Easy Carrot Cake Recipe

slice of moist easy carrot cake with its vibrant orange crumb and sweet cream cheese frosting.

5 from 2 votes

This Easy Carrot Cake Recipe is perfect for when you want a carrot cake but do not want to spend all day shredding carrots! It's moist, soft with a little spice and has a lovely sweetness from the cream cheese frosting! This recipe is so easy, no mixer is needed for the batter and it takes less than an hour to bake in the oven! It's the perfect simple carrot cake recipe for Easter, springtime and birthdays! As always, our carrot cake recipe is gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be made vegan!

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Cool Time20

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: slices

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Gluten Free Carrot Cake

½ cup zested carrots (From about 1.5 large carrots) (3.92 ounces)
¾ cup milk
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 ¾ cup multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
¼ cup applesauce
½ cup light brown sugar , packed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup vegetable oil

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
2.5 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pinch kosher salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Carrot Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 inch cake pan with vegetable oil. Line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper as well. Set aside.
Wash 2 carrots and peel off the outer layer of skin.
Zest 1.5 carrots.
You should have ½ packed cup of zested carrots. If not, zest the remaining ½ of carrot.
Measure out ¾ cup milk. Add in 2 teaspoons white vinegar. Mix with a spoon and let sit for 5-10 min. Stir again; it will be chunky and that's normal.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 ¾ cups gluten free flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2.5 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch (26 grams) with 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ½ cup zested carrots, ¼ cup applesauce, ½ cup light brown sugar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, the cornstarch water, the homemade buttermilk and ½ cup vegetable oil until fully emulsified and combined.
This might take a few minutes. It's done when everything is combined and the oil is no longer separated.
Into the dry ingredients, make a well for the wet ingredients to be poured into.
Slowly pour in the wet ingredients and whisk everything together. Switch to using a spatula when the batter gets too thick and mix until just combined.
The batter will be very thick.
Using a spatula, scoop the batter in a greased and parchment lined 9 inch cake pan; smooth the top with a butter knife. It will be super thick and sticky.
Bake the cake in the center rack at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes until the cake springs back at you when careful touched.
Remove from oven and carefully cover with foil for 10 min. This will soften the top and sides.
After 10 minutes, remove foil, carefully remove cake from pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cake is baking, make the frosting.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the ½ unsalted butter and 4 ounces cream cheese until smooth; about 2 minutes.
Slowly add in the 2.5 cups confectioners' sugar, the 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract and the 1 pinch of kosher salt; beat until combined.
Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the sides and top of the cake.
To make pretty swirls or designs, use the icing spatula, the back of a spoon or a butter knife.

Video

Notes

For Vegan: Use a gluten free flour free from dairy, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan cream cheese.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1 ¾ packed cups of regular flour (294 grams), ½ cup milk and 1 teaspoon white vinegar.

Crumble Top: If desired, once the cake is completely cool, cut a super thin layer off the top of the cake and crumble. Immediately after frosting the cake, sprinkle the crumbs onto wet frosting so they stick.

Storing: Once the cake is cut into, it’s best to cut the entire cake into slices, wrap each slice in foil. Try to create a teepee with the top of the foil so it isn't touching the frosting as much. Pop the slices in a zip top bag and freeze for up to 30 days.

To defrost, take out of the freezer and leave at room temperature until soft; about 2 hours.

Note: Freeze the slices even if you're eating them the next day. Freezing helps to keep the cake soft as carrot cake can dry out quickly in the fridge. Do not store cake at room temperature as there is cream cheese in the frosting.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition