Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position. Grease a 9 x 13-inch glass or metal baking dish.
Prepare the icing: Place the cream cheese and butter into a medium-sized bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice, beating until light and creamy. Cover with wrap and leave unrefrigerated as you prepare the cake.
Prepare the cake: Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and smooth it out evenly within.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Ice the cake: Transfer 2/3 of the prepared icing onto the cake and spread it out evenly across the surface.
To serve: Cut the cake into either 12 or 24 squares. Serve squares as is or, decorate each with a small rosette of the remaining icing, a carrot slice and a tiny bit of carrot greens.
Our Best Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the carrot cake:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup vegetable oil
6 carrots, peeled and grated (about 2-3 cups)
½ cup chopped walnuts
butter grease pan
For the lemon cream cheese icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
juice half a lemon
For garnish:
cream cheese icing rosettes
thin slices carrot
carrot greens
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position. Grease a 9 x 13-inch glass or metal baking dish.
Prepare the icing: Place the cream cheese and butter into a medium-sized bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice, beating until light and creamy. Cover with wrap and leave unrefrigerated as you prepare the cake.
Prepare the cake: Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and smooth it out evenly within.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Ice the cake: Transfer 2/3 of the prepared icing onto the cake and spread it out evenly across the surface.
To serve: Cut the cake into either 12 or 24 squares. Serve squares as is or, decorate each with a small rosette of the remaining icing, a carrot slice and a tiny bit of carrot greens.
Our Best Carrot Cake
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A rich, moist carrot cake made with fragrant spices and walnuts topped with a tangy lemon cream cheese icing…
“Gonna be good” is actually an understatement. OUR BEST CARROT CAKE is fantastic!
Check this out!
– easy to make – just one bowl and one spoon required, and since Carol nixed my idea for multiple layers, it’s a simple slab cake – a perfect mix of sweet and spiced flavours – moist and tender, as in really moist and tender. – iced with a lemon cream cheese frosting that’s applied while the cake is still in the baking dish – love! – made with carrots – carrots are loaded with vitamins and minerals which means they’re good for us. That means it’s okay to have two or even three pieces… truth!
Seriously, this cake is the showstopper we’ve been dreaming about. Best to PIN the recipe to a favourite dessert or cake page or BOOKMARK for easy access. SHARE it with friends, tell the whole world about it – we want everyone to enjoy a piece of cake this fabulous at least once, if not more, in their lifetime.
Here’s the rundown on OUR BEST CARROT CAKE recipe:
IN SYNC
I love this photo of the ingredients because it reflects the process – straightforward and extra easy. All of the ingredients are readily available and I bet you already have them on hand. We had a discussion about the walnuts and decided to include them because, what can I say, I’m nutty. If your home or cottage is a nut-free zone, you can leave them out and the cake will still work fine.
CARROT LOVE
This recipe is all about one of my favourite root veggies, the carrot. Packed with vitamins and minerals, carrots consistently rank high on the healthiest vegetable lists. Head HERE to learn about why they’re so good for us.
If you’re like me, you probably (hopefully) already have a bag of carrots in your fridge or pantry. You can use them for this recipe, but if you can, it’s preferable to track down organic carrots with the greens still attached. Save those greens as a garnish – more about that in a bit. The recipe gives you the option for 2-3 cups of grated carrots, but I personally think three cups of grated carrots makes for a tastier cake.
SIMPLE SLAB
Simplicity is the order of the day with this cake, and Carol was spot-on to suggest we forgo a multi-layer dessert extravaganza. That said, if you’re so inclined, have at it. The slab concept seems especially apropos for the cottage setting because we’re serving and eating it right from the dish. Bake, ice, cut, eat.
ICING CALL
You’ll be able to make this easy and tangy icing recipe in no time; all you need is a bowl and hand or stand mixer. Up at the top of this post I mentioned how you should share it with all your friends, but now an addendum!
get a friend, family member or even kids in on making the icing. This is a great basic recipe for first-time icing-makers and even those who might be culinarily challenged.
BRING IT ON HOME!
Once the cake has cooled you can finish it off with a few simple, artful swipes of the icing and you’re ready to serve. I love how easy it comes up from the baking dish too.
As mentioned above, you can also up your presentation game by fashioning a flower from a slice of carrot and making a tiny icing rosette to hold it up. Tuck a few leaves of the reserved carrot greens behind the carrot slice, snap a pic and post it on all your socials using #weekendatthecottage. We, and the rest of the world, wanna see!
Just a few final things to mention about OUR BEST CARROT CAKE. First, it travels really well, so you can make it the night before, iced and all, and stick it in the cooler or take it as is to a cottage weekend or neighbourly get-together.
Second thing, the recipe welcomes experimentation and we invite you to come back for our updates or, post your own variations in the comment section below. We’re already thinking CARROT CUP CAKES and a SPICED CARROT ROLL CAKE. Stay tuned!
If you’re here because you like cakes, you’ve come to the right place. We love cakes too! Don’t forget to check out our cheat cakes: a nutty WHISKY CAKE or a classic HARVEY WALLBANGER. You might also like this SPICED PARSNIP CAKE or our pride and joy, this TOASTED COCONUT LAYER CAKE. Each and every one scrumptious!
The perfect balance of moist and tender in a spiced carrot cake topped with creamy lemon icing. This truly is OUR BEST CARROT CAKE. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position. Grease a 9 x 13-inch glass or metal baking dish.
Prepare the icing: Place the cream cheese and butter into a medium-sized bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice, beating until light and creamy. Cover with wrap and leave unrefrigerated as you prepare the cake.
Prepare the cake: Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and smooth it out evenly within.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Ice the cake: Transfer 2/3 of the prepared icing onto the cake and spread it out evenly across the surface.
To serve: Cut the cake into either 12 or 24 squares. Serve squares as is or, decorate each with a small rosette of the remaining icing, a carrot slice and a tiny bit of carrot greens.
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