If you haven’t had cream cheese frosting then boy are you missing out! I’m not sure how to describe it but it’s just so tasty AND ALWAYS BETTER FRESH! This is a variation of one of my first posts for Preppy Kitchen; I’ve made this cake a few times since and finally thought it was worthy of a repost. I love the spice profile this cake has, cardamom, allspice, ginger and cinnamon are such a great team that work really well in fruit-based cakes, and yes I know carrots aren’t fruits! šI almost forgot the raisins!Ā Normally I just detest them but once baked in a cake they’re totally fine and add some nice concentrated sweetness to the batter.
If youāve tried my carrot cake out then donāt forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Recipe Notes
- My cake has equal parts sour cream and veg oil, making for a moist, not greasy, cake.
- If you’re not a fan of pineapple you can either sub minced apple in for it or skip it altogether.
- You can make this as cupcakes or as a layer cake but I’ll warn you that cream cheese frosting, while delicious, is soft and not great for stacking cake layers. You might need a ring of buttercream at the edge and middle to stabilized the cake.
How to Bake a Carrot and Walnut Cake
- Add butter and parchment paper to a sheet cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Ā
- Grate carrots. Dice pineapples.Ā
- Add flour to a raison and walnuts. Toss to coat.Ā
- Beat the sugar, oil, sour cream and eggs together in a large bowl. Add the vanilla.
- Zest an orange. Add to the wet mixture.Ā
- In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients.Ā
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Scrape the bowl down. Fold in the raisins and walnuts.Ā
- Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well. Pour batter into the well buttered cake sheet pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set over a wire rack.Ā
- Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined.Ā
- Add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth.
- Using an ice cream scooper, add frosting to the cake and smooth out.
- Garnish with walnuts.Ā
Carrot and Walnut Cake:
A moist and delicious carrot sheet cake topped with amazing cream cheese frosting. Adding my favorite spices to the batter really took this cake up a notch!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cake:
- 1 ā cups white sugar 165g
- 2 Ā½ cups all purpose flour 300g
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Ā½ tsp all-spice
- Ā½ tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 Ā½ tsp salt kosher
- Ā¾ cup sour cream 180ml
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil 180ml
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup raisins 150g
- 1 cup chopped walnuts 125g, toasted!
- 1 lb carrots 450g
- Ā½ cup pineapples 100g, canned
- zest from 1 orange
For the Frosting:
- 16 oz cream cheese 452g, room temp
- 12 oz butter 340g, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Ā½ lb confectioners sugar 550g
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add butter and parchment paper to a sheet cake pan.
Beat the sugar, oil, sour cream and eggs together in a large bowl. Add the vanilla.
In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Scrape the bowl down.
Toss the raisins and toasted walnuts with 1 tablespoon flour.
Fold in the raisins and walnuts.
Fold in the carrots and pineapple. Add to the batter and mix well.
Pour batter into a buttered pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. Set over a wire rack.
For the Frosting:
Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until just combined. Mix cream cheese and vanilla until just combined. Add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth.
Using an ice cream scooper, add frosting to the cake and smooth out.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- If you're not a fan of pineapple you can either sub minced apple in for it or skip it altogether.
- You can make this as cupcakes or as a layer cake but I'll warn you that cream cheese frosting, while delicious, is soft and not great for stacking cake layers. You might need a ring of buttercream at the edge and middle to stabilized the cake.
- When making sheet cakes I always line my baking tins with parchment paper for an easy release and more tender edge.
If you love this recipe try these out!
Lemon Lavender Poppy Seed Pound Cake
How to Make Carrot Cake
Full Recipe: https://preppykitchen.com/carrot-and-walnut-cake/
This delicious carrot cake is almost too easy to believe and my gosh is it good! The batter has toasted walnuts…
MUy rico ese cake de zanahoria gracias por esas recetas tan ricas q prepara
Thanks for the recipe.. iāll try this at homr..
Kinta,
You are so welcome! Hope you enjoy this yummy cake!
John
I love following you on Instagram! My son has been begging for me to make him a carrot cake. He is not a fan of pineapple. If I substitute apples for pineapple, what kind of apple do you recommend? Do you recommend fresh apples or can I use canned apples?
Kristin,
Thank you so much! I love honey crisps, but any apple is fine! I recommend grating it or mincing the apples! Let me know how the cake turns out!
John
I made this cake last night and OMG itās the best carrot cake Iāve made! Iāve been on the search for the perfect carrot cake and this is it! Really ! Even my husband who is very picky approved.
Thank you so much John!
Canāt wait to make Lovely lemon layer cake š
Ana,
I am so happy you liked it!! I love this cake!
John
Hi,
What size is the cakepan?
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Saskia
Saskia,
The pan is 13×15 or 33cm x 38cm! Hope you get to give it a try!
John
This will be my birthday cake!
Awesome! Happy birthday!
John
Hello!
I followed the same recipe for the frosting but mine was liquid and runny. I did heated the cream cheese just a bit in the microwave. Any special instructions to make it more consistent?
Thank you!
Givanka,
If your frosting is runny, add more confectioners sugar! This will fluff it up!
John
Hi John, how can you make cream cheese frosting pipable? Thanks!
I made this cake this morning and I couldnāt wait to tast it and I was like āomg itās the best carrot cake Iāve ever madeā thank you so much I really love it, this will be one of my best favorite cakes.
Thank you š
Hadeel,
Thank you so much! I am so happy you liked the cake! I thought the cream cheese frosting was the best part! š
John
Greetings from Argentina!!!
Hi John, Iāve made a couple of your cakes to rave reviews from my family. Canāt wait to try this recipe. I wanted to make it as a layer cake for fatherās day. Should I double the recipe for 2x 9ā round pans?
Hi John,
This is hands-down the best carrot cake Iāve ever tried. My family LOVED it. I doubled the recipe to make a 9ā layer cake. In retrospect, I didnāt need to. The regular recipe would have been more than enough! BUT now I have delicious carrot cake muffins/cupcakes to enjoy.
All of your recipes have been stellar. So straightforward and beyond delicious. Thank you!
Karen,
So happy you liked it!
John
Hi!! Dear John.
I’m from Thailand (southeast Asia) I made more carrots cake and this is the best ever!!!!!!!!
but I have a bit problem about when I made half recipe,the result does not work.What do you think about that?
Thank you so much
Hello!
I am sorry to hear that. Whenever your decreasing a recipe you have to make sure to decrease the pan size, otherwise the cake might not rise.
Happy baking,
John
I have made this cake several times and always received rave reviews. I came to your site this morning to get the recipe again and I notice that you also have a Carrot – Pineapple Cake. That sounds delicious, too, and now I have to decide between them. Such a dilemma… š