Combine the goodness of healthy recipes and desserts into sweet, earthy, and fragrant Carrot Cake! Using vegetables like carrots can truly give you a guilt-free baked delight.
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This cake is also perfect for celebrations, Thanksgiving, and especially weekend meals. Carrot Cake is 100% family-friendly for kids and adults!
How to Make Carrot Cake
Homemade carrot cake is not at all complicated to bake. You might even feel excited about turning over a new leaf to a well-balanced lifestyle. Rest assured that you won’t feel guilty after devouring this delightful pastry!
Ingredients
Carrots
Carrots are highly nutritious, tasteful, and appetizing vegetables that are surprisingly great ingredients for desserts. They can instantly and genuinely elevate the quality and health value of the cake.
I love using these vegetables for juices, coleslaw, and carrot powder. If you have a baby, you might also be interested in trying my Carrot Puree recipe for baby weaning!
Plain flour
This is a necessary ingredient for the foundation and the rise of the cake. It creates a bouncy, fluffy, and moist texture throughout the pastry.
Caster sugar
Aside from contributing a sweet flavor, caster sugar also helps with the light yet rich quality of the crumbs. Its granules are so fine that you won’t feel them as you bite into the carrot cake.
Baking powder
Baking powder makes the best leavening agent for cakes. It reacts well to the different ingredients for an airy rise.
Bicarbonate of soda
To enhance the rise of the cake, bicarbonate soda can do wonders. It even adds a foreign tangy flavor to enrich the carrot cake taste. You can never go wrong with combining this with baking powder.
Salt
Don’t skip the salt to tone down the sweetness of the cake. It also instantly enhances the flavor of the cake.
Eggs
For a perfectly-structured cake, all you need are eggs. It improves consistency as well as the creamy quality that the pastry needs.
Carrot oil
This unique homemade ingredient will not put your efforts to waste. Carrot oil is a natural and organic condiment for desserts. For homemade carrot oil, check out this easy guide on how I prepare it at home:
Vanilla extract
Even a bit of vanilla extract can make a huge difference in the carrot cake. This is also a way of creating an illusion that the carrot cake actually has vanilla.
If you think store-bought cake is good, wait until you relish this homemade dessert. You might even find yourself making this every other week!
Directions
- Rinse the carrot.
- Peel the vegetable with a peeler and grate it using a grater.
- Filter and mix the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and sea salt with a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl.
- In a separate container, beat the eggs with a whisk and add the caster or powdered sugar.
- Add the carrot oil and vanilla extract.
- Use a spatula to fold the wet and dry ingredients together until well incorporated.
- Put in the grated carrots and fold them into the batter.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C.
- Grease and line a cake tin with parchment paper.
- Pour in the batter. Tap it on the counter to even out.
- Bake it for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the oven.
- To test for doneness, use a cake tester or a skewer. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
- Place it on a cooling rack and serve!
This might as well be the best cake recipe you will ever try. It has the flavor, the texture, and most importantly, the nutrients!
Tips
How to Buy and Preserve Carrots
Selection. Purchase fresh carrots that are in proper shape with smooth and vibrant orange skin. The leaves should also be healthy green in color. Avoid ones with wilted leaves, discoloration, and soft spots.
Storage. Whole carrots should last up to 4 days at room temperature. Alternatively, remove the leaves and store the carrots in containers to refrigerate to last up to 4 weeks.
Peeled carrots can also be stored in resealable bags or containers with water to last up to 5 days. For sliced carrots, store them in sealed containers to refrigerate and use within three weeks.
How to Make Caster Sugar
If you don’t have caster sugar, you can easily make it at home. Just use a blender, spice grinder, or food processor to powderize the sugar until you achieve a fine and powder-like texture.
Store it in an airtight container and in a dry area to last up to several months and even years.
How to Make Carrot Oil
This antioxidant-rich and nutrient-filled carrot oil not only comes with skin and hair benefits but also for food!
Rinse, peel, and grate the carrots. Spread the strips evenly on a lined baking tray. Dehydrate the carrots for two days under the sun and 6 to 10 hours in the dehydrator or oven. Then, blend it until smooth and powdered. Sieve it before storage.
Using your favorite coconut oil, combine it with the carrot powder. Preserve contents in a glass jar to shield them from heat, light, and moisture. And you now have your own carrot oil!
How to Bake a Cake Without an Oven
According to Femina, there are several ways you can do to cook a cake.
