Carrot cake is a tricky one to get right, but this recipe is foolproof and the results are delicious. Here’s how to make it at home
Nothing hits the spot in the afternoon quite like a homemade cake and a cuppa, but for those with a hankering for carrot cake, baking the sponge can be fraught with challenges. From a sponge that’s either undercooked or overdone to a lack of flavour from the ground spices.
Carrot cake is one of the hardest to nail, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had a tough time getting it right. That was until I stumbled upon a recipe by the famed baker Jane Dunn. It’s a recipe I’ve whipped up several times since and has become my go-to showstopper for family birthdays or dinner parties.
The recipe, as shared by Jane’s Patisserie, is foolproof even for the most inexperienced bakers, with no extra steps like squeezing out excess moisture from the carrots.
Jane’s recipe features a simple ingredients list, opting for oil instead of butter for a moist finish, reports the Express.
But I’m convinced there’s something else about this recipe that makes it so delicious and, crucially, never dry.
The addition of orange zest is a game-changer for this recipe. The strong, zesty flavour and natural oils from the peel really come through in the final cake.
I also swapped out ground ginger for some grated root ginger, which had a subtle but similar effect to the orange.
To whip up my version of a carrot cake, I initially stuck to Jane’s recipe to the letter, resulting in a gorgeous sandwich cake with cream cheese frosting. However, I’ve since tweaked it a bit in my recent baking endeavours, opting to make two single-layer cakes – one eight-inch sponge and a smaller, four-inch sponge — baked in springform tins for easy removal of the moist sponges once done.
The blend of spices, orange, and fresh ginger, coupled with the sunflower oil, gives the cake a rich and scrumptious taste. As for the texture, the batter is always thick and moist without being runny.
Although this cake is incredibly straightforward to make, I recommend baking it for a longer duration than Jane suggests to ensure it is perfectly done.
Carrot cake recipe
Ingredients
- 225 ml sunflower oil
- Five medium eggs
- 275g light brown sugar (I used less, around 200g)
- 300g grated carrots
- 100g raisins optional
- One orange (zest only)
- 275g self-raising flour
- 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Two tsp mixed spice
- One tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated ginger)
- One tsp ground cinnamon
- I opted for a dairy-free cream cheese frosting recipe that’s a little lighter and cheaper to make, using:
- 125g Flora Buttery (or 125g unsalted dairy butter)
- 250g icing sugar, sieved
- One tsp vanilla extract
- One tbsp of dairy-free yoghurt (I used soya yoghurt, but you can use dairy milk)
Method
Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan. Then, grease two eight-inch cake tins and line them with baking paper.
Alternatively, you can do this with a smaller four-inch cake and a six-inch cake, which can be enjoyed separately as single-layer cakes.
Now peel and grate your carrots onto a large plate or in a dish with a flat base for convenience. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sunflower oil and eggs, then add the light brown sugar, using less than the recipe states (I opted for around 1800-200g).
Stir in the sugar, then add the grated carrots and raisins — I always include these, but never the nuts. Now add the orange zest and fold through to combine.
Add the self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, ginger, and cinnamon and give it another mix, but be careful not to overdo it – this is key.
Once it’s all mixed together, fold in the nuts (if you’re using them) and pour the mixture into the ready tins. Pop the cakes in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until they’re fully baked.
Before you take them out of the oven, check with a skewer to see if it comes out clean from the middle.
Always let the cakes cool down completely before you take them out of the tin. If you’re a fan of Bundt cakes like me, you can make your own by hollowing out the centre of the smaller sponge with a small glass or mug.
For the icing, blend the softened butter with the icing sugar until it’s light and thick, then mix in the vanilla extract. If it’s too thick, add a splash of yoghurt or milk to thin it out, then spread it onto the cooled cakes.
This will give you enough to fill the middle and top of a sandwich cake or cover two single-layer cakes.
Finish up with some extra orange zest, or go for lemon or lime if you fancy a more tangy, zesty flavour. Little carrot decorations also make a lovely final touch.