This Mother’s Day, surprise Mom with a moist and delicious Carrot Cake. This easy carrot cake recipe can be made with or without eggs! Top it off with a simple cream cheese frosting (we’ll show you how) or enjoy it plain…Mom will be impressed!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8 – 12
Ingredients:
All-purpose Flour (Maida) – 2 cups (300g)
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Cinnamon Powder – 1 to 2 tsp (your preference)
Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
Yogurt – 1 cup (140g)
Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup, packed
Sugar – 1 cup
Vanilla -1 tsp
Carrots – 2 cups (300g), finely shredded
Walnuts – 1/2 cup, chopped (reserve few for garnishing)
Salted Butter – 1 stick (4oz), melted (If using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt to flour)
Eggs – 2
For eggless cake – Flaxseed Powder – 2 Tbsp mixed with 6 Tbsp warm water (allow it to sit for 10 mins)
For Frosting:
Butter – 2 oz (1/2 stick) at room temp
Cream Cheese – 8 oz at room temp
Vanilla – 1 tsp
Powdered Sugar – 1 cup
Beat Butter, Cream Cheese and Vanilla until smooth. Add Powdered Sugar and beat until smooth.
Method:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F or 180 C.
1. In a mixing bowl, add All-purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Cinnamon Powder and Nutmeg Powder. Mix well.
2. In another large mixing bowl, add Yogurt, Brown Sugar, Sugar and Vanilla. Mix until sugar dissolves.
3. Add Eggs or Flaxseed Mixture and mix. Add Flour and whisk until a smooth batter is formed.
4. Add Carrots, Walnuts and Butter. Mix well.
5. Lightly butter the bottoms and sides of 2 9inch cake pans and dust with flour. A 9×13 inch rectangle pan can also be used.
6. Evenly divide the batter into the 2 cake pans and smooth the top.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F/180C.
8. Remove from Oven and allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
9. Flip them out onto waxed or parchment paper and allow them to cool completely before frosting. If you do not wish to frost the cake, you can enjoy it immediately.
10. Place one cake (face down) on a platter.
11. Lightly frost only the top of the cake.
12. Place second cake (face down) over the first cake and frost top and sides evenly.
13. Sprinkle a few chopped walnut pieces over the top to garnish.
14. Tastes best at room temperature or warmed for few seconds in the microwave.
Hey Hetal and Anuja! i just wanted to ask you something – are the walnuts you added optional? i was wondering that because i do not know if it is a part of carrot cake of if you just added it. please reply me. Thank you girls!
Hi Sakina,
Carrot cake usually has some nuts in it, however, they are optional. Leave them out if you wish.
ooh i love carrot cake! it is so yummy… i have to fast so i might make this so that when i get to eat, i get to have this for dessert 🙂 thanks for the recipe girls! please make more recipes preferably desserts 🙂
thanks
i can not wait to EATTT! 😀
hello hetal
im sindhu, i live in germany. I really love to bake cakes but here i am not fond of this terminology of products.can you please let me know in what name i can get this cream cheese and brown sugar (if possible name of the product). i will be really happy if u reply this. thank u in advance.
Hi Sindhu,
I am not sure what brands are available in Germany, but here in the US, Philadelphia is a common brand for cream cheese. Brown sugar is sugar with added molasses.
Hello Hetal & Anuja,
Glad to meet you guys, i liked many of your recipes and tried too. Thanks for all your recipes
I have always a problem when baking a cake. My cake never comes smooth and rise properly always it comes very hard.
i taken all the above indigrents and just mixed with hand and pour in my cake pan. and preheated the oven before 15 min.
pls tell me where i am doing wrong.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Sirisha
Do you have any dessert that is milk-free or can you make any invention like that?
It would be great help
Regards
jyoti
I do not have electric beater/blender with me. Can I beat the cream in mixie instead?
Hi Deepika,
If you don’t have an electric beater, you can do it by hand (may take longer). You cannot use a mixie…it will overmix the dough.
Thank you for the reply, Hetal!What do you think of the idea of using buttermilk churner to beat the cream? Will it work?
hi ladies can i use white sugar instead of brown sugar???
Hi Smitha,
The flavor and color will be a little different, but you can use it.
