Carrot cake is one of the UK’s favourite teatime staples, with its delicious spiced flavour, incomparable texture, and rich icing.
This easy recipe will deliver a perfectly moist and indulgent carrot cake in no time, so it’s perfect for making on a whim or on the arrival of unexpected guests.
Sharing this classic treat, BBC Good Food pointed out: “Top this classic carrot cake with moreish cream cheese icing and chopped walnuts or pecans.
“Serve as a sweet treat with a cup of tea any time of the day.”
Best served at room temperature, this classic carrot cake will keep in the fridge for up to five days and serve 10 to 12.
Easy carrot cake recipe
Ingredients
230ml vegetable oil, plus extra for the tin
100g natural yogurt
Four large eggs
One and a half tsp vanilla extract
Half orange, zested
265g self-raising flour
335g light muscovado sugar
Two and a half tsp ground cinnamon
Quarter fresh nutmeg, finely grated
265g carrots (about three), grated
100g sultanas or raisins
100g walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped (optional)
For the icing
100g slightly salted butter, softened
300g icing sugar
100g soft cheese
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) or gas mark 4. Grease and line the bottoms and sides of two 20cm round cake pans with baking parchment. In a jug, whisk together the oil, yoghurt, eggs, vanilla extract, and orange zest.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Use your fingers to break up any sugar clumps, giving the bowl a gentle shake to bring any larger bits to the top.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, then add the grated carrots, raisins, and half of the chopped nuts (if using). Stir everything together until fully combined, then divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. If the skewer has wet batter on it, bake for another five minutes and check again. Let the cakes cool in their pans.
For the frosting, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add half of the softened cream cheese, mixing well before adding the rest (this step helps to prevent the icing from separating).
Once the cakes have cooled and been removed from the pans, spread half of the cream cheese frosting between the layers to sandwich them together. Spread the remaining frosting on top and sprinkle with the remaining chopped walnuts.
Store the cake in the fridge for up to five days, but it’s best served at room temperature.