Easy Carrot Cake – A delicious spiced carrot cake filled with raisins and topped with smooth cream cheese buttercream.
Today I’m sharing another cupcake recipe made big, with this full-sized version of my popular carrot cake cupcakes.
It’s a spiced carrot cake filled with juicy raisins and topped with smooth cream cheese buttercream.
In my opinion it really is the BEST easy carrot cake ever!
Carrot Cake FAQs
If it’s your first time making this recipe or you have a question then please take a moment to have a read through my carrot cake FAQs for lots of extra tips, suggested ingredient substitutions (if you need to make any) and allergen information.
If there’s something you’d like to know that I’ve not answered here then please let me know in the comments.
How long does this carrot cake last for?
If you store the carrot cake in an airtight container it will be fine to eat for about a week after baking.
If you do make the cake in advance and choose to add little sugar carrots similar to the ones shown I would recommend not adding them until just before serving. This is because the moisture in the buttercream softens the sugar in the mini carrots and they run into the buttercream.
Can it be frozen?
❄️ Suitable for freezing
This carrot cake freezes beautifully, either just the carrot cake sponge or the fully decorated cake.
To freeze the sponges, wrap them in clingfilm or place them in an airtight container to protect them, and freeze. Defrost them thoroughly before decorating.
To freeze the finished cake complete with buttercream, either…
Place the cake in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze.
OR
Place the cake on a dish and freeze it uncovered for a couple of hours. Then once the buttercream is firm to the touch, wrap the cake in clingfilm and return it to the freezer. Remove the clingfilm before defrosting the cake (so it doesn’t stick to the buttercream). If you find that the clingfilm has left the buttercream looking a bit messy you can easily neaten it up with a palette knife or the back of a spoon once the cake has defrosted.
Can this cake be made as individual cupcakes?
Yes, if you’d prefer to make this cake as cupcakes, then take a look at my carrot cake cupcakes recipe.
Do I need to peel the carrots?
I don’t bother peeling mine, I just give them a good wash and then get grating.
Which spices are used in a carrot cake?
My carrot cake is predominantly spiced with cinnamon with a small amount of ground mixed spice (a mixture of cinnamon, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, nutmeg, ginger and cloves) to bring out the flavour.
If you cannot get hold of ground mixed spice (I know it’s not available in all countries) then you could substitute it for more cinnamon.
I prefer nuts to raisins, can I switch them?
I’ve added raisins to my carrot cake as that’s what we like best at home. However, if you prefer your carrot cake to be nuttier, then you can switch the raisins for 100g of chopped nuts. You could also try a mix of the two, or simply leave them out altogether. I’ve tested this cake as a carrot and walnut cake, adding 100g of finely chopped walnuts in place of the raisins and it was delicious 🙂
Why do you soak the raisins in water?
I soak the raisins because it helps them to stay moist and juicy during baking. If you bake with raisins (or other similar dried fruits), you may have noticed that they can end up like little bullets with a bitter taste, especially if they’re on the surface of whatever you’re baking. Soaking them before adding them to the cake mixture prevents this from happening.
Does it have to be water, or can I get creative?
Create away!
You could try tea, or even your favourite tipple. I reckon this would be great with rum or brandy soaked raisins 🙂
What about other flavours?
If you fancy getting even more adventurous with your carrot cake then how about trying one off these recipes…
- Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake (Gluten-Free) from From The Larder
- Pineapple Carrot Cake from Cristina’s Cucina
- Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake from Easy Peasy Foodie
- Cheesecake Swirl Carrot Bundt Cake from Marsha’s Baking Addiction
- Individual Microwave Carrot Cake from My Cooking Journey
- Pumpkin Carrot Cake from Celebrating Sweets
- Maple Caramel Carrot Cake from Liv For Cake
- Cranberry and Orange Carrot Cake from Love Foodies
- Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake from The Istsy-Bitsy Kitchen
What is this cake free From? / Who is this cake suitable for?
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Lupin-Free
Can this cake be made gluten-free?
I’ve not tried it, but it should work absolutely fine substituting the self-raising flour for a gluten-free equivalent.
Can you adapt this carrot cake to be vegan?
I haven’t had a chance to test this as a vegan cake yet, if that’s something you’re interested in then let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to my recipe development list.
In the meantime, you could try this vegan carrot cake recipe from Peachicks Bakery.
Can this cake be made sulphite-free?
Yes.
This cake only contains sulphites in the raisins, so simply leave these out and it’ll be fine.
Easy Carrot Cake
INGREDIENTS
For the carrot cake sponge
- 3 large eggs
- 225 g carrots
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 200 g brown sugar - I use soft light brown sugar, but this cake also works well with dark brown or muscovado sugar
- 225 ml vegetable or sunflower oil
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground mixed spice
- 150 g raisins
- water - to soak the raisins
For the cream cheese buttercream
- 100 g butter - soft at room temperature
- 100 g icing sugar
- 200 g cream cheese
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
To finish
- 12 sugar carrots
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the carrot cake
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan.Line two 20cm round sandwich tins with greaseproof paper or reusauble baking liners.
- Place the raisins (150g) into a bowl and cover them with water.
- Coarsely grate the carrot (225g).
- Whisk together the oil (225ml sunflower or vegetable oil) and brown sugar (200g) until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs (3 large) until combined. The mixture will lighten in colour and look glossy.
- Sift in the self-raising flour (250g), bicarbonate of soda (¾ tsp), ground cinnamon (1½ tsp) and ground mixed spice (½ tsp). Fold them into the other ingredients.
- Drain the raisins and add them and the grated carrot to the cake mixture. Fold them into the other ingredients.