I have never tasted carrot cake, but your recipe makes me want to try it NOW!As I have never eaten carrot cake before, I have a few clarifications about the taste:
1) Does it taste anything like gajar ka halwa? I mean does carrots have a dominating tatse in this cake?
2) Does this cake taste similar to fruit cake, where you use nutmeg and cinnamon as well?
Although my questions are slightly off scope, I would really appreciate it if you could answer
Hi Nita,
No, carrot cake does not taste anything like gajar ka halwa. It does not have a strong carrot flavor, more subtle. It may have a little similarity to fruit cake because of the cinnamon, but really not the same.
i have tried your samosas.they were perfect made.
when i made all my family taste it and they start to say good things about my dish.
thank you,
mahnoor
hi ladies i wanted to what kind of ground flax you guys use
Hi Hani,
We buy the flax seed already powdered at our local bulk food store (Sprouts).
Hello Hetal and Anuja
First off may I say how beautifull you both are. Second I baked the carrot cake last week and it came out very nice. The thing is I had my two two year old nieces with me and I struggled to take my time as I liked to.( I think I might have added two much flour ) The two cakes I baked came out double the size of the ones from the video.
I have a question or two, the salted butter in terms of grams, what is 1 stick (4oz) and 1/2 stick (2oz) in terms of grams? I also used Phillidelphia cheese spread instead of cream cheese as I don’t know where to find cream cheese in the country I am in.
Anyway once again the cake still tasted nice and my two year old nieces loved it to.
Thank you for a great website :).
Panny.
Hi thank you so much for all your recipies love them!!!!! Would this work out if i just divided the mixture into muffin liners to make muffins? Hope you ladies are well 🙂
Hi Ani,
Yes, you can make muffins. The baking time may be a little less…please keep an eye on them.
hetal you are so sweet for replying to me, appreciate it xoxo
Hello Hetal and Anuja,
Nice recipe. I am planning to make this for my husband’s birthday, Carrot cake is his favorite. I was wondering if I can use cool whip instead of the frosting for the icing..Please let me know.
Thanks for the wonderful recipes. You guys are my first stop when it comes to try a new recipe.
Love
Reena
Hi Reena,
Sorry for the late response,
Cool Whip will work, but if you have the time, the cream cheese frosting is really delicious with carrot cake.
Hello
would it b possible for u to send me pine apple upside down cake recipe…i wud really appreciate the effort…
thank u in advanve.
Hey guys
I m writing 4 the first time.today is my daughter’s bday.she is 4 today.i m trying the carrot cake ,just came out of the oven,don’t know how it wud be.i hope it turns out good…will write abt the result later when everyone gets to eat it.by the way why aren’t u guys posting any new recipes.i have tried a couple of things and everything turned out super duper.
Hi Zainab,
We post a new recipe every week…the latest are on our homepage. Good luck with the cake! And, a very happy birthday to your daughter!
Thank u so much…my daughters birthday cake came out wonderful.it was a hit.thanks to u guys.
What can i substitute with yogurt? Can i use brown sugar and canola/corn oil instead?
Hi Hethal & Anuja,
How can I make this cake completely vegan??please help I want to try ASAP & could u guys please please….. post some vegan baking recipes in future??
Thanks a lot & keep up the great work ladies !!
Sorry, there are too many dairy ingredients in this recipe to alter it. It would take a lot of experimenting to change this recipe. You might be better off searching for a vegan recipe.
Thanks for the prompt reply Hethal. I did do some experimenting with ur recipe… I replaced the yogurt with apple sauce, butter with oil & increased the baking powder from 1 to 2 tsp & used the flax meal instead of eggs as per ur recipe. The cake did came out amazing. I did not frost it but i decorated the cake with berries. all my vegan friends loved it.
Thanks again…… 🙂
Great! Thanks for the feedback!
i made this and it was delicios everybody loved it 🙂
i liked all your recipies. I can just say that you guys are awesome and keep it up 🙂
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
I baked this cake yesterday but it didn’t come out good. My cake was undone at the center part while the sides were cooked. The top layer became crispy and started cracking too..Would you know what could have gone wrong as the top and sides were cooked except the centre portion?
