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–+ servings
A piece of Carrot Cake on a flowered plate
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5 from 3 votes

Carrot Cake - with cream cheese frosting

Carrot Cake made with butter and with an orange cream cheese frosting.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cooling Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 50 minutes
Course: Teatime
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 slices
Author: Susie@Everyday Cooks

Ingredients

For the Carrot Cake:

  • 200 g peeled carrots, start with 250g unpeeled
  • 100 g pecans
  • 250 g butter at room temperature
  • 300 g soft light brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 200 g plain/all-purpose flour
  • 60 g ground almonds
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (2.5ml)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder (7.5ml)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (10ml)
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg (2.5ml)
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger (2.5ml)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract (5ml)
  • 100 g sultanas or raisins

For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 50 g butter at room temperature
  • 100 g full-fat cream cheese
  • 300 g icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract (5ml)

Equipment

20cm/8-inch deep round cake tin
Baking parchment circle

Instructions

Preparation:

  • Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 150°C fan/ gas mark 3/ 325°F
  • Grease the tin and line the base with a baking parchment circle (see notes)
  • Peel and coarsely grate the carrots
  • Roughly chop the pecans

For the cake:

  • Weigh all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl except the carrots, sultanas and pecans. Use an electric mixer to beat together until you have a smooth mixture
    (Butter, Sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla and orange extracts)
  • Add the carrots, sultanas and pecans and mix in with a large spoon to avoid chopping them up
  • Pour or spoon the mixture into the greased and lined tin and level the top with a knife
  • Cook for 60-90 minutes. It's cooked when you can insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean
  • Cool in the tin.

For the frosting:

  • Measure the ingredients into a medium-sized bowl and beat together until smooth - but don't overbeat
  • Take the cooled cake from the tin and put onto your serving plate
  • Using a palette knife, smooth the icing over the top and sides of the cake.

Notes

Everyday Cooks Tips:

  • If the butter is still hard, soften for 1 minute on defrost in the microwave. Repeat if necessary, but don't let it melt
  • Like most cake recipes this is easiest with a mixer or a food processor. At the least, you can use hand-held beaters
  • Use pre-cut  baking parchment circles to line the base of the tin
Storage:
  • This cake is best kept in the fridge, or a very cool place, once the frosting is on. It keeps well for at least a week in an airtight container in the fridge. Use within two days otherwise.
  • The un-iced cake will keep in an airtight container for at least a week without refrigeration, but as always, keep it as cool as possible.