Don't Like Carrots? Put Them in a Cake! 6 Tasty Carrot Cake Recipes and Tips on How to Make the Perfect Carrot Cake (2019)

Don't Like Carrots? Put Them in a Cake! 6 Tasty Carrot Cake Recipes and Tips on How to Make the Perfect Carrot Cake (2019)

Just in time for Easter, it's time to master the art of baking the perfect carrot cake. There are all kinds of variations out there, but if you're looking for a tried-and-true, no-frills recipe, this one is all you need. The best part is that it's easier than you think to whip up this delicious masterpiece. Here are the steps that'll get you there.

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Some of the Carrot Cakes Recipes to Die for

Simple Carrot Cake without Eggs .

If you are someone who is a pure vegetarian then you would surely like this simple carrot cake recipe which involves no eggs in it. It is easy to make and most importantly superb in taste.

What You Need
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour and ¾ granulated sugar
  • Baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract – 1 tsp each
  • Grated nutmeg, salt – ¼ tsp each
  • 1/4 + 2 tbsp oil and ¼ cup milk
  • 1 cup grated carrot and ¼ cup water
  • 2-3 tbsp chopped walnuts

How to Make It
  • Preheat oven to 350F for at least 10 minutes and grease 9 inch cake pan
  • Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and keep aside. Mix oil and sugar in another bowl.
  • Add milk, vanilla extract and water to oil and sugar and mix well.
  • Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients in half-half quantity and mix well to make sure there are no lumps. Add grated carrots in last and fold the mixture.
  • Pour the batter into baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes and its ready.

Super Moist Carrot Cake with Eggs

Although carrot cakes are moist without making any efforts you should better know how to keep that moisture intact in the cake throughout. We have one perfect recipe for the same so check it out right below.

What You Need
  • 200gms light brown sugar and ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt and 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg and ½ tsp salt
  • 2 cups finely grated carrots and ¾ cup pecan pieces

How to Make It
  • Preheat the oven to 350F and line 9 inch baking pan.
  • Combine brown sugar and oil through a hand mixer on medium speed. Beat in the yogurt then and when it becomes thick add eggs one at a time followed by vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside.
  • Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add into wet ingredients slowly. Then mix carrots and pecan pieces and fold it.
  • Pour the batter into baking pan and bake for 32-38 minutes and your cake is ready.

Pineapple Carrot Cake

One of the most popular recipes of moist cakes is carrot cake with pineapple. The combination may sound weird but tastes amazing and you should totally try it out as well. We are providing a simple but delicious recipe of carrot cake with lots of pineapples inside.

What You Need
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour and ¾ cup light brown sugar
  • baking powder and vanilla extract – 2 tsp each
  • 1 tsp baking soda and 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ground ginger and ground nutmeg – ½ tsp each
  • 1/2 granulated sugar and ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 4 large eggs and 2 ½ cups finely grated carrots
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple

How to Make It
  • Preheat the oven to 350F and line two 9 inch baking pan and set them aside.
  • Sift dry ingredients in a bowl except sugar and set aside.
  • Take sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla extract into another bowl and stir pineapple and carrots in it. Now, add the dry ingredients mixture in it and fold well.
  • Divide the batter in two pans and bake for 25-30 minutes then serve with dry fruits on top.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

It is the time for you to learn how to make a carrot cake with delicious cream cheese frosting on top. This is going to be a rather complex recipe so make sure that you follow it step by step. You can also use this cream cheese frosting for other recipes mentioned above too.

What You Need
  • 400gms finely grated carrots and 2 cups caster sugar
  • 4 eggs and 400ml sunflower oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 125 gms raisins and ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar and 480gms cream cheese at room temperature

How to Make It
  • Take caster sugar, oil and eggs in a bowl and whisk until thick. Sift flour, cinnamon and baking powder in it and mix gently followed by grated carrots and combine well.
  • Grease 9 inch baking pan and pour mixture in it and bake for 70-80 minutes at 340F.
  • Let them cool and prepare frosting by combining cream cheese and butter into a bowl on medium-high speed.
  • Then add powdered sugar and vanilla extract until it becomes smooth then decorate as needed.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies

Who said we are going to restrict this section to carrot cakes recipes only. We decided to move a step further and this is why here is a healthy carrot cake oatmeal cookies for you all. This recipe is perfect for people who are health-conscious and still have a sweet tooth.

What You Need
  • 1 cup instant oats and 1 cup grated carrot
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon and a dash of salt
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil and 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla and ½ cup honey

How to Make It
  • Take instant oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk them together.
  • Take another large bowl and whisk eggs, coconut oil and vanilla followed by honey and then stir.
  • Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients then fold carrots into it. It will form a dough so cover it with plastic wrap and let it chill for 1 hour into refrigerator.
  • Preheat the oven to 350F and line baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
  • Use ice cream scoop and put the ball of cookies on baking sheet in some distance. Bake for 11-13 minutes and let them cool before serving.

