desserts, and has loose bases making it really easy to remove the baked cakes. The tin has a dual non-stick coating, but for mini cakes, I would recommend greasing and flouring the holes before adding your cake mixture. You can either use two tins to bake 12 cakes, and stack the sponges to make 6 tall mini cakes (think bento cake size). Or, you could use one tin and slice the sponges horizontally into thinner layers to make 6 small cakes (just remember to half the ingredients).

Easy Carrot Cake Recipe

My carrot cake recipe is super quick and easy to make, just follow these simple steps:

1. Mix the dry ingredients – Stir the flour, sugar, spices, and orange zest together in one mixing bowl.
2. Whisk the wet ingredients – Whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla in another mixing bowl.
3. Combine the two – Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, until the ingredients are just combined. Overmixing can lead to a heavy and dense sponge
4. Add the extras – Fold in the grated carrot and chopped walnuts.
5. Bake – Spoon into the mini cake tin, filling each hole 3/4 full, and bake for 20-22 minutes.

TIP: Let the sponges cool completely before decorating, or the frosting will melt!

Fool-proof Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting is the perfect pairing for these mini carrot cakes. Here in the UK, our cream cheese has a much thinner consistency and higher water content, which can lead to a runny frosting. However, through lots of testing, I’ve developed a method that will guarantee a smooth, thick, pipe-able frosting every time:

1. Use a full-fat cream cheese: my go-to is Philadelphia Original. Low-fat or ‘light’ alternatives contain too much water and will result in thin, runny frosting.
2. Use an electric mixer: I don’t know the science behind this, but every time I’ve made cream cheese frosting using a spatula it’s never worked! Whereas an electric mixer whisks the mixture up more quickly, making the frosting fluffy and thick.
3. Beat the butter and icing sugar together first: many recipes say to beat the butter and cream cheese together, before adding the icing sugar. However, I’ve found this never works and the frosting ends up a lumpy, sloppy mess. Instead, first beat the butter until soft. Then sift in the icing sugar and beat until you have a basic combined buttercream.
4. Beat in cold cream cheese: cold is the key word here! Only remove the cream cheese from the fridge just before adding it to the bowl. This makes sure the cream cheese is as thick and sturdy as possible to begin with.
5. Do not over-mix: The more you mix, the more the frosting will lose its thick consistency. If all else fails, and the frosting is too thin, pop it in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up.

How to Assemble & Decorate Mini Carrot Cakes

Now for the fun part – icing and decorating your mini carrot cakes!

1. Trim the layers – If the carrot cakes have domed on top, level them off with a sharp knife.
2. Sandwich the cakes – Pipe or spread the cream cheese frosting onto one layer, then place another layer on top.
3. Swirl the tops – Pipe or spread more frosting on top and use the back of a spoon to create a cute swirl.
4. Add the walnuts – Sprinkle very finely chopped walnuts around the edge of the cakes.
5. Pipe the mini carrots – Hold the piping bag of orange buttercream at a 45° angle, and pipe a triangle-shaped squiggle to create the carrot shape (for this I used the Tala No.4 small round nozzle from this set). Finish off with a sprig of rosemary for the carrot “leaves” (how cute!).

Recipe F&Q’s

Mini Carrot Cakes

These Mini Carrot Cakes are everything you love about classic carrot cake but in an adorable, mini size! Perfect to serve at Easter celebrations, afternoon tea, or as a party dessert. Made using grated carrot, crunchy walnuts, warming spices and zesty orange, these mini carrot carrot cakes are soft, moist, and full of flavour. They're sandwiched together with tangy cream cheese frosting and finished with an adorable carrot decoration.

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Prep: 40 minutes minutes

Cook: 20 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour

Servings: 6

Ingredients

For prepping the tin:

• 20 grams Unsalted butter melted
• 1 tablespoon Plain flour

For the mini carrot cakes:

• 180 grams Self-raising flour
• 180 grams Light brown sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 1 large Orange zest only
• 2 large Eggs room temperature. Or 3 medium.
• 180 millilitres Sunflower oil 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract 
• 125 grams Carrots
• 50 grams Walnuts

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 100 grams Unsalted butter room temperature
• 200 grams Icing sugar
• 100 grams  Full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese keep in the fridge

For the decoration:

• Orange food colouring
• Rosemary sprigs
• 20 grams Walnuts very finely chopped

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Generously grease two Tala 6-cup Mini Sandwich Pans with melted butter and sprinkle a little flour into each hole. Tilt the tin to coat the sides, then tap out the excess.
  20 grams Unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon Plain flour
  
• Grate the carrot and finely chop the walnuts. Set aside for now.
  125 grams Carrots, 50 grams Walnuts
  
• In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, spices and orange zest together until combined. Make a well in the middle.
  180 grams Light brown sugar, 180 grams Self-raising flour, 1.5 teaspoons Ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice, 1 large Orange
  
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined.
  2 large Eggs, 180 millilitres Sunflower oil , 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract 
  
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and combined.
  
• Fold in the grated carrot and chopped walnuts.
  
• Divide the mixture evenly between the baking tins, filling each one 3/4 full.
  
• Bake for 20-22 minutes until the mini carrot cakes are golden and risen. Leave to cool completely in the baking tin. To release the cakes, first run a knife around the outside and then push them out from underneath. Use a knife to peel off the metal bases.
  

Make the cream cheese frosting:

• Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and icing sugar together until soft and fluffy. This will take a little while but just keep going. If the texture is too dry, you can add a splash of milk.
  100 grams Unsalted butter, 200 grams Icing sugar
  
• Scoop two heaped tablespoons of buttercream into a separate bowl and mix with orange food colouring to turn it bright orange. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle (I used the Tala No.4 piping tip). Set aside for now.
  Orange food colouring
  
• Take the cream cheese out of the fridge and add it to the bowl of white buttercream. Whisk on low speed until the frosting is smooth and combined. Take care not to overmix, as it can quickly become runny.
  100 grams  Full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
  

Assemble and decorate the mini carrot cakes:

• If the cakes have domed on top, use a sharp knife to level them off.
  
• Spoon or pipe the cream cheese frosting on half of the sponges. Place the other sponges on top to sandwich the layers together.
  
• Spoon or pipe more cream cheese frosting on top. Use the back of a teaspoon to make a swirl on top.
  
• Sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top of each mini cake. Holding the piping bag of orange buttercream at a 45° angle, pipe a triangle-shaped squiggle to create the carrot shape.
  20 grams Walnuts
  
• Finish with a small sprig of rosemary for the leaves. Serve and enjoy!
  Rosemary sprigs
  

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