This is a truly old school carrot carrot cake, made with sour cream icing that is one of those strange inventions involving a vegetable, and we don’t know why, but it works. Maybe it’s the sweetness of carrot that most of us forget exists. Or maybe it’s the moisture content. Whatever it is, this recipe has been in my baking life for more than 30 years. That’s because it’s damn delicious.
Made with sour-cream, this is a cake that tastes good and has a slightly denser texture than others. Hence its old-school reference, and because of the carrot, it’s always moist and is perfect for brunch with a freshly brewed coffee. And you can pop your halo on too, because it’s full of those carroty vitamins.I
Here, I’ve taken the basic carrot cake recipe and made it into cupcakes. I made the most heavenly cheesecake-inspired frosting you could wish for to take them the next level
This also makes two beautiful 20 cm / 8 inch round cakes, perfect for stacking and decorating with cream cheese frosting or this no-bake cheesecake-inspired topping too.
How to give your old school carrot cake a refined edge
Just a tip on carrots. Make sure you use a fine grater for the carrot. If you use a normal grating size (kind of like you’d use for cheddar cheese), you end up with big streaks of carrot through your cake. And that’s what made this such an old school carrot cake for so long and why I named it such. Because I did the big grate thing for years before having that AHA moment when I realised if I used a much finer grater, or even a food processor, the carrot would distribute more evenly through the cake and not leave those very obvious carrot flakes throughout.
Moist Carrot Cake
Course: BrunchDifficulty: Easy12
muffins15
minutes25
minutesThis moist, delicious carrot cake recipe makes gorgeous muffins or 2x 8″ cakes.
You will need
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (or other light vegetable-based oil)
4 free range eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream (light or full cream)
3 cups grated carrot (preferably organic)
For the frosting
100g sour cream
200g cream cheese
100g pure icing
1 tsp vanilla extract
Juice and rind of one lemon
Here’s what to do
- For the cake:
- Sift flours, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add sugar and oil and mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Place eggs and cream into separate bowl and beat well, until thick. Add to flour mixture and mix through gently. Lastly, mix in the grated carrot.
- Spoon into one prepared round 20cm/8″ cake tins or 12-16 lined muffin trays.
- Bake in a 175C oven 1 hour. Stand a few minutes before turning out.
- Eat warm with sour cream topping or serve cold.
- Cream cheese topping:
- Beat sour cream and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl. Add vanilla and lemon juice, then the icing sugar a bit at a time until it’s well mixed.
- Spread or pipe onto cake/cupcakes.
Tips and tricks
- Double the recipe for two generous high 20cm cakes, or three for layering.
