Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!! Mmmm! Who doesn’t love carrot cakes? Well, here I am presenting my beloved carrot cake in a new and improved avatar. That’s a paradox you will say. What is improved can’t be new right?! Well oh well, my cake is new because the pictures are 🙂 and improved because I have improvised on the recipe that I shared on this blog 10 years ago to give it a complete face & taste lift! If you scroll right to the bottom of this page you will see the different pictures of the cake when I made them in the past. I first made this cake using a microwave convection, when I was still a beginner at baking cakes. I was quite pleased with the results and hence shared it on the blog. I then made it again using only white sugar as I didn’t have any brown sugar and the result was good yet again. So basically, what I am trying to say here is that this is a very forgiving recipe, you can use white or brown sugar but do note that the sweetness will vary. I like my cakes to be less sweet so I have used soft brown sugar which also gives it that rice, depth of flavour. The cream cheese frosting gives a wonderful balance to the sweetness of the cake but you can totally leave out the frosting if you wish. The cake tastes lovely on its own.
This cake can be what you want it to be. Bake it on a weekday afternoon as a tea time accompaniment. Dust it with some icing sugar to make it a bit fancy for your weekend treat. Birthday coming up? Frost it with cream cheese as mentioned in my recipe below and make it look all nice and pretty. No cream cheese? No worries, just use your favourite, simple vanilla buttercream frosting. You can leave out the walnuts too, it won’t make much difference.
I baked this cake a couple of months ago when we were still not eating out. The kids fondly remembered the carrot cake they used to enjoy at IKEA. I got into action and decided to shoot the video as well. This cake tastes almost like the one we used to enjoy there on our several trips to buy knick knacks and other home & utility products.
So whether you are a fan of the IKEA carrot cake or not, you must try it out soon. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did!
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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This is a classic cake that is simple yet rich, you can have it as your teatime cake, without frosting. Doubles up as a birthday cake or a showstopper for your next festive meal!
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Ingredients
- 150 grams all purpose flour
- 50 grams almonds with or without skin, ground to a powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 3/4 teaspoon mixed spice (1/4 tsp each of clove cinnamon & nutmeg powder)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 175 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
- 175 grams soft brown light or dark-muscovado sugar * see notes
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 100 grams carrots grated 1 loosely packed cup
- zest/grated rind of 1 orange
- 1/3 cup unsweetened orange juice
For the frosting
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
- 280 grams cream cheese
- 150 grams confectioners' icing/powdered sugar
To decorate
- 1/2 cup or more crushed walnuts
Instructions
- Grease a 9" round pan with butter and dust some flour. You can also line it with baking parchment if you wish. Keep it aside. Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
- Sift the flour with the almond powder, ginger, clove, cinnamon & nutmeg powders, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a bowl. Repeat one more time to make the cake fluffier. Keep aside.
- Beat the butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add in the egg one at a time and beat until the mixture looks creamy
- Blend in the orange zest, juice and the grated carrots.
- Now add the flour mixture in parts & gently fold until all the flour has been incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and level up the surface. Tap twice to remove any excess air bubbles.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or till the skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Remove & cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then turn out the cake on a wire rack and cool completely.
- When the cake has cooled, slice it horizontally into two halves. Keep aside.
- Prepare the frosting by mixing the butter, icing sugar and cream cheese together until blended. Then beat using a whisk till the mixture is smooth & fluffy and no lumps remain.
- Dab the centre of a cake stand/serving tray with a little frosting to keep the cake in place.
- Place one layer on top of it and cover the surface with 1/3 of the frosting. Place the second layer of the cake over it and cover the top and sides with the rest of the frosting. Level up the surface.
- Decorate the entire surface with the crushed walnuts. Serve immediately. The cake tastes good even when served slightly chilled, for about 30-45 minutes.
Notes
If you do not have soft brown sugar, you can use caster sugar. The cake may be a tad sweet but the cream cheese will balance it.
