The Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe
Confectionery, Dessert August 11th, 2009
I was never really a fan of carrot cakes all these while probably because I never had any good experience eating a good carrot cake out there. Maybe the thought of eating a “vegetable” cake deterred me from wanting to try this out compared to chocolate cakes or cheese cakes. Anyway, not any longer ever since we got ourselves a Fagor oven in our new house. Carrot cake rocks! More so when it is topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and eaten slightly chilled.
My wife made this a couple of weeks back and I’m now a fan of carrot cakes. Moist and nutritious, this carrot cake is laden with freshly grated carrots, sweetened pineapples, oven-toasted walnuts and plump raisins. I think the best part that there is no mixer involved (with a little caveat that a mixer would be required to prepare the frosting). Just get yourself a big bowl and spatula and give it a good mix ala manual 
What makes this carrot cake so special that I have decided to call it the Ultimate Carrot Cake Recipe? Well, it’s been handed down from my mother-in-law to my wife, it tastes good as reported by many who have tasted this and most of all, one piece is never enough. Need I say more? 
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 240 grammes carrots (grated)
- 120 grammes pineapples (tinned, drained and chopped)
- 60 grammes raisins (lightly chopped)
- 60 grammes walnuts (toasted, cooled and chopped coarsely)
- 240 grammes self-raising flour
- 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg powder
- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence (add to eggs)
- 3 eggs
- 210 grammes castor sugar
- 180 ml cooking oil
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 60 grammes butter (room temperature)
- 230 grammes cream cheese (room temperature)
- 230 grammes icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 lemon (grate the skin)
Method
Sift the flour with soda and baking powder. Add castor sugar.
Whisk eggs until frothy in a separate bowl. Add in vanilla essence.
Pour egg mixture into the flour and stir well. Then add grated carrots followed by cooking oil. Add in the chopped pineapples and stir well.
Then add in the raisins and walnuts.
Pour mixture into a greased and floured tray and bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to stand to cool before applying frosting.
Frosting
Put cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed till blended. Gradually add icing sugar (sifted) and continue beating until smooth.
Add vanilla essence and grated lemon and allow to beat till well combined.
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August 12th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
This looks and sounds amazing. Love the touch of savoury in this one =)
August 12th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
You know, this is also called Passion Cake, to stop people being freaked out by the vegetableness. Chocolate and courgette cake is another amazing way of using vegetables in cakes, and you can also use beetroot. Yummy!
August 12th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Ooh, looks good. Very similar to mine
August 13th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Judging from the list of ingredients used, it is definitely an ultimate cake to me. The texture looks great too!
August 13th, 2009 at 1:38 am
num..num…love carrot cake…great frosting…and so healthy.(well it does have carrots)
August 13th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Can we use self-raising flour? If so, how much?
August 13th, 2009 at 11:06 am
noobcook : It’s delicious. You should try making this.
Kaity : Thank you for the information
Miakoda : Really? Let me check it out!
food-4tots : Will you be trying this out?
The Grub Hound : I think rabbits will love this as well
wei : Yes, self-raising flour is used here. See the recipe above.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
wow looks really moist! I’ve never used pineapples in carrot cakes before, sounds like a nice addition!
August 17th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Sounds delicious with all the right ingredients. But pineapples???
August 17th, 2009 at 2:06 am
Looks moist and delish!
August 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Pablo, what’s the size of your baking tray? Thank you for this recipe. I’m gonna try it soon.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
pigpigscorner : Yes, the pineapples give it a distinctly sweet flavour but you should not overdo it
Rasa Malaysia : Yes. Pineapples. You can also use applesauce. The pineapples add moist and flavour to this cake.
Reeseboston : It is!
Ratna : My wife uses a 10in x 10in square baking tray for this recipe.
August 29th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Carrot cake is a great way to get your kids eating their veggies.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Look yummy. Can I try some?
September 14th, 2009 at 9:41 am
HtC : In a way, yes. But this may encourage sweet tooth instead
Jayce : Finish liao lor!
September 20th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Tried it…delish….thanks 4 recipe..my folks were amazed !
September 28th, 2009 at 10:12 am
foodlover : I’m glad it turned out well!
September 30th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Pablo, I tried your recipe. It was perfect. Thank you!!
Btw, do you also have a recipe for a homemade mooncake?
October 7th, 2009 at 8:56 am
How long can this cake be stored in the freezer? I plan to try it out and if success, would like to give it away.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Apple : No, don’t store in the freezer. It will get frozen and I’m not sure it’ll taste good when it is thawed. You might want to try keeping it in the fridge instead and it should be good for at least 3 days.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Pablo, I am going to use this recipe this evening to make Carrot Cake. I have an excess of carrots that I need to use! Thanks!
October 19th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Dear Pablo
You’ve not been posting for some time, hope alls well with you and you’re just swamped with work! In the meantime, we will just have to satisfy ourselves with your recipe archive.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Pablo, my dad was exactly the same as you about carrot cake until my mum convinced him to try her homemade recipe cake. The only difference to your wife’s (I think) is that she uses corn oil rather than any cooking oil – it seems to give the cake more ‘depth’ while still keeping the light. Oh and pecans rather than walnuts.
A tip to the cake keeping longer – don’t frost all of it at once. We do this, just make the frosting separately and keep the cake in an airtight container (it lasts a couple of weeks this way). Then every time you serve it just put a huge dollop of frosting on which you have kept in the fridge in another airtight container. Now you can enjoy the cake for longer, even if you do have to make a couple of batches of frosting!
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Pablo,
This cake is delicious. I’ve done a few carrot cakes but none can compare with this one. BTW, I’ve cut down the sugar cos’ i think it’s a bit too sweet for me.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
the carrot cake looks fantastic. It’s quite interesting that you’ve added pineapples in it. I would really like to give this a try.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Terri : I’m still here! Just not cooking anything new of late
Yum Asia : Thanks for the tips. We usually have no problems with the frosting because the cake gets eaten up within 2 days’. LOL!
Delia : I’m glad you tried this out though you’ve tried other carrot cake recipes and found this good enough to warrant leaving a reply here. Yes, feel free to adjust the sugar levels. Better for your health too
TracieMoo : The pineapples are co-stars. Even so, they add a refreshing taste to this cake.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
wow…a lot of beautiful ingredients in this cake…has to be very delicious. Looks very moist. Thanks for sharing.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
This receipe I am looking for long time finally I’ve found this one, and I am going to try make one, thank you.
December 16th, 2009 at 1:12 am
thanks for sharing these recipes.. hope to see more in the near future
December 18th, 2009 at 12:27 am
hello, every week I have been dropping by your blog, hoping for to see your new posts/recipes..
no new ones since August …
I love your blog, please continue posting.
Happy Holidays! Happy New Year
-Sandrine
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Sandrine : I finally posted, after such a long time. Thank you for staying loyal to Delicious Asian Food and I wish you happy holidays and a smashing new year!