Pour the batter into a microwaveable dish and tap it to remove the bubbles. Microwave it for 7 minutes and check for doneness with a skewer or cake tester. If the cake is still raw, cook it for a few minutes until fully baked.
In the pot
Preheat a non-stick pot over medium heat and place a wire rack inside. Place the covered cake tin in the pot and let it cook for 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
Steamer
Cover the cake tin and let it cook in the steamer for about an hour before checking for doneness. Add more water once evaporated.
Preheat the air fryer to 160°C for 10 minutes. Then, place the covered cake tin in the basket to cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until baked all the way through. Always check the cake for doneness before taking it out of the air fryer.
Carrot Cake Variations
To make this recipe vegan and vegetarian, use flax eggs or other egg substitutes instead of regular eggs. You can also make a gluten-free version by using gluten-free flour for a recipe that’s better suited for your diet.
A new and improved version of this cake can be taken to the next level by adding walnuts, cinnamon, raisins, nutmeg, apple sauce, macadamia nuts, cashews, and more! In fact, you can also add chocolate chips, coffee, and other flavorings.
Aside from baking the batter into a cake, you can also transform it into a cupcake, muffins, pancakes, and cookies.
More Cake Recipes For You!
Recommended Tools
- Cake tin: Pour the batter into a cake tin for structure.
- Spatula: Combine and fold the ingredients with a spatula.
- Cake tester: Use these tools to check the cake for doneness.
- Grater: Process the carrots with a grater before putting carrots in the batter.
- Whisk: Mix the ingredients with a whisk.
- Sieve: Filter the dry ingredients with a fine-mesh sieve.
- Knife: Slice the carrots with a knife.
- Peeler: Remove the carrot skin with a peeler.
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How to Serve Carrot Cake
Carrot cake makes an amazing breakfast or brunch, dessert, or snack. It’s the perfect alternative to chips and sugar-filled food that can potentially harm your health. Moreover, you can bake this as a substitute for conventional cake flavors.
This recipe is definitely an amazing way of introducing a fresh, healthy, and delicious pastry. You can also frost it with any flavor or cream of your choice. For color and texture, top it up with nuts, grated carrots, berries, and more.
Pair it with refreshing and nutritious drinks such as:
According to The Infinite Kitchen, there are about 326 calories in a single slice of carrot cake. The number of slices you can have depends on the calories you consume every day so eat carrot cake moderately to avoid weight gain and blood sugar spikes.
Storage Tips
- At room temperature: Put the carrot cake in a container, and you can let it sit at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is carrot cake healthy?
Yes, carrot cake is absolutely healthy. Aside from making it from scratch, you also get to use fresh, natural, and nutritious carrots for your favorite dessert.
You can also customize it to your liking by using your preferred icing and toppings.
Why do carrot cakes use oil instead of butter?
Carrot cake is cooked with oil because it helps keep the cake moist and well-preserved. It also prevents weakening the leavening agent to give the dish light and spongy texture inside.
Is carrot cake actually made with carrots?
There are lots of ingredients that can go into carrot cake but ensure that these ingredients intensify and do not replace the flavor of the carrots. Use other ingredients to enhance the overall quality of the carrots.
Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g carrots (grated)
- 250 g plain flour
- 125 g caster sugar
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup carrot oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the carrots.Rinse, peel, and grate the carrots. You can also use a food processor to achieve finer consistency.
- Make the batter.Sieve plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and sea salt over a bowl. Mix until well combined. In a separate container, whisk the eggs and add the caster or powdered sugar. Add the carrot oil and vanilla extract. Fold the wet and dry ingredients together until well incorporated. Put in the grated carrots and fold them into the batter. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line a springform cake tin with parchment paper. Pour in the batter. Tap it on the counter to even out.
- Bake the cake. Cook it for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the oven. To test for doneness, use a cake tester or a skewer. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Place it on a cooling rack and serve!
Video
Notes
- Measure the ingredients properly for a flavorful and evenly textured cake.
- You can also cook this in a microwave, in a pot, with a steamer, or in an air fryer.
- Babies can have carrot cake as early as 2 years of age.
- If the cake has not risen, it means that the leavening agent is no longer viable for use. To avoid this problem, test the baking powder before putting it in the batter.
- The overflowing cake is due to too much batter poured into the cake tin. Always pour only up to ¾ of the cake tin.
- If the carrot cake falls apart too easily, this means that there is too much flour in the batter. Flour tends to absorb the moisture of the other ingredients, so measure it properly to get a fluffy and well-textured cake.
Nutrition