If you prefer a sweeter cake you can add 25 grams of white sugar to the brown sugar and beat it along with the butter.
The butter & eggs should always be at room temperature otherwise the batter resembles curd like consistency. The flour should be sifted with baking powder from a height as this also ensures that the cake turns out fluffy.
If you prefer a sweeter cake you can add 25 grams of white sugar to the brown sugar and beat it along with the butter.
The butter & eggs should always be at room temperature otherwise the batter resembles curd like consistency. The flour should be sifted with baking powder from a height as this also ensures that the cake turns out fluffy.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment & rate the recipe below or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @ruchikrandhap
The picture of when I first baked this cake in a microwave with convection 10 years ago!
Second attempt – when I made the cake using white sugar
Should i use the electric beater whn im doing no 4 and no 5 method?
You can gently mix everything together using a rubber spatula. Do not beat with an electric whisk once the flour is added
I too have a microwave oven. Cakes never come out cooked evenly. What additional settings/ timngs did u use while using it in convection mode?
I made this cake several years ago and reposted the recipe a couple of years ago. I just used the bake mode on my convection oven
Made this cake today. It turned out super moist and super tasty. Thank you for the wonderful receipe.
Thank you so much for the feedback Suzan! Glad to know that you liked it so much!
The cake looks simply awesome.Can we substitute the egg with something else.
can u share the recipe for cream cheese,as ,it is not readily available in India.
Hi Rashmi,
Thank you so much! Well, I have not tried an eggless version of this cake but you could try using yogurt or flaxseed powder dissolved in water. At the moment I don’t have a good recipe for cream cheese, but as mentioned in my post you could use regular buttercream frosting instead!
Sieht lecker aus, hier in Deutschland, Berlin hat der Herbst angefangen da kann man super die Karotte, Möhre gegen Winter Kürbis austauschen, yummi!
Jesse-Gabriel
Vielen Dank! 🙂
Please give us the options of measurements in Cup size
Thank you
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry I haven’t measured the recipe in cups yet as I always prefer weighing them in grams. I will check now and update the post
Hi, 3/4 of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg…. Does that mean 3/4 each or 1/4 each?
Can the butter be replaced to oil.? Same weight? Thx
Hi, its 1/4 tsp each of clove, cinnamon & nutmeg powders…I have updated my recipe 🙂
I haven’t tried this recipe with oil but you can try. Same weight should be ok.
I have tried other carrot cake recipes..but yours was the best…The recipe is easy to follow and the end result is a wonderfully moist and yummy cake!!!
Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you so much for the great feedback Flavia!! I am so happy to hear this 🙂
this tasty and delicious cake had to be a part of the anniversary celebrations of my parents.
your video was very elaborate and helpful, i certainly couldn’t go wrong.
thanks a lot.
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback Janet!! It means a lot to me!
Thank you for this amazing recipe…just baked it yesterday….the spices render a wonderful flavour to the cake…and the walnuts, a good texture..
Thanks a lot for the lovely feedback Rita! So happy to know that you enjoyed this cake so much!!
Super tasty cake….it’s yummy, moist and flavorful.
Thanks a lot for the wonderful feedback!
Did the quantity of white sugar remain the same as brown when you made it?
Hi Vineeta,
I made this cake using brown sugar. As I have mentioned in the notes, you may use white sugar too but may need to reduce it a bit so that it doesn;t become overly sweet, unless you prefer it that way.
So many wasted ingredients. I tried it twice and it split both time I added eggs to the creamed mix. Smashed some bowls in frustration.
Sorry to hear that. Were the ingredients at room temperature?
They were at room temperature, however room temperature in Tasmania that time of year isn’t much higher than a fridge.
I’m baffled. Will never know the reason. This has never happened to me in all these years and I’ve tried this recipe several times just like many others who have tried it and loved it
Tried this recipe last weekend. Turned out so so delicious that I still haven’t stopped receiving compliments. This is a keeper!
That’s wonderful! Thank you so much for the feedback!