My Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe

This is a simple carrot cake that really lets the flavour of the spices come through.

Making a carrot cake is easy, but making a really good carrot cake is much more challenging! Over the years, I have made countless carrot cakes – ones with raisins, pineapple, coconut, banana … you name it, I tried it! None which I have considered successful.

With this cake, I have cut back on all the additions and stuck to simply carrots. Even with that, finding the right amount of carrot to include took some testing; but I think I have finally nailed it – for now (I like to revisit my recipes over time to figure out how I can improve on them).

Given how simple this cake is, the right balance of spices is essential to ensure that the flavour profile comes across as more than just being generically sweet. Although a bit of effort, grinding your spices fresh produces a much more powerful flavour. Pre-ground spices work too, they’re just not as impactful. The spices only affect the flavour, not the structure of the cake, so you can adapt the quantities to suit your palate.

A carrot cake isn’t a carrot cake without cream cheese icing. The tang from the icing is the perfect complement to the sweetness and spiciness of the cake. Cream cheese icing can be quite runny, especially if the cream cheese is over-beaten. I therefore prefer to whip it first, in a separate bowl, and fold it into the butter, icing sugar and honey at the end. The addition of honey adds a lovely natural sweetness, but ensures that the tang of the cream cheese is not lost.

*Recipe Updated in June 2025

I have adjusted the ratios to make a three-layer 20cm cake. I have also added a spiced pineapple filling and pecan praline which are optional, but both add so much to the cake. Simple use them by adding them in between the cake layers and you can use any extra for decoration.

I have provided two options for the icing, a traditional cream cheese icing and a brown butter version. Both are delicious, but I prefer the brown butter for the nuttiness it imparts.

FOR THE CARROT CAKE

• 4 large eggs
• 175g castor sugar
• 125g brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 375ml sunflower oil
• 250g cake flour
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp cloves
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 400g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 130g pecans/walnuts, toasted and chopped

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven and prepare the baking pans: Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius. Grease and line, with baking paper, three 20cm cake tins. (You can bake these in two 20cm cake tins as well, but bake the cakes at 170° Celsius for 35 – 45 minutes.)
2. Toast the pecans: Place the pecans on a baking tray, and toast for 8 – 10 minutes until the pecans smell aromatic and have turned a shade darker. They can burn fairly easily, so keep an eye on them.
3. Sift the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a bowl and set aside.
4. Combine the eggs and sugar: Add the eggs, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla into a bowl and beat for around 3 minutes until pale and frothy.
5. Add in the oil: Whilst beating the eggs and sugars, slowly pour in the oil and beat until well combined.
6. Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the sifted dry ingredients to the beaten egg, oil and sugar, and gently fold by hand.
7. Add in the carrots and pecans: Then add the carrots and fold by hand, followed by the pecans.
8. Bake and cool: Bake the cakes for around 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If you are baking the cake in two 20cm tins, instead of three ensure you bake it at 170 degrees for 35 – 45 minutes.

OPTION 1: TRADITIONAL CREAM CHEESE ICING

• 700g cream cheese
• 300g butter
• 200g icing sugar
• 60g honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Cream the butter: Cream the butter until light and airy.
2. Add in the icing sugar, vanilla and honey: Then add in the honey, vanilla and icing sugar and beat until combined.
3. Beat the cream cheese: In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
4. Combine the ingredients: Then gently fold the cream cheese into the butter and icing sugar mixture, by hand.
5. Beating the cream cheese separately ensures that it is not over beaten.

OPTION 2: BROWN BUTTER CREAM CHEESE ICING

• 700g cream cheese
• 300g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 45ml maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

METHOD

1. Brown the butter: Place the butter in a medium size pot and place on the stove on medium heat. Heat the butter until it is completely melted, then continue to heat. The milk solids and the butter fat will separate and some white scum will begin to form. Continue heating, the butter will now turn a bright yellow with little bubbles. As you continue to heat it, the butter will then begin to foam. At this point, you need to watch it closely – look out for the sides of the pot, where the milk solids will begin to turn brown. Some of the white foam on the top will begin to turn a light brown – at this point, the butter should be smelling all nutty and take on a caramel colour. Take off the stove, place in a heat proof container and place in the fridge to set. You want to be able to cream the butter, so do not refrigerate until hard, but rather spreadable.
2. Cream the brown butter: Once the brown butter has set until it it is firm, but still spreadable, use a hand held mixer to beat the butter until it turns a shade paler and becomes fluffy.
3. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla: Then add in the vanilla and icing sugar and beat until combined.
4. Beat the cream cheese: In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
5. Combine the ingredients: Then gently fold the cream cheese into the butter and icing sugar mixture, by hand.
6. Add in the maple syrup: Finally, add in the maple syrup and use the hand held electric beater to combine. Do not overbeat or the mixture could curdle.

FOR THE SPICED PINEAPPLE

• 120g tinned pineapple pieces, retain some of the juice
• 1 star anise
• 2 cinnamon quills
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100ml liquid from the canned pineapple
• 30ml lemon juice
• 60g brown sugar

METHOD

1. Make the poaching syrup: Excluding the pineapple pieces, add the remaining ingredients into a medium size saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid comes to a boil.
2. Thicken the syrup: Continue too reduce the syrup for around 10 minutes. The syrup will be a thin one, so do not worry.
3. Poach the pineapples: Transfer the liquid to a fridge-safe bowl and place in the fridge to cool, then add in the pineapple pieces to soak in the liquid. If you add the pineapple to the hot liquid, this cooks the pineapple and some of the “bite” which the pineapple has is lost.
4. Use: Use the spiced pineapple in between the cake layers for extra texture.

FOR THE PECAN PRALINE

• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 100g pecans, toasted

METHOD

1. Toast the pecans: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Place the pecans on a baking tray, lined with baking paper (this is important) and bake for 8 – 10 minutes until the pecans smell toasty and turn a shade darker. Remove from the oven, but keep the oven on and turn it to 200 degrees celcius.
2. Make the caramel: Place the sugar, golden syrup and maple syrup in a medium size pot and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to bubble slightly and turn a shade darker.
3. Add the pecans: Tip the pecans into the pot and mix until the pecans are coated in the caramel.
4. Bake the praline: Immediately add this mixture back to your lined baking tray and bake for 5 – 10 minutes. The caramel will turn a shade darker and begin to bubble on the edges.
5. Rest: Remove from the oven and let rest until the praline has completely hardened. Then crack into little pieces, chop the praline up and add in between cake layers and for decoration.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com