By Noel Christmas Updated March 31, Pin FB Share. The problem Carrot cakes are too often just a dry, drab slab of a very orange vegetable, disguised as dessert. Credit: sarah. What baking secrets are harbored within a simple pineapple? Food science has a few ideas:. It's a tenderizer. Pineapple is a fruit that actually tenderizes. Enzymes found in pineapple and kiwis and papayas, too actually break down proteins, which in the case of carrot cake, results in a more moist cake.
Yes, it's a cake. After baking and letting it cool, we were a little disappointed. You need all three cups. It is a carrot cake, after all. Pecans and raisins are optional! I know that some people love nuts and raisins in carrot cake, while others cannot stand to add them. These are completely optional, so go with what you love. The method for this carrot cake recipe could not be simpler! If you have a couple of bowls and can stir ingredients together then you can absolutely make this cake!
As you can see from our recipe video, all you need to do is combine all the ingredients. Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another: I like to whisk my dry ingredients together in one bowl until they are well blended.
Then I whisk all the wet ingredients together in another bowl. We use the same method when making this cinnamon coffee cake , our easy pineappleupside-down cake , and this buttery blueberry cake. Both recipes are so good! When it comes to baking the carrot cake, divide the batter between two buttered and floured cake pans and bake until done.
The cake layers bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes they smell fantastic. After baking, let the layers cool then frost with your favorite frosting. We love our extra creamy cream cheese frosting. If this is what you are looking for, check the notes section of the recipe, we provide a recipe for traditional cream cheese frosting. The frosting is actually the same one we used to top our Guinness Chocolate Cake. Or, sift a little bit of powdered sugar on top.
When Adam and I were testing this recipe, we skipped the frosting the first couple of times and fell in love with the cake completely plain. More reviews are in the comments section below. It is so hard to find one that is not dry — this one is moist and works perfectly every single time and we make it often as it is definitely our favorite!!! Here are the most common:. Can I make carrot cake cupcakes using this recipe? Yes, absolutely and if you read through the comments, many of our readers have done just that.
Then let them cool for a few minutes in the cupcake pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. The recipe should make about 24 cupcakes. Can I make one large single-layer cake? Yes, but the baking time will change. For a bundt cake, a cup or cup Bundt pan should be fine. The batter will also fit into a 9-inch by inch pan, but you might need to leave out a bit of the batter so it does not overflow. How do you store the carrot cake?
If you prefer to refrigerate the cake, it will last for 5 to 6 days. Can I use applesauce instead of oil in the carrot cake recipe? This is something we have never tried ourselves, so you may need to do some experimenting on your own. That said, you should be able to swap some of the oil for applesauce without too many issues.
Can I add pineapple to the carrot cake? Yes, absolutely. It will add even more moisture to the cake so use fresh pineapple or if you are using canned, drain it first before adding to the cake.
We do not recommend adding more than 1 cup. Recipe updated, originally posted April Since posting this in , we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. For the carrots, we prefer to hand grate for the finest carrot pieces that melt into the cake batter, but you can also use a food processor.
It makes quick work of grating carrots, but the pieces will be slightly larger. Some grocery stores sell bags of grated carrots, as well. This recipe is forgiving. You can make this with or without the nuts and raisins.
We like using both granulated and brown sugar in this, but using one or the other is an option. It is more the consistency of stabilized whipped cream, rather than traditional cream cheese frosting. For a more traditional cream cheese frosting, see the notes section.
The more you think about carrot cake, the less it makes sense. It is impossibly tender, but not so much that it falls apart into a million errant crumbs.
It will always win. At least, mine will. Carrot cakes come in all shapes and sizes, adorned with all sorts of nuts, candied carrot ribbons, and little carrots made out of colored icing, but there are a few things that carrot cake must always have:.
Speaking of bananas, you can replace the carrots in this recipe with same amount of smushed bananas for banana cake. That cake will overwhelmingly taste like bananas, while no carrot cake has ever tasted like carrots. In fact, I cannot think of another dessert that relies on carrots for a dang thing. Are the carrots here only for a healthy shot of vitamin A? That sounds good. Cream cheese frosting , unless you want everyone to hate you.
This cake, even one as spectacular as mine, is always at heart merely a vessel for frosting. It is uncouth to scoop frosting out of a bowl and lick it off your fingers. Pair it with cake? All good.
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