Making a cake from scratch can be an uncertain venture, with many components needed to get it right. A good recipe should make a reliable bake, but everything from the oven temperature to greasing the cake tin can affect the result.
The main goal of carrot cake is to ensure that it is moist but not too wet, which proves challenging if you get the wrong balance of liquid and dry ingredients. A cooking expert at Food52 has revealed their go-to recipe, which calls upon a popular tinned fruit in addition to the classic ingredients. This carrot cake recipe, which one fan said was “the most amazing cake [they’d] eaten for months,” includes pineapple for delectable results.
Carrot cake recipe
Ingredients
250g plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
Two teaspoons of baking powder
One teaspoon salt
Two teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
200g sugar
250ml extra-virgin olive oil
Four large eggs
Two teaspoons of vanilla extract
Three large or five small carrots, grated
165g tinned pineapple, finely minced (crusted), plus the juice
100g walnuts, toasted and chopped
This moist cake can be topped with a generous layer of buttercream or cream cheese frosting, for which the recipe creator, Erin Herring, suggests a thick layer of sesame and vanilla frosting.
You can make a simple buttercream frosting using 125g softened butter, 250g sifted icing sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, and one or two tablespoons of milk. This makes enough to spread generously on top of a large cake.
Sesame buttercream ingredients
- 225g butter at room temperature
- 435g icing sugar, sifted
- 60ml whole milk
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 80g tahini
Method
Preheat the oven to 175C and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray or wiping it with butter. Cut a large piece of parchment to fit just the bottom.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisking to combine the ingredients, and set aside.
Mix the sugar, extra-virgin olive oil, eggs, and vanilla in another medium-sized mixing bowl until well combined. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl until fully incorporated.
Now peel the carrots and grate them on a box grater until you have two packed cups worth. Fold the carrots into the batter.
Roughly chop the toasted walnuts and fold them into the batter until incorporated. Now, for the pineapple, weigh out your pineapple rings or chunks, along with the juice that comes out with them. Reserve the juice, mince the pineapple, then add both to the batter until well combined.
Spread the batter evenly into the greased cake pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, checking and rotating after 20 minutes. After half an hour, check to see if a skewer comes out clean and adjust the time accordingly.
Once the cake is cool, remove it from the pan by carefully releasing the sides with a small palette knife. Place the pan upside down onto a cutting board and lightly tap the pan until the cake releases from the pan.
To make the buttercream, beat it until soft, add in the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat it medium to high speed for three minutes.
Scrape the bowl. Add the milk, vanilla, and salt with the beater on low speed. Once combined, continue to beat the frosting for a full seven minutes. According to Erin, it is important to beat the frosting for the full time to get fluffy and airy frosting.
Scrape the bowl well and stream in the tahini on low speed. Beat until the tahini is just incorporated.
Finish by frosting the top and sides. You can also leave the cake in the pan—just frost and serve.
