If you're looking for a moist, flavoursome carrot cake, then look no further!
Anyone who is a carrot cake fan always has their own idea about what qualities to look for in the perfect carrot cake. You may like it dense and quite heavy, alternatively, you may be a fan of a light sponge. For some, they care less about the sponge and more about the frosting! I personally really love a moist carrot cake, one full of flavour but with a smooth consistency, I'm not a big fan of lumpy bits in my carrot cake.
The flavour of your cake tends to come from the type of sugar you use and the fat. The more you have in your cake, the more moisture it will retain. It's important to keep the ratio of these right to the other ingredients to make sure the structure of the cake holds up. The last thing you want is a cake that won't set. Unrefined brown sugar is the winning sugar for flavour, especially in a carrot cake. It also helps retain the moisture in the sponge. I always use Billington's because it's unrefined through and through as opposed to some brown sugars which effectively are white sugars but coloured with molasses on the outside. Sunflower oil is the fat in this recipe, is brings a flavour which isn't over powering or pungent, which some darker oils can be.
If you're after a classic carrot cake recipe with a cream cheese frosting, then I highly recommend this recipe. Best served with a pot of freshly brewed tea and friends.
Storage instructions; keep in an airtight container in the fridge once it's frosted for up to 3 days. If you want to bake ahead, make the sponges but don't frost them. You can store these in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Let it defrost at room temperature and then add your cream cheese frosting.
If you'd like to resize your carrot cake, we've got a useful tool which allows you to scale up or down the recipe to work for your tin size. Click here to find out more.
Method
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 20cm (8inch) cake tin with baking parchment.
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Whisk the oil and sugar together, then whisk in the eggs one a time.
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Gently fold in the flour, followed by the carrots. Mix gently until combined, then turn into the prepared tin.
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Bake for 40 mins until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
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For the topping, mix together the mascarpone cheese and golden icing sugar. Split your cake in half, sandwich together with half of the mascarpone mixture and spread the remainder on top. Finish with pieces of walnuts.
If you love the taste of carrot cake, why not try something new? This Swiss roll carrot cake is a doddle to make and it's really fun too! Click here for the full recipe
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Reviews
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02 September 2020
5 star rating
Easy and tastyy, i decreased the sugar amount to half since i like less sugary cakes and ot worked perfectly ,also i added some walnuts in the mix itself
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02 September 2020
5 star rating
Easy and delicious , can decreas sugar amount as prefered
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24 August 2020
5 star rating
great but for the icing double the ingredients because i had hardly enough
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13 June 2020
4 star rating
Amazing recipe just a little different to the picture. It was moist and fresh even thought we barely had enough icing. My advice would be to double up. Overall an amazing outcome.
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10 June 2020
5 star rating
First attempt at baking, recipe was easy to follow cake out just right soft and moist. Thank you for the recipe..
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02 June 2020
5 star rating
Great moist cake and lovely frosting although I did add more icing sugar to make it a little stiffer. Would highly recommend
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23 May 2020
1 star rating
It raised and collapsed once outside the oven and was very wet and dense, it seemed completely uncooked after 40 minutes. I have converted the quantities using your measurements for a tin of 23cm. Will have to give it another try. I am not sure what went wrong.
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10 May 2020
5 star rating
Wonderful- very easy to follow - lovely moist cakexxxxx
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09 May 2020
5 star rating
The cake came out great, I used cream cheese for the frosting but didn't add enough icing sugar. Still tasted amazing though
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28 April 2020
5 star rating
It's my go to cake when I want to bake a cake quickly and the frosting is really good too, all my friends absolutely love it too so it's a win win for me every time
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26 April 2020
2 star rating
Tastes good, but my cake didn't rise, as noted by another reviewer earlier this month
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23 April 2020
5 star rating
This carrot cake was amazing and so lovely and moist, I did add grated orange zest ground cinnamon and nutmeg. I didn't have the ingredients for the topping so I used your lemon drizzle recipe and it work well👍 thank you for your recipe s will be looking at your other recipes
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15 April 2020
5 star rating
Love it!
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14 April 2020
5 star rating
Made this with almonds as no walnuts. Added dedicated coconut. Was yummy
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14 April 2020
5 star rating
Made this with almonds as no walnuts. Added dedicated coconut. Was yummy
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11 April 2020
5 star rating
really lovely and tasty!!
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09 April 2020
4 star rating
Thanks so much for this cake idea.
Very ideal for the Easter.
Will give it a go tomorrow.
Thanks
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07 April 2020
5 star rating
I'm giving you 5 stars as I like the layout of your page, your tips and the fact that you can change from metric to imperial.
I haven't tried the recipe yet as I will have to wait to put my next order in to the supermarket for various ingredients. That will probably be in 3 weeks time!
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04 April 2020
1 star rating
I found that this recipe didn’t make my cake rise one bit unfortunately. I put the whole two bits in the bin.
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23 March 2020
5 star rating
Made this last night. Frosted it this morning and ate a slice. It always tastes better the next day- gives the flavours time to infuse, just like banana cake.
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21 March 2020
5 star rating
Fantastic
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19 March 2020
4 star rating
Very tasty
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17 March 2020
5 star rating
Freshly made carrot cake! I don't like lumpy bits in my carrot cake either- love that this recipe doesn't have sultanas etc in it.
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17 March 2020
5 star rating
Freshly made carrot cake! I don't like lumpy bits in my carrot cake either- love that this recipe doesn't have sultanas etc in it.
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16 March 2020
5 star rating
This is just like the one my Grandma used to make! Fond memories, thank you Baking Mad
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29 February 2020
5 star rating
I LOVE this recipe. It’s my go-to. I’ve made a lot of carrot cake recipes over the years from a variety of recipes. This carrot cake recipe is hands-down my favourite fool proof one.
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