Simple Carrot Cake

easylife

2 years ago

This carrot cake recipe makes a wonderfully moist and soft carrot cake with just the perfect level of spice and sweetness.

What’s In Carrot Cake?

These are the ingredients you’ll need to make your new go-to carrot cake recipe:

· Sugars: You’ll need white sugar for the cake and confectioners’ sugar for the frosting.
· Oil: A neutral oil, such as vegetable oil, adds moisture without imparting flavor.
· Eggs: Four whole eggs lend moisture and help bind the carrot cake batter together.
· Vanilla: Two teaspoons of vanilla extract for the cake (and one teaspoon for the frosting) enhances the flavor.
· Flour: All-purpose flour creates structure and brings the batter together.
· Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon adds that warm, cozy flavor you associate with carrot cake.
· Salt: Salt enhances the flavors of the other ingredients, but it won’t make the cake taste salty.
· Carrots: Of course, you’ll need grated carrots!
· Pecans: Chopped pecans give the cake and frosting a pleasant crunch.
· Butter and cream cheese: Butter and cream cheese are the key ingredients in the light and fluffy cream cheese frosting.

How to Make Carrot Cake

Here’s a very brief overview of what you can expect when you make homemade carrot cake:

1. Make the batter: Beat the wet ingredients together, then mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in the carrots and fold in the pecans.
2. Bake the cake: Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan or pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean.
3. Frost the cake: Beat the frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Stir in the pecans. Frost the (completely cooled) cake.

HOW TO STORE CARROT CAKE?

If the carrot cake is undecorated, simply place it in an airtight container, where it will keep for up to a week. If the carrot cake is decorated with cream cheese frosting, you will need to store the cake in the fridge – ideally in an airtight container, or at least covered. The decorated cake should keep for 3 days in the fridge.

CAN YOU FREEZE CARROT CAKE?

If the carrot cake is undecorated then, yes – you can freeze it. Once completely cold, wrap it first in a double layer of baking paper and then in a double layer of foil. Properly wrapped, the cake should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

If the carrot cake is decorated then, no – it’s not suitable for freezing and should be stored in the fridge and eaten within 3 days.

Ingredients

Cake:
350 g self raising flour sieved
325 g dark soft brown sugar sieved
2 teaspoons cinnamon
250 g carrots grated
75 g walnuts roughly chopped
4 medium eggs
200 ml olive oil (See Note 1)
4 tablespoons milk

Frosting (optional):
180 g full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Original)
30 g icing sugar sieved
25 g walnuts finely chopped

Instructions

Super Simple Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease and line the bottom and sides of a 22cm / 9inch round cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper. (See above for step-by-step instructions.)
Mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, roughly chopped walnuts and grated carrots in a large bowl.
Beat together the eggs, olive oil and milk in a large jug.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly, stirring to make sure all the flour is incorporated.
Tip the cake mixture into the lined cake tin and cook for 1h – 1h15, or until a skewer comes out clean. (If you don’t own a skewer, use a teaspoon handle instead!)

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting (optional):
Simply mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together and spread it on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the finely chopped walnuts on the top to decorate.

Notes

-Allspice is optional. If you don’t care for allspice in baked goods, you can halve or omit it completely.
-To grate the carrots, use the large-hole side of your cheese grater and measure the grated carrots by piling them loosely in your measuring cup. Do not pack them in.
Store cake covered in the refrigerator.
-Approximate nutritional information is for 20 slices.

Adapted from Allrecipes