Incredibly Moist & Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
A piece of Emma Fontanella’s incredibly moist and easy carrot cake, with quick cream cheese frosting
About my Incredibly Moist & Easy Blender Carrot Cake
This might be the easiest ever carrot cake recipe! It's so easy and delicious, and so quick to make you'll want to make it every day. It’s 100% made from scratch. The secret to the recipe being so quick and easy is that the entire cake batter comes together in less than one minute using a blender.
There’s no grating of carrot required with this recipe. Sometimes grating hard vegetables like carrots can be accident prone. It’s easy to slip, and accidentally grate yourself instead of the carrot! Anyone who’s been cooking for a while will surely have experience this! Using the blender is quick, safer, and less fuss. And because with this methid, the cake batter itself is made in the same blender, there’s less clean-up too.
This recipe can be found in my new cookbook, Simple Pleasures. In the book, you’ll find many more quick and easy “snacking cake” recipes like this one, including a blender chocolate cake, vanilla tres leches cake, chocolate tres leches cake, one-bowl lemon pound cake, coffee crumb cake and more.
Is carrot cake healthier than regular cake?
Unfortunately, it’s a myth that carrot cake is healthier than regular cake. I think we all know that cake isn’t a healthy options, or a weight loss option. Adding a bit of carrot doesn’t change that! Having said that, I don’t like to think of any food as being healthy or unhealthy. Rather, I prefer to think of particular foods as something you might want to eat more of, or less of. As long as you eat desserts or snacks like cake in moderation, it’s absolutely fine.
How long will carrot cake stay fresh?
Unfrosted carrot cake will keep in the fridge for about a week. If frozen, it will stay good for 2 to 3 months, but really it’s best eaten with a month for the best quality. Frosted carrot cake will keep in the fridge for a few days. If the cake has been cut into pieces, it will deteriorate faster than if you leave it whole.
Why does my homemade carrot cake fall in the middle?
There are various reasons why a cake sinks in the middle. It could be a bad recipe—if there’s too much leavening agent in the recipe creates, too much gas will be created which will make the cake rise so much it can’t support its own weight and sinks when you take it out of the oven. You might have measured out the ingredients inaccurately—for cake making, it’s really best to weight the ingredients using a digital scale, rather than using cups measurements. You might have incorporated too much air into the cake batter as you were mixing it—generally, you don’t want to incorporate air into cake batters. Instead let the leavening agents like baking powder do their job. You might have not cooked the cake for long enough—remember all timings for baking in cake recipes are only a guide because every oven is different. Instead of relying on a set timing, use the toothpick test to know when your cake is perfectly baked.
Make Ahead and Freeze
This frosted carrot cake can be kept in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days. Take it out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving.
To freeze the unfrosted cake, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to a month. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Take the defrosted cake out of the fridge an hour before frosting and serving, to allow it come closer to room temperature.
Variations
You can use this carrot cake recipe to make cupcakes (it will yield 10 to 12 cupcakes). To make the carrot cupcakes:
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners
Divide the batter evenly among the paper liners.
Bake for around 18 to 20 minutes (do the toothpick test to check when they're ready)
Allow to cool completely before frosting.
EQUIPMENT
7-inch (18cm) square cake pan
Blender
Handheld mixer or stand mixer
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CAKE
1½ medium carrots (115g), peeled and cut into large chunks
½ cup (100g) neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable
1 large egg
½ cup (120g) whole milk, at room temperature
½ cup (100g) brown sugar (light or dark)
1 cup (150g) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
FOR THE FROSTING
6oz (150g) Philadelphia cream cheese, cold
½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven and prepare the pan
Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C). Grease and flour the cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Make the cake batter
Pulsing carrot in a blender to quickly shred it finely.
In a high-speed blender, pulse the carrots until finely shredded.
Add the remaining ingredients into the blender in this order: oil, egg, milk, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and vinegar add the vinegar directly onto the baking soda).
Pulse the blender on and off at medium-high speed for 8 to 10 seconds (no more than this). We don’t want to over mix the batter, or incorporate too much air into it. This could cause the cake to sink after it’s baked—see the section “Why does my homemade carrot cake fall in the middle?” above
At this point, you'll most likely have some unmixed ingredients on the sides or bottom of the blender, but don't continue to blend. Instead, using a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the blender to finish combining all the ingredients.
Bake the cake
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake for around 22 to
25 minutes. The check when the cake is done, do the toothpick test. When the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready.
Cool the cake
Removing the parchment paper from the carrot cake, before allowing it to cool completely.
Allow the cake to sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently turn it over onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment paper, and allow to cool completely.
Make the frosting
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or in a medium bowl, if using a handheld mixer), beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until everything is well combined and the frosting has a loose, creamy texture. This is the perfect texture for spreading on a one layer cake.
Frost the cake
Trimming the edges of the frosted carrot cake, for a neat presentation.
Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake.
Optionally trim the edges for a neat presentation. (The edges are a cook’s treat!)
Optionally decorate with fondant carrots.
A piece of the finished carrot cake.
Watch the video for lots more tips on how to make this carrot cake
Hi! I’m Emma Fontanella. Here you’ll find trusted, tested recipes to satisfy your baking addiction and carb cravings. Learn more…
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