This carrot cake is made a little differently. The carrots are cooked and pureed before being added to the batter resulting in a sweeter flavor, a richer texture, and a deliciously moist crumb.
I’ve always loved carrot cake. And I’m not really sure if that’s because of the carrot cake itself…or because it’s a convenient excuse to enjoy a thick layer of irresistible cream cheese frosting! A repressed fantasy of mine is to take an entire bowl of cream cheese frosting, grab a spoon, sit down in a comfy chair, and have at it. Ever experienced that urge? I’ve never mustered the courage to do it. Maybe someday. Someday when calories no longer stick to hips and thighs (HA!). But back to the original question. It must be the carrot cake as well that I’ve always enjoyed, otherwise the cream cheese frosting never would have made it past the mixing bowl to the cake, right? There’s just something about the cream cheese/carrot cake combo. They’re simply meant to be together. A culinary match made in heaven.
To save you a little time, you can toast the walnuts and cook/puree the carrots well in advance. You can also make the frosting a day or two ahead – just take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before spreading it onto the cake. The rest of the cake prep is a breeze – and a very quick breeze at that.
This Old Fashioned Carrot Cake has a feel of “yester-year” about it which I love. Soft, tender, rich and moist with that warming vintage taste of freshly ground nutmeg and fruity orange zest. Come pull up a chair at the kitchen table, pour a glass of milk and enjoy a slice or two.
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 cup pureed carrots (boil just under a pound of carrots until soft; drain and cool, then puree in a food processor.)
- 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (be careful to avoid the white pith of the orange, it's bitter)
- ½ cup raisins
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- To toast the walnuts, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the walnuts out on the baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the walnuts start to darken. Let the walnuts cool and then coarsely chop them.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides of the pan.
- In small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and brown sugar until combined. Add the milk, vanilla extract, orange zest and melted butter. Add the flour mixture and carrot puree and beat just until combined. Do not over-beat. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the walnuts and raisins.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use the rubber spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then carefully invert it onto a serving plate.
- To make the frosting, beat all the ingredients in a mixing bowl until combined. Spread it onto the top and sides of the cake.
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Roberta Simmons says
Have you ever used crushed pineapple or coconut in your carrot cake? One of the best ones I ever tasted included both. YUM! How would you alter the ingredients to accommodate them?
The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Roberta! Yes, I do occasionally add crushed pineapple to carrot cake. I don’t think I’ve tried it with coconut before but it sounds good. As for adding some pineapple and coconut to this recipe, I don’t think you’d have to alter it too much. I would make sure the crushed pineapple is thoroughly drained (let it sit in a sieve for a while) so the cake isn’t too soggy, and cut back a bit on the milk (maybe half). I might add an extra couple of tablespoons of flour. I’m thinking the dried shredded coconut will help absorb some of the added moisture as well. Next time I make carrot cake I think I’ll try your idea of adding the pineapple and coconut – it sounds great, thanks!
Tori says
I’m all for the fancy-schmany gourmet recipes but I always find myself coming back to these tried-and-true classics. Thanks for sharing this Kimberly!
The Daring Gourmet says
I couldn’t agree with you more, Tori :)
Anonymous says
Hi Daring Gourmet, I was fascinated by your recipe using cooked and pureed carrot! I cooked this today and it was absolutely delightful. My new fav carrot cake recipe. Thank you for sharing xx
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s wonderful! I’m so thrilled to hear that and appreciate the feedback, thank you! Best, Kimberly
Elda says
I’ve never been a carrot cake fan because I didn’t like chewing on the grated carrots in the cake. However, years ago I remember my grandmother saying that she uses baby food in her carrot because she didn’t like chewing on the carrots either. Since I figured I didn’t like carrot cake, I never obtained the recipe from her. Needless to say, I will never get that chance again.
Using puree for the cake always intrigued me and it wasn’t until the other day where I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I stumbled upon this recipe and made slight adjustments to make it vegan since I am a vegan.
I made the recipe as cupcakes. They came out ridiculously good, and so moist. My only thing is that it was so moist, it was hard to get them out of the liner as they were soooo soft. I will try adding 2 cups of flour instead of 1.5 next time.
Other than that this recipe is perfection. Thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Elda, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them! Yes, veganizing this will require some additional adjustments as the consistency of whole milk is thicker than a non-dairy alternative and things like flax eggs have a different consistency as well. It sounds like you got it pretty darn close though with just the need to increase the flour a bit. Thanks for sharing the info about your grandmother – using baby carrot food is brilliant!
RAE says
ELDA, WOULD YOU MIND SHARING YOUR VEGAN VERSION OF THIS RECIPE? THANK-YOU.
