Carrot Cake. What is more heavenly than the moist seductiveness of a creamy carrot cake?! Cinnamon, cream cheese and an unbeatable texture just make this cake the king of all baking creations for me. Yes, I love carrot cake. Badly.
I remember the first time I had carrot cake. I was pretty little, maybe around 10, and our American neighbour Rita handed us some home-baked cake over the fence that separated our gardens. I had a bite and was immediately transported into a totally new universe. I had never, ever tasted something like that before. Cinnamon, moist, juicy, creamy, and extremely sweet. Hell, I was instantly hooked.
But what followed were years and years of disappointment. When, every time I had found a slice of carrot cake, that sad feeling would overcome me… It would normally come after taking the first bite and realizing that this cake was either too dry, too stodgy or simply didn’t taste of cinnamon at all. My search for that perfect carrot cake took me from Starbucks to small bakeries in Switzerland (where they call it Rübli Kuchen) and street markets in London, all in vain. That is until I discovered this recipe.
In fact, it was my friend Gordon who introduced me to the world’s best ever carrot cake. If it weren’t for him, I’d still be desperately eating carrot cake in every London coffee shop, sighing every time another disappointment would come my way. But for my last birthday, Gordon brought along this beauty, which he had made especially for me. A perfect carrot cake. So perfect it put a tear in my eye and instantly transported me back to that moment Rita handed me her slice of carrot cake. Heaven…
Now the funny thing about this cake is that it is no secret over-the-generations-handed-down family recipe. No. It’s in fact adapted from the recipe of a British sandwich franchise called Pret A Manger, which is actually owned by McDonalds!!! Ridiculous, ey?! It sounds like making coffee with a Starbucks recipe – pretty insulting to any proper foodie. But… I have to say… damn, it really is the ultimate carrot cake recipe. Amazing. Fantastic. Mindblowing. Unbeatable. What? I hear you say no! Well, go on and try it and tell me if you have a better one. I dare you! And if you do say you can top this one, I’ll happily try out your recipe. Promised. ★
The Perfect Carrot Cake
Makes 1 cake for 10 people
For the Cake:
2 medium eggs
200g brown sugar
150ml of sunflower or vegetable oil
200g plain flour
40g desiccated coconut
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200g grated carrot
50g walnuts
75g tinned pineapple
For the Icing:
100g cream cheese
50g unsalted butter
400g icing sugar
Preheat oven to 150c. Line a square baking tin (about 20 cm on each side) with baking paper.
Chop the walnut and pineapple pieces so they end up quite small.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs at high speed, add the sugar and continue beating until pale and fluffy. Keep the whisk on at high speed, and add the oil in a steady stream. Keep beating until the mixture holds the shape of any trail across the surface.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, dessicated coconut, the cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, then fold into the egg mix. Once mixed, gently incorporate the grated carrot, the pineapple and the walnuts.
Transfer the mixture to your tin and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. If it browns too much before the middle is done, then chuck some foil over it to stop it from burning.
Prepare the icing. Cut the butter into little blocks, and then using an electric whisk, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the icing sugar in 3 parts, but hand beat the mixture at first (otherwise you end up covered in icing sugar dust). Once that is all in and mixed, carry on using the electric whist until any lumps have gone from the icing. Put in the fridge to set.
Once your cake is done, leave to cool for 10-15 mins, before turning onto a wire rack. Then, when it’s cool, spread the icing generously over the top.
Voila, pure carrot pleasure!!
That does look pretty darn delicious. It’s even making my stomach growl. Carrot cake is my boyfriend’s favourite and I was thinking about making one for him for his birthday coming up. I might have to try this out.
This carrot cake looks fantastic!
Hi, Annie!
I love carrot cake and your recipe sounds amazing! Lovely blog as well
Thank you for visiting my page
Ahhh..such fond memories of this delight, and your pics have nudged me into making another one!
And as a HUGE fan of all things Pret, I have to post a little research I gathered some time ago when (dirty) brother Barrie went on an anti-capitalist rant: McDonalds has never had more than a non-controlling 33% stake in Pret. Bridgepoint Capital have since bought Pret, including the 33% stake. Yes, Bridgepoint has many global interests, but from what I’ve read about them, they have no need or desire to interfere with the Pret menu or it’s well-documented ingredients
Shame these bad boys didn’t make their way into the office! x
I tell you, I have spent a few good years of my life trying to find the perfect carrot cake recipe…but I guess it’s true what they say. You’ll find it in the last place you look! And this looks fantastic!
