Carrot Loaf Cake!
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An easy carrot loaf cake with cream cheese frosting – easy, delicious, and the perfect easy bake!
My favourite!
So.. carrot cake. It’s safe to say I am slightly obsessed with it?! Largely because it is probably one of my favourite cakes, if not my actual favourite.. but there we are. My favourite flavour can change frequently but put a piece of carrot cake in front of me and I will always be happy.
Anyway, with my readers love for loaf cakes rising just as much as mine, I figured it was time to make this bad boy into a carrot cake. I have oodles of carrot cake related recipes already on my blog, such as the classic carrot cake, and even my carrot cupcakes!
Carrot loaf cake
Making a carrot loaf cake is really quite similar to the rest of my other carrot themed bakes, but it’s all about the proportions. Sometimes just fitting a cake into a loaf tin doesn’t work – sometimes it does, but I’ve altered this to fit my favourite loaf tin.
Carrot cake is soft, it’s moist, and it’s delicious. You basically can’t go wrong with something such as carrot cake. Honestly, I find it so hard to over bake and ruin it – and this can often come from the ingredients.
Walnuts
This time, I used walnuts in the sponge. I didn’t put walnuts in the title, but technically this is a carrot and walnut loaf cake – but the walnuts are optional. You can switch them to a different nut, such as pecans, or switch it completely to use raisins! However, I know they are just as controversial.
One thing I love about using nuts in the sponge though is the crunch. It’s delicious. I get that some people don’t like texture changes though – and to be honest, carrot cake is just as delicious without them!
Butter free cake
Not only does the carrot itself bring incredible moisture to the sponge, but so does the oil! The cake is butter-free, and uses oil instead – and it’s amazing! It’s so incredibly easy to mix up. You definitely don’t need to use a mixer, and in all honesty, you probably shouldn’t!
Don’t over mix and bake straight away!
Even though the cake is hard to ruin, you definitely don’t want to over mix it. You also want to bake it straight away, and not let it sit for too long. Because the raising agent is different from your typical cake, it shouldn’t be left to sit – as that can ruin the sponge.
Cream cheese frosting
I decided to top this one with my all-new cream cheese frosting – and I’m so glad I did! In my other classic carrot cake I used buttercream as I made it for my dad, and mostly buttercream is easier. However, because this is a carrot cake – cream cheese frosting is an ideal combo!
Top tips!
Cream cheese frosting has to be stored in the fridge once it’s been used, as it’s a ‘fresh’ product – but the wonders of carrot cake mean it’s okay. The cake shouldn’t dry out and it works really well!
Also, because this is in loaf cake form… it’s so easy. Whack it in the loaf tin, slather the frosting on top, and decorate if you fancy! There’s nothing special to it, other than enjoy every last morsel when you eat it. Literally, every single crumb.
I, basically… am obsessed with this recipe. If you want to try out a different version, be sure to just put Carrot Cake in the search bar and you will find my obsession continues! Either way, HAPPY BAKING! x
Carrot Loaf Cake!
Ingredients
The Cake!
- 175 ml sunflower oil
- 3 large eggs
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 250 g grated carrots
- 100 g raisins/walnuts (optional)
- Zest of 1 orange
- 200 g self raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
Cream Cheese Frosting Glaze
- 125 g unsalted butter (room temp)
- 125 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g full-fat cream cheese
Decoration!
- Fondant carrots
- Chopped nuts
Instructions
Cake
- Pour the sunflower oil & eggs into a large bowl and add the sugar – mix lightly and combine.
- Add the grated carrots, raisins/nuts, and orange zest and fold through to combine.
- Add the flour, bicarbonate, mixed spice, ginger, cinnamon & nutmeg and mix again – try not to over mix!
- Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes. Sometimes it can take a little longer so test with a skewer!
- Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then cool on a wire rack. If your cake doesn't come out, it may not have finished baking, or you didn't line the tin well enough!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat your butter on its own for a few minutes to loosen it.
- Add in the icing sugar, and beat again - I beat this for about 5 minutes, to make it really smooth.