Secondly, I used silken tofu instead of flaxseed. After baking, the cake had a slight flavor of yoghurt in it. Was it because of ofu or the yoghurt used in the recipe?
Thanks,
richa
Hi Ria,
Baking is more of a science than normal cooking. You have to follow the ingredients exactly. Since we have not tried tofu, we cannot say if that was the cause or not. If the cake was over crispy on top and undone in the center, then the oven temperature is too high.
hello hetal and anuja
i tried this cake today when the cake was in the oven it took more time than u said i waited around 45min but still when i insert a toothpick i can find the cake hasent baked in the center it remains same as the cake mixture.i closed the oven and waited for 5more min.but i can find the cake is becoming back on the top side.i haven’t faced it before.can you tell me where i went wrong.
thank you in advance.
Hi Deepthi,
So sorry to hear that. The only thing I can think of is the rate at which your oven heats up. Many times, ovens do not heat up to what temp it says on the display.
Hi, i tried this recipe today, my carrot cake was very soft from the inside was like it was not made?
I made it with the flaxseed…
Hi P,
Sorry to hear that. Sometimes, different ovens have different heat settings. When baking any kind of cake, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out dry and clean, the cake is done.
hi gals
U r Rocking.I have small Doubt,Can we substitute brown sugar with normal caster sugar?
Hi Keerthana,
Yes you can but brown sugar gives the nice brown color and additional flavor.
hi
I tried this cake with normal caster sugar only,It tastes good but as u said, there was no dark color to the cake.It looks like normal vanilla sponge.Anyway it tastes great.
I used self raising flour and didn’t add baking powder and soda.It was spongy though.
It took nearly 50minutes to bake.I used same measurements as in the recipe. what could be the reason?
Thanks.
Hi Keerthana,
Sometimes, ovens are not calibrated properly so cooking time varies. Also, the type of baking pan (glass, metal, dark, light, etc) and the pan size makes a different in baking time.
I just had small microwave oven . Is the temperature and baking time same for the cake even in microwave. If its not the same plz suggest me how to do
Hi Sowji,
This recipe is meant to be baked in a regular oven, not a microwave. We have not tried it in the microwave. Sorry.
Hi Hetal and Anuja
Can u please post basic sponge cake with eggs.
Thanks for the reply didi.. Feel really happy when you take time to respond personally.. Will surely try next time with confectionary sugar..
And a request, can you plz show how to write wishes on the cake.. 🙂
Hi Amy,
Many stores carry gel like frosting tubes that you can use to write names or wishes on cakes. Just use them like you would a pen or pencil.
I made it today for my hubby’s bday.. and the cake part was too yummy.. but i really dont know what mistake i did with the frosting.. it was very liquidy and so didnt set on the cake properly.. (i frosted only after the cake got cooled down)
i didnt use confectionary sugar, used only normal sugar.. dunno whether that was my mistake..
Inspite of that the cake tasted heavenly.. 🙂
Hi Amy,
The problem was probably the regular sugar. Powdered sugar has corn starch in it and helps to bind the whole mixture together. Regular sugar will just make the frosting liquidy.
hi hetal/anuja can make choclate ice cream cake eggless kind of like this one?
Hi Maimoona,
We have a recipe for Eggless Chocolate Cake. Here is the video: https://34.233.61.50/desserts/eggless-chocolate-cake.html
You can layer this cake with ice cream.
Thanks didi!!
The butter you have used for frosting is a salted or unsalted one??
Hi Amy,
We used salted but if you use unsalted, you can add a pinch of salt.
Wow! Amazing..we didn’t have flaxseed at home so we used the EnerG egg replacement powder instead…and still turned out wonderful! Thank you Hetal and Anuja!
-Halie
hi,
This is rashmi from Lagos, Pls tell me can a make cake in a microwave. if yes, pls guide me.
thanx&bye
rashmi
Hi Rashmi,
We do not have a microwave cake recipe yet…still working on it. 🙂
hi mam ,
I made the cake for my hubby thats wonderful.but I cant make the frosting.will u tell me where we can buy creemy cheese or is there any substitute for it
Hi Bhawna,
It is called “Cream Cheese” and is available in all grocery stores in the US. If you are not in the US, you can try to substitute hung yogurt or try some other type of frosting.