Just used this recipe as a base for a carroty birthday treat for my husband. I only used 150g of sugar (muscovado) and topped it up with a little bit of honey, also used wholemeal flour, added some raisins that I’d soaked in orange juice overnight, and tempered the sweetness of the icing with some lemon and lime juice. Looks promising so far!
Oh my Annette, that recipe is barely recognizable – but I love it! Did the honey flavour come through? And the raisins tasted of orange? I’m impressed at your tweaking recipe skills! Let me know how it went!
Looks gorgeous. How many cupcakes does the recipe make and how long do they take to cook as cupcakes?
Hey Katie! Now that’s a good question, I’ll need to make the recipe again and tell you exactly how many it makes. I suspect it must have made 12 (I actually made a cake and made 2 cupcakes for the photos). The cupcakes need about 40 minutes. I’ll make the recipe again and confirm all of this.
bicarb or b-powder? in the list it says b-powder in the method bi carb.
Whoops, well spotted Chef Rdford! I accidentally put in bicarb, but I actually used baking powder. Just amended that. However, I’m sure it would work with bicarb too! Thanks for pointing the error out! Hope you enjoy the cake!
To be honest the cake was so good i am baking it again today,I used baking powder to thanks for confirming. I have never really been into cakes nor the baking, to me anything that contains a sinful amount of sugar, really needs to be out balanced with joy! People dont waste your time ingredients or morels, bake this bloody cake and then eat it.
just made these this afternoon, and they were perfect! i showed my boyfriend’s 10-year old daughter your description of trying carrot cake at that age before she also tried them for the first time. she loved them too
cheers from lux
Aw Kasia, that is so sweet! I am really happy to hear that the carrot cake turned out great and that your daughter loved i too
Makes my day!
I LOVE your site. i am will try making this carrot cake with my daughter….hopefully the mess wont be too big in the kitchen.
keep up the awsome recepies.
a
I made and it was one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever eaten, thank u:)
but I have a question, the batter was thick and dense and I needed spoon to smooth it over the pan! was it right?
Hey Yasmin, glad you liked the carrot cake! And yes, the batter is indeed pretty thick when you pour it into the cake mould, so well done on smoothing it over a bit!
Hello! I couldn’t stop myself from writting this comment. I’m brazilian and here we have a very different recipe for carrot cakes. It has more of a grandma made recipe and it’s very simple. We top the cake with chocolate sauce and… Well, I think it’s wonderful! But your cake is not the usual treat I ate, so I’ll give it a try! If you want I can send you the tradicional Brazilian carrot cake recipe!
Yes please Isadora, send us the Brazilian carrot cake!
thanks
Hi Anne!
Love this recipe!
I had to tweak the icing a bit; my mascarpone turned into butter when I whisked it with the electric whisk, so I just mixed about 350g Mascarpone with 450g of icing sugar, and added some lemon juice. It counteracted the sweetness really nicely, and made the icing a bit more spreadable.
Xxxx evelyne
Evelyne! Ha, your mascarpone had magic powers there, to transform itself into butter! How dare it?! But good idea to use mascarpone instead of cream cheese, just as yummy! Yum Yum! Hope all is good my dear! xx
Hi! I’m from Argentina and this cake is not well-known around here… some people don’t even know it exists… Imagine your first time eating it… and imagine it is THE perfect carrot cake! I used to eat it when I lived in the UK but it’s been ages now! Me, my family and friends just went bonkers!
I used some almonds as well!
¡Saludos desde Argentina!
Hey Livia! A big hello from rainy England! So glad to hear you loved the recipe, and that you introducted your family to this amazing cake! It’s the closest thing to perfection ever!
I want to make a birthday carrot cake and your recipe sounds great but my cake tin is 10 inches x 8 inches and I’d like to know how to increase the ingredients for this size tin.
Could you please let me know the ingredients for your fab carrot cake using a cake tin 10 inches x 8 inches. Thanks
Hey Sue,
don’t worry about the size, it’s not much bigger than the tin I used! Just make the same amount of cake batter, but bake the cake only for 55mins (or until a skewer comes out clean). The shorter baking time is because the batter will spread out a bit more, making it a slightly thinner cake.
Hope it goes well!
x Anne
This recipe looks and sounds delicious. My husband loves him some carrot cake. However, I don’t own a scale so how am I to translate this into ounces and cups? Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Charlotte! Have a look at this site, which offers very clear conversion tips: http://markocop.hubpages.com/hub/Baking_Conversion_Tables
Good luck, let me know how it goes!
I tried your recipe and I’ve made it several times since. It’s the perfect carrot cake, I agree, and my family and coworkers agree as well
Thank you Elvira, so happy to hear you love the recipe and it’s bringing joy to you, your family and coworkers
yum
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