Arina says
Thanks for the recipe! ☺️🎈
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
You’re very welcome, Arina!
Mary says
I have always used grated carrot in the past, just never thought of cooking the carrot. I can imagine the flavour of the carrot will be so enhanced by puréeing that I can’t wait to make this recipe. Thankyou for the idea.
Love your new kitchen by the way. I’m so jealous!!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Mary! Doing it all ourselves took a long time, but it’s finally done and I don’t have to cook all our meals on a portable single burner anymore :) Happy baking and I hope you enjoy the cake!
Lydia says
Kimberley, I haven’t tried your recipe but I boil my grated carrots in the milk — use a higher cream content like 10% till the mixture is fairly thick, like a halva. Then I make my cake. It turns out delicious, I’d go with 2 cups flour but this is just a guesstimate. Will try the recipe and get back to you.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Very nice, Lydia, I’ll need to give that a try.
Sue says
Would this work in a bundt pan? I think I’d need to increase the ingredients. Thoughts?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Sue, yes, you’d have to increase the ingredients. As a point of reference, generally two 9-inch round cake layers are the equivalent amount to that of a bundt pan.
Anonymous says
So basically double this recipe? I made this the other night and it was crazy good!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m glad you enjoyed it, thank you! Technically it would be slightly more than double but doubling it will probably be fine.
Lydia says
One more comment. Boil the grated carrots in 10% cream as indicated in my earlier post. When the carrots still have a little crush to them, take out some a quarter perhaps. Continue cooking the rest. When done, add the crunchy carrots to the cooked carrots. This will add some texture to the cake.
Lydia
Sent from my iP grated carrots
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, Lydia!
Randy G says
Kimberly- I found your recipe in my quest to replicate the best carrot cake I ever had at a coffee house in Bergen, Norway last June. Yours is the one! The only difference is the addition of a rounded teaspoon of cardamom (you know how much the Scandinavians love cardamom). I’ll be making this often, so thank you.
If anyone asks about high altitude adjustments, I’m at 7000′. I added 1 additional egg white for structure, reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup and reduced the leavening to 1.5 tsp baking powder and .5 tsp baking soda. I baked it at 375 for 35 minutes. Those are pretty standard adjustments for high elevation cake baking.
Thanks again for this cake. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so happy to hear that, Randy, thank you! The cardamom is a very nice touch and thank you for sharing the high altitude adjustments.
ANGIE LEONI says
I just made this for the first time. I love carrot cake but HATE grating carrots! I made it with the following adaptations: we do not like nut or raisins in our cake so I left them out. I also did not have butter, so I replaced it with vegetable oil. I also did not have orange zest, so I used orange extract. Probably about 1/2 teaspoon. It turned out very moist and delicious! It was pretty sugary/ overpowering sweetness. So I want to know how much I can cut back on the sugar because that is just way too sweet. Otherwise thanks for a great recipe. Do I need to make any changes to this when making them into cupcakes!?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks for the feedback, Angie! Sweetness level is personal preference so how much you cut back on will depend on your taste, but you can cut back on it as much as you like. The only change for cupcakes will be to reduce the baking time – use the toothpick method to check for doneness.
ANGIE LEONI says
Can you please give me a idea of how much less sugar to use? Everyone that has eaten it so far will only take a bite or two and throw the rest away, saying they can’t eat anymore because it’s so overpowering with so much sugar. Do you think one cup would be enough?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Again, it’s completely relative to personal taste. You’re the only one who can determine what “too much” or “enough” is.
Talk2Nat says
@ Angie Coming from a family of diabetics, I recommend cutting the sugar content in half for most of my baking recipes. This would mean using 3/4 of a cup of lite brown sugar. In my opinion, brown sugar has a stronger, more complex flavor. Unlike white sugar where you may not be able to cut back as much as half, perhaphs only a quarter less of a recommended cup. Therefore, I would suggest using a bit less that 3/4 of a cup (loosely packed) brown sugar and omitting the raisins all together for this recipe.
On a side note I added the zest of an orange (as called for in the recipe) along with the zest of a lemon. Additionally, I added 1/4 teaspoon of powered ginger and cut back slightly on the nutmeg to 3/8 of a teaspoon (instead of 1/2 teaspoon). Lastly, I increased the vanilla extract from the orignial 1 teaspoon to 1 & 1/2 teaspoons. It baked perfectly even and smelled heavenly. Hint: Heavily mixing the two eggs and sugar by hand with a whisk helped to form a good body for the rest of the ingredients. The batter did not appear to be too watery prior to baking nor too soft post baking.
Loney says
Have you ever tried 1 cup of baby food carrots that is what I use for carrot bars.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That would definitely work, Loney. Still I always prefer the flavor of fresh veggies.