Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist cake with smooth cream cheese frosting. Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a true British Classic cake and one of my most popular cakes!

Carrot cake is a British Classic 

Surely most people will have tried or at least heard of Carrot Cake?! It is a moist oil based cake spiced with cinnamon and grated carrots traditionally topped with cream cheese frosting. 

I don’t remember eating carrot cake growing up so I will forgive you if you haven’t tried it yet! 

Personally, I don’t think you can actually taste the carrot. They just add a lovely sweetness the finished cake. 

Why are there no walnuts and raisins?

Traditionally Carrot Cake has walnuts and raisins in it, but you won’t find that in my Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! I am not really a fan of walnuts so they were an obvious choice for me to leave out. 

I do like raisins, but I know a lot of people don’t. I have been making this Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting for years, and I have never had any complaints about there being no walnuts or raisins! 

Recommended way to grate the carrots 

I know grating carrots sounds like a pretty straightforward task, but it does matter!

You need to use a coarse grater because you want to be able to see the strands of carrot. If you use small grater then you might end up with carrot mush which will be wetter. 

My preferred method of grating the carrots is to use a food processor with a coarse grater attachment. If you have one, this is definitely the quickest and easiest way to grate the carrots. It also provides the best texture in my opinion. 

I always weigh the carrots once they are grated. This is because inevitably when you are grating there are the odd ends that you won’t be able to grate.  

Can I use different tins?

Yes you definitely can!

I have often made this Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting with three layers. Use three eight inch and cook them for 20 – 25 minutes. The quantity of frosting below is always enough I have found for three layers. 

If you would prefer to make a sheet cake, check out my Gluten Free Carrot Sheet Cake. You can easily make this with standard plain flour and leave out the xanthan gum. 

Another great option is to make my Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. 

Which oil is best to use?

When using oil in cakes, you need to use a plain flavourless oil. 

I recommend using a sunflower, vegetable or canola oil as these don’t have any strong flavours. 

You wouldn’t want to use something like olive oil as the flavour is too strong and would affect the flavour of the cake. 

Can I use reduced fat cream cheese for the frosting?

Bring honest, no you can’t.

You definitely need to use full fat cream cheese frosting. Reduced fat cream cheese would be too thin because it doesn’t have the fat content needed to hold it’s shape. 

If you were to use reduced fat cream cheese, the frosting is likely to not hold it’s shape and potentially run. It is very unlikely that you would be able to pipe it at all. 

Carrot Cake baking tips 

Aside from the carrot grating advice I have already given, I have another couple of tips to help you bake this cake. 

I measure the sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla extract into a large jug. I measure the sugars first and then using a whisk, I break up any lumps that may have formed. 

Brown sugars can easily clump together when being stored. It is a lot easier to break up any lumps before you add in the eggs and oil. 

When you are splitting the cake mix between the tins, I like to do this as evenly as possible. I do this by weighing the bowl while it is empty and then taking this away from the weight with the finished cake batter. You then divide this by two (or three if you are using three tins). 

Cream cheese frosting tips 

Cream cheese frosting can be a little temperamental! As I mentioned before you have to use full fat cream cheese.

But once you have your cream cheese, there are a few tips to help get the best frosting.

Make sure you use softened butter! I get my butter out for the frosting when I start making the actual cake (as long as it is not a very hot day). 

I always beat the butter by itself in until it is completely smooth before adding the rest of the ingredients. There is nothing worse than seeing flecks of yellow butter in the finished frosting because it wasn’t soft enough!

Sometimes you get a little bit of liquid in the cream cheese. I think this is more common for us here in the UK rather than in America where it comes in blocks.

I make sure I drain this off before adding the cream cheese to the butter as you don’t want any extra liquid. 

How long does this Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting keep for?

As it is an oil based cake, it keeps really well as it is such a moist cake. 

It will easily stay moist and delicious for four to five days but potentially even longer too. 

As it has cream cheese frosting I would recommend keeping it in the fridge in an airtight container. 

Other recipes you might enjoy 

• Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies
• Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd & Cream Cheese Icing
• Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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