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Carrot cake
- Prep time:
- 25 mins
- Cook time:
- 1 hrs 15 mins
- Serves:
- 12
This classic cake is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, and Rachel Allen’s version is chock-full of raisins and pecans and with a zesty orange cream cheese icing
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Ingredients
For the carrot cake
- 140ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
- 2 Eggs
- 200g light brown sugar
- 300g grated Carrots, (grated weight)
- 100g raisins
- 75g pecans or Walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 180g self-raising flour
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Mixed spice
For the orange cream cheese icing
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2. Oil and line a 13 x 23cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper.2. For the carrot cake: beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts.
3. Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about five minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
6. For the icing: beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and finely grated orange zest and mix until the icing is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.
Adapted from Rachel Allen, Bake (Collins)
Comments & Ratings
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Latest Comment
View all comments (41)Very nice.... just a quick question, Are the flowers edible and where can I buy them?
great recipe love the coconut touch. very moist too
Fantastic - delicious and really easy. Made a perfect birthday cake for my daughter
its worth watching the video as Rachel beats together the sugar eggs and oil until pale before adding the other ingredients. This is not mentioned in the recipe or "bake" and really alters the cake texture. Sally
its delicious
Very easy to follow, followed written recipe and it worked fine so discrepancy in ingredients not a problem. Cake absolutely gorgeous, really moist and kept well for a week.
I tried it and the result was exactly as seen on TV. I wonder why there are differences in couple of items and I followed the measures shown on TV. How do I make the eggless version? Appreciate suggestions. Thanks.
Yes I agree with Marie. the quantities are slightly different in the video and the ingredients list. Anyway I followed your video and it came out excellent. Thanks.
I tried this recipe and me and my family loved it. Thank you Rachel for this wonderful easy recipe. However it would benefit people like me who are on a diet plan if you could mention the calories in your recipies. Thank you! Sorry its five star rating I clicked it wrong.
I have only just started baking but I have made this cake many times and had compliments time and time again. It's light and moist and the orange icing is lovely. I've have this as one cake and as small cup cakes and they've all turned out perfect.
Wow, never liked carrot cake before I tried this one. Its so moist and gorgeous, I couldnt stop eating it oops! All I would say is PLEASE CHECK THE AMOUNT OF CARROT! it should be 250g not 300g. Otherwise it is still gorgeous but too soft and moist that its impossible to slice! Cant recommend this pud enough
this cake is a weekly must in our house the best ever, i am known for this cake,never use icing wonderful without it... only problem difficult to slice as its lovely and moist ....any ideas on a cure?
tried this yesterday. Excellent result. I only used 250grms carrot and added a little more flour. Mixture looked quite wet but cooked to perfection in time given. Had no cream cheese so used orange flavoured butter icing. Worked well, Pam
I was crazy enough to volunteer to bake the 3 weding cakes for a friend ... this recipe sounds very easy and the commends very positive. So will try this today. However I won't be using the original icing of this recipe, as I need a hard one. Fingers crossed.
I made the carrot cake last week. It turned out amazing and I'm 13. My parent said it tasted delicous. I will defeatly made it again.
I have made this receipe it tastes nice , never imagined in my life that with using carrot a cake can be made.I will be mking this receipe again & again , but it will nice of you to let us know if a person is vegetarian then what would be the alternate options instead of eggs .
just made this cake the orange cream cheese icing is far too runny and there is loads left over other recipe i have just looked up uses a 1/4 of the ingredients half a bowl full to throw away very dissapointed
I have made this recipe on many an occasion - an absolute success. It has just the right combination of spice,sweet and moistness. I will be making this again and again.
Has anyone had any problems with the centre of their cake not cooking properly? I have follweelp!d the written recipe and wondering whether I should put just 250g carrots not 300g. I am trying to so this for the top tier of my wedding cake! Please h
Made this yesterday, but it turned out too wet. only cooked half way thro. Any ideas what I did wrong, I followed the recipe to the letter. Had to cook it longer "out of the tin"
Did nobody else notice that Rachel says 250G grated carrots in the video but recipe says 300G. I just made this cake as per printed receipe and it was too much carrot and not enough cake. Will try again - still tased good though - just too wet.
i have had this recipe for many years now i got it off another cook i worked with i still use it at chelt ladies coll.and it works every time i now have to make this recipe for cupcakes
The recipe is lovely and I have made it several times so far. What I found was that you could sieve
Really great carrot cake, except the icing went a bit too runny so ended up eating it without, was still very nice
Love carrot cake but have never made one until after reading all the positive comments re this recipe. Absolutely delicious
Great cake. I decided to just do an orangey icing drizzled over and it was a great success. The 'Cooks Note' had me puzzled!! A cut
The best carrot cake I've ever tasted. I would half the icing as it made far too much.
Suggestion for the runny icing: I would either put less cream cheese, maybe 200g or 190g or use the 250g but put the icing in the fridge while the cake is cooling.
OMG this is the besttttt carrot cake in the world!!! sooo easy to make and so delicious.
Just baked this cake, and yes the cake its self is very yummy but i have to agree with some of the previous post- the icing is very runny. Would probably try another one in future-anyone any suggestions>>
I just baked this very yummy,healthy and easy to bake cake as a favour for a friend and it turned out so fabulously good and I was thinking of doing again in couple od days. It came out as my expectations. thank's rachel.
I made this cake for mothers day yesterday and definately got a 'thumbs up' by all the family. The icing is abit runny, but I added 300g of cream cheese and less icing sugar and it was perfect! Look forward to making this again and again!
Really easy recipie to follow and very moist and tasty. The icing however lets it down, there is far too much and it is really runny. Next time I make this I will change the topping.
Made this today and it was easy to make. The quantity of icing is far too much! Only needed about a third of it and it was a bit runny.
yum yum yum the best carrot cake in the world and so easy to make, thankyou rachel.
I made this cake, wonderful taste, but the icing was runny
"Cook's note" mentions Jam filling, while it is nowhere mentioned in the recipe and ingredients. I assume it's a mistake, carried over by another recipe?
This cake is brilliant really easy to follow and everyone loved it!
I also baked this recipe into 12 individual muffins, topped with the cream cheese topping..gorgeous...makes you want more
made 2 versions of this cake today: first in the loaf tin as recommended, and then in a shallower rectangular tin, with added orange juice and zest added to the mix - the 2nd cake cooked in just under 45 mins. both delicious!!
I made this recipe into 12 individual muffins and baked them for approx 25mins .....delicious!