- Split the cake mixture between the two pre-prepared tins. Use the back of a spoon or a spatula to spread the mixture evenly in the tins.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave them to cool in their tins for 10 minutes, before removing the tins and placing the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Make the cream cheese buttercream
- Cut the butter (100g) into cubes and beat until soft.
- Add the icing sugar (100g) and beat it into the butter until soft and fully combined. I usually add my icing sugar 1 heaped tablespoon at a time to avoid it flying everywhere.
- Add the cream cheese and beat it into the other ingredients. I prefer to beat in the cream cheese by hand with a wooden spoon a few tablespoons at a time rather than using an electric mixer as I find it easier to combine it evenly.
Build your cake
- Place the bottom layer of your sponge onto your serving dish.
- Add half of the cream cheese buttercream and spread it evenly across the cake with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
- Add the second sponge.
- Spread the remaining buttercream across the top of the cake, again with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. I've used the tip of my palette knife to make a swirl starting from the outside edge of the cake and working inwards.
- Finally, finish your cake by arranging your sugar carrots around the edge.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Greta says
I made this cake for my daughter and husband when they came to visit. My daughter loved it so much she asked me for the link so she can bake one herself.
What a fabulous cake I fully recommend it. Best carrot cake recipe I’ve ever used.
Becca says
Will this recipe be okay for a 23cm cake tin?
I don’t know whether to wing it
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tested it in a larger tin. If you want to try it in 23cm round tins then you’ll need to increase the quantities by 1/3 to get the same height of cake.
Debbie says
Made this at the weekend – sub the raisins for sultanas as we prefer them. Best carrot cake ever! So light. Thank you!
Debsy O'Dea says
Hi, Charlotte, can you give me measurements please to make your easy carrot cake as a traybake recipe. I love all your recipes..thank you so much.
Charlotte Oates says
What size tray are you hoping to use?
Debsy O'Dea says
The tray is 13inches x 8inches. Thank you Charlotte
Charlotte Oates says
For that size of traybake you should be fine to use the same quantities as in the original recipe.
I haven’t tested this cake as a traybake so I cannot guarantee the results, but I would expect it to work well.
Kirsty says
The cake taste great I didn’t addd the water or rains as we don’t like raisins in the cake, toast great the icing however was rather runny so maybe next time I will use 100g of cream cheese instead of 200g. But was easily fixed by adding more icing sugar. still tastex great will use this recipe again
KATHIE CHEE says
Do you have carrot cake and other cakes calculator that i can convert to the other sizes pan instead of chocolate cake and Birthday day cake?
Charlotte Oates says
Unfortunately not – sorry.
Donna Smedley says
Hi Charlotte
I would like to make your carrot cake but want to use number cake tins. The gentleman will be 60. Do you have the amounts of ingredients for these please.
Charlotte Oates says
That depends on the volume of the tin. Can you provide more details.
I haven’t tested this cake in an unusually-shaped tin. It has quite well defined edges so I think it would be OK to remove without sticking if you use a decent cake release spray or homemade cake release mixture, but I cannot definitely confirm that without testing it.
Liz says
Can I make a smaller version possibly 6 in tins
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it, but I would expect it to work well. You’ll need to reduce your quantities to c. 60% of those given in the recipe. This will give you 1.8 eggs, so I’d recommend switching to using medium eggs instead of large and you should find it works well.
Liz says
I made this cake for my husbands birthday and it went down very well. So light and fluffy for carrot cake which is usually heavier. I added half the raisins and half walnuts. It looked just like the cake in the picture. I’m not the best baker so I was so impressed. I will make again this weekend for Easter.
Debbie Howe says
Will this be ok to make now for Sunday or will it dry out. I was going to decorate it on Sat?
Charlotte Oates says
It should be fine for about a week so you can make it today. You’ll need to eat it up pretty soon after serving it though.
Stephanie says
This cake is gorgeous.Made it for son’s birthday. Delicious. Thank you
Myra Myra Merrifield says
Love this recipe.
Given it to a friend of mine to try. She couldn’t wait.
My husband says it’s his favorite cake.
Francesca says
Do you have to refrigerate the cake because of the cream cheese icing?
Charlotte Oates says
Ideally yes, but normally I keep it in a cool room and it’s always been OK.
Amar says
The cake came out really well. Followed the recipe to the dot, as mine is a fan oven kept around 160 for 40 minutes and came out spot on. I added a mix of raisins and walnuts and it went down really well with the family. Didn’t get the icing decoration perfect as on the picture though 🙂 . Thanks for the recipe, will be definitely doing it again with my son
Andrea says
Hi, I made this tonight the cake was great!
Just a question in regards to the butter cream cheese, I used unsalted butter, and Philadelphia full fat however felt like it tasted really buttery is there anything I could try or add next time to fix this ? I did add a bit more vanilla to try taker he butter taste away
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I’d definitely go with adding a little more vanilla.
I make this to the proportions I enjoy eating. If you prefer your cream cheese buttercream less buttery then I’d look out for a recipe with a low percentage of butter included.
Hannah says
Ive made this cake numerous times, as an individual i wasn’t stuck on carrot cake till i found this recipe!! Now my whole family eat it. I made mine with gluten free flour and the whole family love how soft and fluffy it is. Thanks for this amazing recipe !
Julie Barnes says
I made this cake for my husbands birthday. I didn’t have any vegetable/sunflower oil so I melted his sunflower spread. I was worried it might not turn out very well. It looked really good so I iced it as per your recipe. It was amazing. Everyone loved it – even the “I’m not keen on Carrot Cake” family members. I’ll be making this again………..very soon.
Michelle McLaughlin says
Could I add walnuts to this recipie Charlotte ?
Charlotte Oates says
Absolutely. There’s a note about adding chopped nuts in the main post above the recipe.
Alison says
Can I freeze this cake once it’s been iced?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you can. There are freezing instructions in the main post above the recipe.