- Make sure your cream cheese doesn't have any excess water - I find it best to add it to a bowl first just to make sure.
- Add in the cream cheese, and vanilla and beat. At first, it may look a little weird, but just keep on beating. I end up beating it for a few minutes - it can go through a lumpy stage first, but eventually, the lumps beat out and it's smooth and thick!
- Once beaten - it should be lovely and thick.
Decoration
- Slather your cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake!
- Decorate with chopped nuts, carrot decorations or whatever!!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- I used this loaf tin!
- This cake should be stored in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting, and will last for three days!
- You can use 100g of raisins, or 100g of nuts... this time, I used walnuts!
- If you want any more information on my cream cheese frosting, read this post!
- If you want to make a different sort of carrot cake - search my blog as I have many variations!
- The spices are optional, but they make a delicious flavour!
ENJOY!
Find my other Cupcake Recipes on my Recipes Page!
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J x
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I always struggle to make carrot cake for some reason! I halved this as I have a small loaf tin and it turned out amazing. It was for a birthday tea so thank you for giving us a delicious treat. Now I get to finish off the leftover icing!
Hi hoping to make this but if I don’t use all the spices will cake still turn out nice?
It will just change the taste slightly!
Hi,
How long does the cake keep for in the fridge once baked and decorated?
I usually say 3 days! x
Hi, loved this recipe! I’m looking to make it in to cupcakes for a birthday event, do i need to adapt any of the recipe?
Have a look at my carrot cake cupcakes post! x
Absolutely gorgeous, best carrot cake I’ve ever made.
Love this recipe! Can the cake on its own be frozen and iced at a later date? And is the frosting freezable? Thankyou
Yes and yes!! x
Thank you for this recipe! Love it! So easy to follow and the cake is absolutely delicious
Hey, does the carrot cake have to be completely cooled before you can pUt it in the fridge for the night? Or can it go in the fridge after sitting on a cooling rack for about 2 hours, even if it is still a little bit warm? Thank you xx
Hey! Well it needs to be completely cooled before topping – it’s the cream cheese frosting that needs refrigerating. The cake itself, without the topping, can stay at room temp! x
Okay! How long roughly could you keep the cake at room temperature with the cream cheese frosting on top? Or is it best to refrigerate straight after this decoration is done? 🙂 x
Straight after the decoration – cream cheese frosting can’t be room temp! X
Great cake all round, thanks!
Hi Jane. Sorry if this is a silly question, I’m a novice baker. I only have medium eggs, would I need to add an extra one in to make up the size / weight of 3 large? Thank you.
Hey! Yes I would suggest four medium eggs!
Hi Jane, do you know of any substitute’s I can use instead of sugar? Many thanks x
I’m afraid not, sorry!
Hi I’ve used caster sugar with stevia, by silverspoon. You use a 1\3 less than the recipe says. I use it a lot in baking as my husband is diabetic.
i made this a couple of days ago and it is so good,,i left out the nutmeg and raisins as i don’t like them but i will def be making again….and as for the cream cheese icing..i could eat that by the bowlful its amazing! 🙂
I love all your recipes – everyone has turned out perfect -thank you. Would this mixture be enough for a 8″ x8″ x 2″ square tin or would I need a larger quantity, your tray bake seems too big as 18 slices is too much. many thanks !
Hey! I would actually say that tin is quite small, because of the depth – this sort of mix could easily make a two layer 8″ circle cake, so it may be best to reduce the ingredients! x
Hey Jane! I would love to try this recipe but I have family members who are allergic to eggs, would I be able to use an applesauce “egg” for this recipe?
Hey! It’s definitely worth a go! x
I made this yesterday and it is wonderful! I used 50g walnuts and 50g chopped dates in the mix. I also used Anchor Spreadable in the cream cheese frosting which made it quite soft but it was still lovely. My hubby went on a massive hunt for the fondant carrots and eventually found them in Asda!! 😆😆😆 This is the first time I’ve ever made a carrot cake so I was really delighted with the results! Thanks for a great recipe!
Ahh yay! So glad it was a hit!! x
Amazing!! Even better when left in the fridge for a while!!