Classic Carrot Cake

This classic Carrot Cake recipe is no-frills, easy to make, and irresistibly moreish! The soft sponge layers are flavoured with warming spices, grated carrot, orange zest, and vanilla. They’re also studded with crunchy walnuts for added texture (feel free to chuck in some sultanas too!). The cake is paired with tangy cream cheese frosting for that classic carrot cake flavour. Whether it’s Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter, carrot cake is an all-year-round favourite that will always impress!

Ingredients To Make This Carrot Cake

Gather the ingredients below to make this easy and delicious carrot cake recipe:

• Light brown sugar: Sweetens the sponge, adds moisture and has a subtle caramel-like flavour.
• Eggs: Give the cake structure and an airy texture. For this recipe, you’ll need 4 medium eggs or three 3 large eggs.
• Sunflower oil: Using oil instead of butter gives the sponge a soft, moist and tender crumb. Vegetable oil would also work.
• Vanilla extract: Adds a delicate flavour to the sponge.
• Self-raising flour: Provides structure to the sponge and gives it a lovely rise and fluffy texture. You can use 300g plain flour instead, just remember to add 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
• Spices: This carrot cake recipe uses a mix of ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg spices to give the sponge a lovely cosy and warm flavour.
• Orange: Infuses the sponge with a bright, zesty and citrus flavour.
• Carrots: You can’t make carrot cake without carrots! 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.
• Sultanas (optional): This carrot cake recipe is free from sultanas because I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea! If you’d like to add some, fold 100g sultanas into the cake mixture along with the chopped walnuts and grated carrot.

Fool-Proof Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting can be temperamental to make, particularly here in the UK where our cream cheese has a much thinner, spreadable consistency! However, if you follow these tips, you’ll be able to make a perfectly textured cream cheese frosting that’s smooth, thick and perfect for pairing with this carrot cake:

1. Start by using a full-fat cream cheese: my go-to is Philadelphia Original. Low-fat or ‘light’ alternatives contain extra water and will result in thin, runny frosting.
2. Beat the butter and icing sugar together first: many recipes say to beat the butter and cream cheese together, before adding the icing sugar. Personally I’ve found this almost never works and the frosting ends up being a sloppy mess. Instead, first beat the butter until soft. Then sift in the icing sugar and beat until you have a basic combined buttercream.
3. Fold 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 as possible to begin with.
4. 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!

Recipe Success Tips

• Use the correct-sized baking tins: This may sound obvious, but using a different-sized tin will affect the baking time. So be sure to use two 20cm round cake tins that aren’t too shallow because the sponges will rise. The tins I used were 8cm in height.
• Avoid opening the oven door early: Opening the oven door too frequently while the cake is baking can cause fluctuations in temperature, which may result in uneven baking and potential sinking. Only open the oven door when necessary, preferably towards the last five minutes of the baking time.
• For the frosting, use cold cream cheese: Essential for making a thick, sturdy and spreadable frosting!
• To make the carrot cake gluten-free: swap the self-raising flour for 300g gluten-free flour, plus 1.5 teaspoons of xanthan gum (this will improve the texture of the cake) and 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Classic Carrot Cake

This classic Carrot Cake recipe is no-frills, easy to make, and irresistibly moreish! The soft sponge layers are flavoured with warming spices, grated carrot, orange zest, and vanilla. They're also studded with crunchy walnuts for added texture (feel free to chuck in some sultanas too!). The cake is paired with tangy cream cheese frosting for that classic carrot cake flavour. Whether it's Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter, carrot cake is an all-year-round favourite that will always impress!

4.80 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep: 40 minutes minutes

Cook: 30 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

• 300 g Light brown sugar
• 4 medium Eggs room temperature 
• 300 ml Sunflower oil 
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract 
• 300 g Self-raising flour
• 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp Ground nutmeg
• 0.25 tsp Ground cloves 
• 1 large Orange zest only
• 200 g Carrots
• 125 g Walnuts

Cream cheese frosting

• 150 g Unsalted butter room temperature
• 150 g  Full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese keep in the fridge
• 300 g Icing sugar

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 170°C fan / 190°C conventional. Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins with baking paper.
• First, grate the carrot and finely chop the walnuts. Set aside for now.
  200 g Carrots, 125 g Walnuts
• Mix the sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla together in a bowl. Set the bowl aside.
  300 g Light brown sugar, 4 medium Eggs, 300 ml Sunflower oil , 2 tsp Vanilla extract 
• In a separate large bowl, stir the flour, spices and orange zest together.
  300 g Self-raising flour, 2 tsp Ground cinnamon, 0.5 tsp Ground nutmeg, 0.25 tsp Ground cloves , 1 large Orange
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together until the mixture is smooth combined.
• Fold in the grated carrot and chopped walnuts until mixed through. If using sultanas, fold them in at this stage too.
  
• Divide evenly between the baking tins and bake for 35-40 minutes until the cakes have risen and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  
• Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
  

Now make the cream cheese frosting

• Beat the butter until soft and fluffy.
  150 g Unsalted butter
• Sift in the icing sugar and beat until combined and smooth. This will take a little while but just keep going. If the texture is too dry, you can add a drop of milk.
  300 g Icing sugar
• Take the cream cheese out of the fridge and add it to the bowl. Fold in the cream cheese until the frosting is combined. Be careful not to overmix as it can quickly become runny.
  150 g  Full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
  

Assemble the carrot cake

• Place one of the carrot cake layers on a cake stand or plate. If the cake is domed on top, use a sharp knife to level it off.
• Spread half the cream cheese frosting on top. Place the second carrot cake on top and lightly press down to sandwich the layers together.
  
• Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting on top. Use the tip of an icing spatula or the back of a teaspoon to make a swirly pattern on top.
• Decorate with a dusting of cinnamon and walnuts dotted around the edge. Serve and enjoy!
  

Video

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