New and Improved Luxurious Carrot Cake Recipe!

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Warming spices, sweet carrot flavour, an incredibly moist crumb, and gorgeously moreish cream cheese icing… this easy peasy carrot cake has it all! Keep reading to learn the secrets to making a fabulous carrot cake, that you’ll come back to again and again…

Why you’ll love this recipe

Having made this beautiful carrot cake many times for special occasions, I know it’s one that’s always well received, and quick to disappear. Especially in my family!

My secret twist is adding some chopped tinned pineapple to the batter. It really helps to keep the cake moist, and adds a delightful je ne sais quoi to the overall flavour.

Not a confident baker yet?

Want my Top 5 Tips to Guarantee Baking Success and a FREE Best Bakes e-cookbook? Check out baking for beginners! You might also find this post explaining cake making methods helpful.

Ingredients

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s everything you might need to know…

For the carrot cake

• Flour – You need plain (all purpose) flour for this recipe. Don’t use self raising, gluten free or otherwise, as it will mess with the chemistry of the recipe.
• Cinnamon – This adds the lovely warming spice you associate with carrot cake. You can switch it with mixed spice if you like.
• Raising Agents – I use a mixture of both bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. It helps give it an extra lift due to the heavier ingredients.
• Sugar – Brown sugar works lovely in this cake, but you could use caster sugar if that’s all you have.
• Carrot – The variety doesn’t matter at all here. Regular orange carrots are perfect. Just make sure you wash them beforehand.
• Pineapple – This is my secret ingredient. It adds a lovey texture and additional tart sweetness. You can leave it out if you want to, but I recommend you give it a try first!
• Citrus – I mix lemon and orange zest here, but it work just as well with one or the other.
• Eggs – Large free range is what I use. So long as you don’t use very small or very large eggs, whatever you have should work great.
• Oil – I tend to go with sunflower oil as it’s mostly flavourless. Vegetable oil would also work well, but I wouldn’t use olive oil, as that has a strong flavour and it much more expensive!

For the cream cheese frosting

• Butter – You can use salted or unsalted here, go with your preference. Just make sure it’s at room temperature for ease of use.
• Icing Sugar – Also called confectioners sugar, or powdered sugar. Don’t swap this, as other sugar crystals are too large and won’t work for this purpose.
• Cream Cheese – Please use full fat cream cheese! Lighter versions won’t work.
• Orange Extract – This is entirely optional, but adds a beautiful flavour to the frosting.

Emma’s top tips

Here are tips you’ll find helpful when making this recipe.

• Pay attention to when the recipe calls for room temperature ingredients. I say this to make your life easier!
• Do NOT use light or low fat versions of cream cheese for the frosting. They aren’t as stable as full fat cream cheese, and it will be too sloppy to use.
• I used a 2D drop flower piping nozzle to achieve the rose shapes for decoration. You can just as easily smooth the icing on with a spatula, spoon, or palette knife if you like though.

Don’t need something huge but still fancy carrot cake? Check out my carrot cake loaf recipe. It’s intensely rich, warming, and perfect for smaller occasions.

Timings

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier!

• Preparing your ingredients should take no more than 5-10 mins.
• Making the cake batter will take about 10 minutes.
• Baking the carrot cake takes 25-30 mins.
• Making the cream cheese frosting takes around 10 minutes.
• Decorating will take you around 5 minutes, depending on how you choose to do it.

Easy Carrot Cake – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Ingredients

This recipe makes 12 servings.

Please note, this recipe includes both UK metric and US Cup measurements.

