The Best Moist Carrot Cake

This amazing carrot cake is perfect for Easter or any time of year! With its outstanding balance of sweetness and spice flavours, moist crumb, and velvety cream cheese frosting, this is truly the best carrot cake ever!

My go-to carrot cake can be made into a multi-layered cake, cupcakes or a tray bake. And making it from scratch means that you can control what you decide to put in it, allowing you to personalize it to your taste. It’s written as I like it best, but you can make adjustments as you like. Check out my variations section for suggestions.

The frosting is delicious and the type of cream cheese used is very important. The number one reason for runny frosting is accidentally using cream cheese spread or low-fat versions. I have included the recipe for the cream cheese with the carrot cake but I recommend reading my post on cream cheese frosting to help you get it spot on.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂

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INGREDIENTS

For this easy carrot cake recipe, all you need are these ingredients:

• Raisins – plump juicy raisins add a little sweetness and texture to the sponge.

• Plain (all-purpose) flour – builds structure.

• Shredded coconut – adds structure, and texture and helps to keep the cake moist.

• Baking powder and baking soda – are chemical leavening agents which increase the volume of the ingredients, creating a nice light fluffy texture.

• Spices – add the most delicious aromatic flavour. The recipe calls for ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

• Nuts – chopped pecans or walnuts are folded into the batter and used to decorate this cake for flavour and texture.

• Freshly grated carrots and apples – give this cake a delicious flavour and add moisture.

• Neutral-tasting oil (vegetable, rapeseed or sunflower oil) – creates moisture, makes the cake light and lengthens the cake’s life span. I prefer using oil in cakes where possible as oil remains liquid at room temperature, whereas butter solidifies and creates a much denser, less fluffy cake.  

• Caster sugar – adds structure and sweetness to the sponge.

• Light brown sugar – creates a caramel undertone and helps keep the cake moist.

• Lemon juice and zest – add a little tanginess to the cake, cutting through the sweetness of the carrots and apple.

• Eggs – helps to bind the ingredients together and add flavour.

• Salt – I highly recommend adding a good pinch of salt to your cakes. It might seem a bit weird, but it actually has the incredible ability to enhance sweetness, suppress bitterness, and elevate the flavour of all the ingredients, making your cake taste even better. It’s pretty crazy, the sodium in the salt sends signals to move glucose into your tongue’s sweet taste receptors, making the sweetness really pop. So, don’t be afraid to sprinkle a little salt – it’ll take your cakes to the next level!
  I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt, but any good quality salt is fine.

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SUBSTITUTIONS

While I am making recommendations for alternative ingredients, I haven’t necessarily tried them. If you try making any adaptions, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION

• Flour: replace the gluten flour with a 1:1 alternative gluten free flour, such as Doves Farm Free plain gluten free flour. If possible, choose a flour which contains xanthan gum or alternatively, add 1 tsp to your batter for stability. You can also try Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour.

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WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

As I mentioned, this carrot cake recipe can easily be adapted with a few simple ingredient changes, allowing you to personalize it to your taste.

• Dried fruits: try different fruits, such as currants, sultanas, Medjool dates, dried cranberries or pineapple. I almost always plump up my dried fruit, this way they don’t remove moisture from the cake when its baking. Before starting to make your cake, pour boiling water over the dried fruit, then begin making your cake and simply drain the fruit when the time comes to use them.

• Citrus: try the grated zest of an orange and a tablespoon of juice instead of the lemon.

• Chocolates: if you fancy a little chocolate, add some chocolate chips to the cake mix.

• Nuts: replace the pecans with walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.

• Spices: use different spices, like cloves, cardamom or allspice. And instead of ground ginger, you can replace it with stem ginger giving a real warm and pungent complementary kick to the carrots and apple.

TRAYBAKE AND CUPCAKES

Because frosting can be a little fiddly and time-consuming, try making muffins or a tray bake instead.

TRAY BAKE – half the recipe will make: a (20cm / 8in square pan), bake at 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F / gas 5 for 26-30 minutes. Check out my cream cheese frosting for the ultimate finish.

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NUTRITION

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STORAGE AND FREEZING

Cover leftover frosted cake tightly or store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. The cake is best eaten within 4-5 days. I prefer to serve the cake at room temperature, so let the cake sit out for an hour before serving it.

Make ahead – This carrot cake gets better with time, the flavours develop, the moisture prevails, and the cream cheese frosting sets into the layers. You can make and frost the cake a day in advance.

Freezing: While you can freeze the frosted cake I would not recommend it. I would suggest wrapping unfrosted cooled cake layers in clingfilm/plastic wrap. Place them inside a freezer bag and in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.

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TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here is some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Earthenware Mixing Bowl Mason Cash, Cream 29 cm Chip Resistant.

I like the sturdiness of this bowl and its 4 litre capacity means I can use it for mixing just about everything in the kitchen. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.

• Mixing Bowls Set of 5, Stainless Steel Nesting Bowls with Airtight Lids, 3 Grater Attachments, Size 5, 3, 2, 1.5, 0.63 QT

These different size mixing bowls are really useful depending on the amount of food you are preparing. They also have airtight lids that fit snugly to seal and keep food fresh, great for using as dry storage bowls with lids. The plastic lid of the largest bowl has a removable centre, where one of 3 graters can be used for grating cheese or vegetables.

• 3 Plastic Mixing Bowls, Non-Slip Base, Soft Grip Handle, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe, Compact, Stackable, Ideal for baking and cooking, off-white, 1.5 Litre, 2 Litre, 2.5 Litre.

I do own a plastic mixing bowl but I am personally not a big fan of them. These 3 bowls are on the smaller size but good for the odd cake making.

• Wilton Aluminium 20cm / 8-Inch Round Cake Pan Set, 2-Piece

These aluminium pans are good, make sure to line them to avoid any disappointment.

• Springform Round Cake Pan/Tin, Loose Base 20cm (8 inch)

These springform pans make removing cakes from them after baking a doddle. I personally tend to line them as often as possible to ensure that my cakes don’t break for added security.

• Breville Classic Combo Stand and Hand Mixer | 3.7 Litre Stainless Steel Bowl | Swivel Control, Whisk, Dough Hooks and Beaters

I like this model of electric hand mixer because it comes with a large stand, meaning you don’t have to always hold it.

Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.

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RECIPE TIPS

Lining your pan – I highly recommend lining your pan with baking parchment paper, it makes it so much easier to remove the cakes.

Domed sponges – I have not had an issue with this recipe but if your cakes come out of the oven with an extra large domed top I would recommend giving it a little trim. A flat cake can be stacked much more easily and looks visually appealing. Use a long serrated knife to carefully slice the rounded tops off each layer.

Frosting – Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting them. This is important because it will prevent the frosting from melting when applied to a warm cake.

Decorating – I lined the sides of the cake with crushed pecans and topped the cake with candied carrot curls.
Alternatively, you can use a piping tip to pipe frosting swirls on top of the cake or create piped carrot shapes out of coloured frosting. For a more simple design, you can just spread the frosting on top and garnish with sprinkles, cinnamon, flaked coconut or any chopped nuts. If you use lemon or orange instead, you can decorate it with lemon/orange slices.