I made this cake yesterday and it turned out to be awesome. I made half the quantity, but surely gonna make loads soon. Thank you guys.. You Rock!!
Hey ladies
Iam planning to make this cake for my hubby’s birthday….and I was thinking if I could finish baking and frosting and keep the cake in the fridge till evening …. So that he can come and cut the cake in the evening…. Do suggest me how will it work….
Hi Shobana,
Hope this reply is not too late. Yes, you can keep the cake in the fridge but it tastes best at room temperature. Be sure to take it out and keep it on the counter for about an hour before serving. Please wish your husband a very happy birthday!
vanilla is vanilla extract right?
Hi Preethi,
Yes it is.
Hi Hetal and Anuja!!!
I made the carrot cake last nite and it turned out great! I think flaxseeds did the magic for
me :-D….
Just one q! I saw in ur video that the cakes were abs flat on the top, mine rised abit from the centre…. I know all my ingredients were per the recipe
and it was 180 deg. Anything else
that I may have messed up?!! Pls let me know!
Ou and made pani puri too from ur recipe – yup
yday and it was fantastic!!!! The best!
Thanks alot!
Hi Bindiya,
Yes, the cake will rise and form a dome like shape. That is perfectly fine. We just flipped it over so that the flat side is on top :).
made this cake yesterday. it came out nicely – but it is too sweet for us. If we reduce the sugar do we need to increase something else?
Hi Aravinda,
No, you can easily reduce the sugar without changing anything else.
Is there a substitute for cream cheese? I am not able to find this in any store.
Aravinda
Mumbai
Hi Aravinda,
The closest thing would be strain (hang) yogurt for a few hours…similar to making shrikhand. We have not tried this for making the frosting but you may want to try a small batch to see if it works properly.
Hi,
After cooling down the cake,I put it in refrigerator and it became very hard.
Can you pls tell whts the reason?
Thanks,
Meenu.
Hi Meenu,
Any cake, when refrigerated will harden. You can store the cake in the refrigerator but serve it at room temperature for best flavor and texture.
Hi Hetal & Anjua,
I wanted to try out carrot coconut cake is it possible to use the same ingredients and add 1 cup coconut to it ?
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
I m very eager to make this cake. But i don’t hv cake pan.plz tell me can i make it without cake pan.how can i do this.
plz rply me
Babita
Hi Babita,
You can make a different shape if you do not have the small round pans. If you have a deeper round pan, you can make 1 cake and cut it horizontally through the center and fill in the cream.
Thanks for the great recipe! I’ve already used it a few times and it’s so delicious. Everyone loves it! 😀
Kristina
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Thanks so much for easy and delicious recipes. I tried many of your recipes and all came out very well. This cake I baked for my son’s birthday and it was a great hit!
Thanks again:)
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
Can I use flaxseed powder to make any other eggless cake?
Hi ladies
I tried this cake. Came out lovely.Didnt hav cream cheese at hand, but did have some heavy cream. So I whipped up some whipped topping 🙂 Tasted very good .
Thanks for a wonderful recipe
Hi Veera,
Great to know about the substitute! We are sure it will benefit other viewers.
Wonderful recipe. Cake came out very well
Hey girls,
i made this cake today but instead of using All-purpose Flour,
Baking Powder, Baking Soda, i just used Self raising and it turned out fine
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
I got married a year back and came to US. Your site has been so helpful and I have learned a lot from you both. Thanks a ton!!!!! 🙂
I have been looking for carrot cake recipe since long and this seems just perfect. Just wanted to ask if I can substitute brown sugar with regular sugar .. What difference will that make?
Hope you reply soon.
Thanks
Hi Neha,
Congratulations! Welcome to USA and to SMTC 🙂
Brown Sugar is white sugar with extra moisture and molasses. You can substitute but then you will have to add extra water and get molasses and at that point, you are better off getting the brown sugar.
It is really inexpensive and very easily available at walmarts or any grocery store.
If you want a perfect Carrot Cake, we really suggest you get it.
Thanks Anuja…I made the cake with brown sugar and it turned out perfect!!! My husband loved it. 🙂