For the Sponge

• 300g (2 + 1/8 Cups) Plain Flour
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 200g (1 Cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar
• 200g (1 + 3/4 Cups) Grated Carrot
• 227g (8 oz) Tin of Pineapple Rings, drained and finely chopped
• Zest of 1 x Orange
• Zest of 1 x Lemon
• 4 x Eggs, room temp
• 250ml (1 Cup) Sunflower Oil

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 250g (1 Cup + 1 tbsp) Unsalted Butter, room temp
• 100g (1 Cup) Icing Sugar
• 500g (2 + 1/4 Cups) Full Fat Cream Cheese *
• 1 tsp Orange Extract, optional

To Decorate

• Sugar Carrots, Optional

Essential Equipment

• 2 x 7″ Round Loose Bottomed Cake Tins
• Sieve
• 2 x Large Mixing Bowls and Electric Hand Whisk OR Electric Stand Mixer
• Fork
• Spatula
• Wire Rack
• Cake Board or Serving Plate
• Piping Bag and Nozzle (optional)

Carrot cake Instructions

Preheat your oven to 170ºC/Fan 150°C/338ºF, lightly grease the cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.

To make the sponge, sift the flour (300g | 2 + 1/8 Cups), cinnamon (2 tsp), baking powder (1 tsp), bicarbonate of soda (1/2 tsp) and brown sugar (200g | 1 Cup) into a large mixing bowl, or an electric stand mixer.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the grated carrot (200g | 1 + 3/4 Cups), pineapple (227g | 8 oz tin of rings, chopped) and the zest of the orange (x 1) and lemon (x 1).

Next, add in the eggs (x 4) and mix it all together with a fork. Then gradually add the sunflower oil (250ml | 1 Cup) stirring constantly.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients in thirds, taking care not to over mix the batter.

Finally, divide the cake batter between the two prepared tins, and place into the lower section of your preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

When a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, it’s fully baked.

Next, allow your cakes to cool in the tins for about 15 mins. Then remove them and peel off the baking paper from the bottom. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting Instructions

Again, either using an electric stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric hand whisk – beat the butter (250g | 1 Cup + 1 tbsp) until it’s really soft and smooth.

Then sift in the icing sugar (100g | 1 Cup), and start to mix on a low speed. Once the icing sugar has been completely incorporated into the butter, increase the speed and mix until soft and smooth.

Now add in the cream cheese (500g | 2 + 1/4 Cups) and orange extract (1 tsp, if using). Continue to mix on a medium speed, until you can’t see any more butter, and it’s light and smooth.

Keep your cream cheese frosting covered and chilled until your cakes are completely cooled.

Decoration Instructions

If your cakes have domed in the middle, slice it off to level them out, then place the first layer on a cake board or serving plate.

If you would like to create the rose swirls, load a piping bag with a 2D drop flower nozzle. Otherwise, you can simply spoon or spread the icing on.

Pipe blobs all the way around the outside edge of the bottom layer, then continue with a spiral all the way to the middle. (Don’t worry if it’s not neat – no one is going to see this bit!)

Then place the second cake layer on top – bottom side up. (This will give you a perfectly flat top.)

Working from the outside edge of the cake inwards, pipe rose shapes in concentric circles. To pipe a rose, start from the centre and spiral your way outwards.

At this point, you can leave it as it is. You could also buy little carrot shaped sugar decorations, or even make your own using ready made fondant and food colouring gels. It’s up to you!

How to store carrot cake

Usually I advise never to store cake in a fridge, as it dries it out much faster. However, with this carrot cake, I actually recommend you do. Cream cheese frosting is delicate, and get’s potentially messy when it’s warm. And the sponge itself is very moist, so it shouldn’t dry out easily.

Store your carrot cake covered in the fridge, and consume within 3-4 days.

FAQs

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Continue to Content

Easy UK Carrot Cake Recipe

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Warming spices, sweet carrot flavour, an incredibly moist crumb, and gorgeously moreish cream cheese icing - this easy carrot cake has it all!

