Doesn’t matter if you’re making this for your mother, a party or just for yourself, this delectable carrot cake with walnuts and raisin, topped with a generous slather of cream cheese frosting will leave you wanting for more than just one slice. Give this recipe a try!
Preparation Time:
20 minutes
Cooking Time:
40 – 60 minutes (depending on the oven)
Servings: Depends on how you slice the cake
Ingredients
Cake:
260g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
1 1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
295ml canola or other vegetable oil
200g granulated sugar
200g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
300g grated carrots, peeled
65g raisins
100g walnuts (or whichever nuts you prefer), coarsely chopped
Frosting:
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
140g powdered sugar
80ml heavy whipping cream
Baking equipment:
2 bowls
Rubber spatula
Whisk
2 8-inch round cake pans
Parchment paper
Wire rack
Handheld mixer
Offset spatula
Method
Firstly, preheat the oven at 180°C.
Start by grating the carrots and chopping the walnuts
In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients together (all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon) and whisk to combine well.
In a separate bowl, add oil, both type of sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture to mix well before adding in 4 eggs (one at a time) and continue whisking until well combined.
Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (in 3 parts) and gently fold them together with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth (if there are mixtures stuck at the side of the bowl, just scrape them down with the spatula).
Lastly, stir in the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and raisins until the mixture is well combined. Leave a small handful of the walnuts for garnishing.
Grease the bottom and side of the cake pans with oil before lining them with parchment paper. Don’t forget to grease the parchment paper after inserting them into the pan.
Pour the batter evenly into both cake pans and place them in the oven for about 1 hour. Check the cakes after 40 minutes, if the tops are already springy to the touch you may remove them from the oven. If not, continue baking until the tops are springy. Note: If you have a cake thermometer, you may use it to test whether the cakes are done.
When the cakes are ready, remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool down.
While waiting for the cakes to cool, it’s time to make the frosting. In a bowl, whisk the cream cheese using a handheld mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute until it’s a smooth batter before adding in the powdered sugar (mix in 1⁄4 cup at a time to avoid having the powder spreading out all over you while you mix the mixture). Whisk until the mixture is well combined before adding in the heavy whipping cream. Continue whisking on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
Once the cake is completely cool, frost the top layer of one of the cake layers with the cream cheese mixture using an offset spatula. Then place the other cake layer on top and decoratively swirl the remaining frosting on top of the second cake layer.
Lastly, sprinkle some of the chopped walnuts on top as garnish.
