This easy carrot cake is everything you need for Easter 🥕🐣✨

Super moist, rich texture, packed with freshly grated carrots, warm spices, chopped walnuts, and topped with silky cream cheese frosting 🍰🤍 Decorate it however you like! 🫶 You’ll love how the natural sweetness and earthiness of carrots blend with warm spices and tangy cream cheese frosting. Our friends & fam are and all addicted so consider this your official warning 😏 

So let's hop to it!! 🐰🌸💛

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WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THIS DELICIOUS RECIPE!

The whole recipe, including the ingredients with their exact quantities, is mentioned in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is the list of ingredients required to make this cake. 

For Carrot Cake!

• Plain flour/all-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil: When cold, vegetable oil softens the cake. You can make the cakes in advance and they will stay moist and softer for several days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.
• Granulated sugar & soft light brown sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Baking soda & Baking powder
• Salt: It balances the sweetness.
• Spices: ground cinnamon, green cardamom and ginger powder.
• Walnuts: Toasted walnuts add flavour and nutrition to this cake. You can use pecans or almonds instead.
• Carrots: Star ingredient! You have to use freshly grated raw carrots. 
• Apple: This recipe uses freshly grated apples, which add a hint of tartness and help activate the baking soda for the perfect rise.

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For cream cheese frosting!

• Full-fat Cream cheese: Here in the UK, cream cheese is softer and has more water content which can cause runny frosting. To avoid that, use cream cheese straight from the fridge (COLD) and stick to the recipe instructions to make the best stable cream cheese frosting. Always use full-fat cream cheese as it gives the frosting a creamy consistency. I used the Philadelphia original.
• Unsalted butter: Softened to room temperature.
• Icing sugar/powdered sugar (sifted): This sugar is great for frosting. It is light and fine, blends into the cream cheese easily and makes the frosting fluffy.
• Lemon juice: It is used to balance the sweetness and give a tangy flavour to this frosting.
• Salt: It balances the sweetness.

For Decoration

• Finely chopped walnuts
• Green gel food colour
• Orange gel food colour

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EQUIPMENT REQUIRED 

• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• Hand whisk
• Two 7” or 8” round cake pans
• Mixing bowls
• Spatula

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PRO TIPS!

• Measure your flour correctly! The best way to measure the flour is by using a digital scale. If you don’t have a scale, use proper measuring cups. Fluff the flour with a spoon into a measuring cup. Scrape a knife across the top of a measuring cup to level the flour without packing it in. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense or crumbly cake.
• Sift your dry ingredients before adding them into the wet mixture as it helps to combine everything evenly.
• Always use freshly grated carrots. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots because they have less moisture and will make the cake dry. We need moisture in it. Freshly grated carrots add moisture and softness to the cake.
• Don’t over-mix the batter: Once the dry ingredients are combined into the wet ingredients, stop mixing too much or you'll end up with a dense cake.
• For the best cream cheese frosting, use softened butter (which means it should be softened enough so when you press it with light pressure, your finger leaves a dent) and COLD cream cheese, straight out of the fridge. Just change the mixing order of the ingredients to get a stable and dreamy cream cheese frosting.
• Make sure the cake layers are fully cooled before spreading on the cream cheese frosting.

FAQ

CAN I MAKE THIS CAKE IN ADVANCE? 

Yes! You can make them a day ahead of frosting. When they are fully cooled, cover in plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge. It’s better to make a day ahead of serving as it is easy to assemble when they are cold.

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HOW TO STORE THIS CARROT CAKE?

Keep any leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. You can also freeze the cakes without frosting for up to a month. Separately wrap them in cling wrap, then keep them in a zip lock bag and freeze. Take them out to thaw for 1 hour to bring them to room temperature before frosting.

I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy baking and eating! 😊