Carrot Cake

A nice, not too sweet carrot cake. Scales well for a small cake for two.

Active Prep
30 minutes

Total Prep
1 hours

Type
Dessert

Weight
Light

Full Size

    • 2.5 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour

    • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

    • 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹ firmly packed

    • 1.5 teaspoon baking soda

    • 1 teaspoon baking powder

    • 1 teaspoon salt

    • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

    • 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    • 1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil

    • 0.5 cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted

    • 4 large eggs room temperature

    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

    • 3 cups (340 g) grated carrots peel before grating

    • 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans optional

    • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.

    • In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

    • Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).
      Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

    • Stir in vanilla extract.
      1 tablespoon vanilla extract

    • Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.

    • Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 40 minutes (toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).

    • Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

    • Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.

  • This came out delicious and would highly recommend.

Quarter Size (Great for 2)

    • 0.625 cups (78.75 g) all-purpose flour

    • 0.25 cup (50 g) granulated sugar

    • 0.25 cup (50 g) light or dark brown sugar¹ firmly packed

    • 0.375 teaspoon baking soda

    • 0.25 teaspoon baking powder

    • 0.25 teaspoon salt

    • 0.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

    • 0.125 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    • 0.25 cup (58.75 ml) cooking oil use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil

    • 0.125 cup (28.25 g) unsalted butter melted

    • 1 large egg room temperature

    • 0.25 tablespoon vanilla extract

    • 1 large grated carrot peel before grating

    • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.

    • In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

    • Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely). Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

    • Stir in vanilla extract.1 tablespoon vanilla extract

    • Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.

    • Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 40 minutes (toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).

    • Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

    • Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.

  • This scaled down quite well and make for a small cake that was perfect for two, with a touch left over for breakfast the next morning.

    Cooking Notes:

    • This scaled version make 1 6 inch cake that baked for 35 minutes.

    • We also subbed out the cooking oil for melted butter, in this case 0.75 cups unsalted butter, melted.

Frosting

    • 0.5 cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter softened

    • 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened (brick-style, not spreadable)

    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      0.25 teaspoon salt

    • 4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar

    • Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.

    • Add vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into the bowl and stir well to combine.

    • With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until ingredients are completely combined (be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula).

  • We originally thought this was going to be too sweet, or too vanilla-y. However, once this was on the cake it was perfect.

The Simplified Process

The General Recipe.

  • 2.5 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

  • 1 cup (200 g) light or dark brown sugar¹ firmly packed

  • 1.5 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  • 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1 cup (235 ml) cooking oil use canola, avocado, or vegetable oil

  • 0.5 cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted

  • 4 large eggs room temperature

  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

  • 3 cups (340 g) grated carrots peel before grating

  • 1 cup (125 g) chopped walnuts or pecans optional

The General Process.

Looking at the full end to end steps, this recipe can appear a little more complicated then it really is, this follows the standard normal cake recipe, mix the wets, gently mix in the drys.

  1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8-inch pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

  3. Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).
    Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.

  4. Stir in vanilla extract.
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract

  5. Stir in carrots and nuts (if using) until ingredients are well-combined.

  6. Evenly divide carrot cake batter into prepared baking pans and bake on 350F (175C) for 40 minutes (toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with only few moist crumbs).

  7. Allow cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.

  8. Allow cake to cool completely before covering with cream cheese frosting.