Carrot Cake Loaf

Source www.bbc.co.uk

Another unique and interesting recipe that we came across while looking for how to make carrot cake is this carrot cake loaf. This is a wonderful break from the regular carrot cake recipe and we are also mentioning the orange cream cheese icing you can use for this loaf here.

What You Need
  • 300gms grated carrot and 180gms self raising flour
  • 140ml vegetable oil and 2 free range eggs
  • 200gms light brown sugar and 100gms raisins
  • 75gms pecans and 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp soda and 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and ½ tsp mixed spices
  • 200gms chilled cream cheese and 50gms butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract and 50gms icing sugar
  • 1 orange zest

How to Make It
  • Preheat the oven to 130C and oil and line a 900gm loaf tin with baking paper.
  • Now, take a large bowl and beat eggs in it then add brown sugar, oil, grated carrots, chopped nuts and raisins in it.
  • Sift the remaining ingredients into the bowl and mix using a wooden spoon.
  • Pour the prepared batter into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to make sure the loaf is fully baked.
  • Let the cake cool down for some time and move towards making the icing.
  • For icing beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Then add vanilla extract, icing sugar and orange zest to make smooth mixture.
  • Spread the icing on the loaf and serve by cutting slices.

Tips for Making the Best Carrot Cake Ever

Thanks to the multiple recipes we found during our research, now you can resolve your query of how to make a carrot cake with great expertise. However, making carrot cake is different from making regular cakes and you need some tips and trick to make sure you make a perfect carrot cake every single time. So, here are the few things to keep in mind while making a carrot cake at home.

Citrusy Twist

Sometimes carrot cake can be too sweet to eat and because of no variations, it becomes impossible to eat the whole cake to yourself.

We got a perfect tip for this issue.

  • You can add a citrusy twist to the cake which can bring out an amazing flavour to the cake.
  • Don’t worry as it is not going to taste absurd or weird at all and doesn’t even affect the shelf life of the cake too.
  • The twist of orange zest into carrot cake really brings out an amazing flavour which really pops.
  • You just need a pinch for it and you are good to go.
  • We have also mentioned a recipe with orange cream cheese frosting which you can also try for some twist.

Avoid Using too Much Baking Powder

We have already mentioned the best moist carrot cake recipe for you .

But there is a little detail you must take care of.

  • Mane cooks add a lot of baking powder in carrot cake to avoid its dense and oil-based texture.
  • Unfortunately, too much baking powder can add chemical flavor into the cake and can also take away its moisture too.
  • For this you can stream in the oil after vigorously beating the eggs and sugar together.
  • This will solve your problem of oily texture like a pro.

Add Brown Sugar

This is not just about carrot cake but including brown sugar in other cake’s recipe can turn out to be a miraculous addition for them.

But there is a trick that you should know about before replacing all the white sugar with brown sugar.

  • You just need to remove half of the white sugar and replace it with brown sugar.
  • This makes your carrot cake amazing in colour and richer in texture too.
  • You can also mix grated carrot with brown sugar for 15 minutes before making the batter.
  • This produces natural juice and hence makes the cake more moist and wonderful in flavour too.

Nuts and Coconut for Amazing Flavor

You would never want to learn the recipe for how to make carrot cake which is too regular and too bland.

This is why all of the recipes that we mentioned above are consisted of some sort of nuts or other additions into it.

  • The reason is pretty simple, to add flavors and crunch into the cake.
  • Pineapple and coconut are two healthy and amazing additions to use.
  • You can also include different types of nuts like cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecan etc. into the cake as well.

Fruits for Sweetness

If you want to create a healthier version of carrot cake then you can rely on the natural sweetness of the fruits instead of that of the sugar. Of course, the carrots are also naturally sweet but baking lowers down the sweetness to quite some extent.

You can use canned crushed pineapple to sweeten your cake and it is great for health too.

  • Pineapples taste amazing and you also get fibers and antioxidants through it too.
  • Raisins, prune puree and applesauce are also some other natural sweetener to use.

Fine Grating

Whether it is the easy carrot cake recipes or the complex ones, you can find the clear instruction in all the recipe which is to grate the carrot finely.

You must avoid using chunky pieces into the cake so that it doesn’t ruin the texture of the cake.

  • Also, there is a probability that chunky pieces or thickly grated carrot might not get baked or cooked in the cake.
  • While finely grated carrot gets distributed more evenly and get baked even nicely. In fact, fine grating even complement the texture of the cake too.

Pinch of Spices are Always Good

Adding some spices into your carrot cake can add a lot of variations and dimensions into it. In fact, we got a lot of different options for you too.

You can try spices like cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, allspice etc. to bring a unique sweet-spicy combination in the cake.

  • Make sure to avoid over doing anything otherwise you can spoil the real flavor of the cake for sure.
  • Make sure to do not overwhelm the natural flavor of carrots at all otherwise the outcome won’t be pleasing.
  • You can also try a pinch of powdered ginger too.
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From our editorial team

You Need a Good Recipe to Start with

A good scratch carrot cake recipe is really the only way to go. GOOD being the keyword there, am I right? When you get a good recipe right there is nothing else quite like it. A good scratch carrot cake recipe really is a must-have in your collection of staple recipes