Print

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 300g (2 + 1/8 Cups) Plain Flour
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 200g (1 Cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar
• 200g (1 + 3/4 Cups) Grated Carrot
• 227g (8 oz) Tin of Pineapple Rings, drained and finely chopped
• Zest of 1 x Orange
• Zest of 1 x Lemon
• 4 x Eggs, room temp
• 250ml (1 Cup) Sunflower Oil

For the cream cheese frosting

• 250g (1 Cup + 1 tbsp) Unsalted Butter, room temp
• 100g (1 Cup) Icing Sugar
• 500g (2 + 1/4 Cups) Full Fat Cream Cheese *
• 1 tsp Orange Extract, optional

To decorate

• Sugar Carrots, Optional

Essential Equipment

• 2 x 7″ Round Loose Bottomed Cake Tins
• Sieve
• 2 x Large Mixing Bowls and Electric Hand Whisk OR Electric Stand Mixer
• Fork
• Spatula
• Wire Rack
• Cake Board or Serving Plate

Instructions

Carrot cake

1. Preheat your oven to 170ºC/Fan 150°C/338ºF, lightly grease the cake tins and line the bases with baking paper. Then sieve the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the carrot, pineapple, orange zest and lemon zest. Then beat in the eggs with a fork. Gradually pour in the oil, while stirring constantly.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet in thirds. Don't over mix.
4. Divide the batter between the two tins, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 15 mins, then peel off the baking paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

1. Beat the butter with an electric whisk (or in a stand mixer) until softened.
2. Add in the icing sugar. Start mixing on a low speed then, when the icing sugar is incorporated, increase the speed. Beat until soft and smooth. Next, add the cream cheese and orange extract (if using). Mix until you can no longer see any pieces of butter, and it's very smooth.

To decorate

1. Place a cake layer on a cake board or serving plate. Top with half the cream cheese frosting.
2. Place the other cake layer on top, and spread over the remaining cream cheese frosting. (Or you can pipe roses on like I did.) Slice and serve!

Notes

If you would rather use a more in depth picture recipe, please see the main body of this post. Where you’ll also find lots of extra FAQs and helpful tips, should you need them.

Please note, this recipe includes both UK metric and US Cup measurements.

For more detailed instructions on how I piped the roses, see the main body of the post.

Storage

Usually I advise never to store cake in a fridge, as it dries it out much faster. However, with this carrot cake, I actually recommend you do. Cream cheese frosting is delicate, and get’s potentially messy when it’s warm. And the sponge itself is very moist, so it shouldn’t dry out easily.

Store your carrot cake covered in the fridge, and consume within 3-4 days.

Tips

• Pay attention to when the recipe calls for room temperature ingredients. I say this to make your life easier!
• Do NOT use light or low fat versions of cream cheese for the frosting. They aren’t as stable as full fat cream cheese, and it will be too sloppy to use.
• I used a 2D drop flower piping nozzle to achieve the rose shapes for decoration. You can just as easily smooth the icing on with a spatula, spoon, or palette knife if you like though.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

• 
  Pyrex Glass Mixing Bowl Set 3 Piece
• 
  AmazonBasics Silicone Spatulas, 3-Piece Set

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 702Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 27.4gCholesterol: 149mgSodium: 267mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 2.1gSugar: 30gProtein: 7.9g

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to hear about it! Please leave a comment on the blog or tag me on Instagram.

If you like this carrot cake recipe…

…you might also like:

• Victoria sandwich cake
• Old school coconut jam cake
• Coffee and walnut cake
• Easy air fryer cake
• Moist lemon drizzle cake with a crispy top

I want to see YOUR baking!

Have you made this easy carrot cake? I’d love to know if you have! Tag me in your pics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or email me at emma@kitchenmason.com.

Emma Mason

Experienced British Online Publisher, recipe writer, and home cook, Emma has a background of over 20 years in British cuisine and cooking. Born and bred in the UK, she excels in classic British dishes, is passionate about air frying, and loves sharing her Gran’s old school recipes. She has been featured in popular publications such as Food Network, Cosmopolitan, and The Huffington Post.

Knowledgeable On: Traditional British Cuisine, Recipe Writing, Air Frying, Home Cooking.