• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dish by Dish

SIMPLE GLUTEN-FREE RECIPES that actually taste good

  • Bread Recipes
  • Air Fryer Recipes
  • By Diet
    • Gluten-free
    • Dairy-free
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
    • Paleo
    • Grain-free
    • Egg-free
  • By Course
    • Bread Recipes
    • 30-Minute Meals
    • Breakfast
    • Brunch
    • Appetizers
    • Side Dishes
    • Lunch/Dinner
    • Snacks
    • Desserts
  • Recipe Index
  • Start Here
    • Blog
    • My Cookbook
    • Work with me
    • Portfolio
    • Resources
      • Top 30 Tips for Food Bloggers
      • Food Photography Tips
      • My Kitchen
      • My Library
      • Printables
      • Cooking Glossary
      • Kitchen Tips
    • Travels
      • Australia
      • Argentina
      • Brazil
      • Italy
      • Singapore
      • Uruguay
      • USA
    • Privacy Policy
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Bread Recipes
  • Air Fryer Recipes
  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Recipe Index
  • Blog
  • Start Here
×

Home » Cakes

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Published: Jan 18, 2013 by Felicia Lim · This post may contain affiliate links

We’re going back to the classics, baby.

Reading about food and recipes have become part of my daily routine, and in the past few months, I’ve done quite a bit of scrolling through the huge database of recipes called the Internet.

And trust me, the number of dessert recipes with exotic-sounding names can be pretty intimidating sometimes.

New inventions, exotic names.

Whoopie pies, cake-pops, cake balls and their likes are among the many cool-sounding, new types of recipes that are spreading like a wild forest fire all across the food blogosphere.

cornbread in a cast iron skillet
Subscribe

Get delicious GLUTEN-FREE recipes each week!

Never heard of them? Don’t worry, I also only recently found out these type of desserts existed.

There are ever-changing latest foods to experiment with, depending on the current season and trend. And mind you, these inventions are wonderful, mind-blowing, orgasmic recipes that can make you feel like you’re in heaven, just by looking at their pictures and swooning at your computer screen, wishing you could reach into it and take a bite.

But sometimes, classic recipes are what we miss.

Classic dessert recipes which invoke the nostalgia that crashes over us as we savor a mouthful of homemade goodness, bringing us back to our roots and childhood.

Classic desserts whose very smells open up a memory vault, releasing years of forgotten emotions and memories, as we tumble back in time, to a space which is called home and belonging.

Classic cakes which actually look like cakes (and not cookies, balls or lollipops), spread over and laden with thick, generous helpings of sweet, decadent cream cheese.

Oooohhh yes, you know where we’re heading.

Classic cakes which are baked in a pan, golden brown from the oven’s heat, brimming and stuffed full with nuts, freshly-shredded carrots, and ground cinnamon.


Carrot cake, baby.

Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting..

Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting..

The classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting,
topped with addictive, brown walnuts.

I know, you need at least a few seconds to let your mind wander through the memories which come with carrot cake.

Carrot Cake5

Beautiful classic carrot cake

We’ve all had our experiences with carrot cake.

Carrot Cake9

Tea time..

The cake with the vegetable in it.

The orange vegetable which should not be named, in fact. The vegetable which people associate with dieting, which is good for eyesight and is full of Vitamin A.

Maybe the first time you ate carrot cake your mum refused to tell you what was inside, because if you’d known it was made with bright orange carrots, you might have changed your mind. Or maybe hearing the name “carrot cake” you had thought it was a savory carrot pie whose author got his food nouns mixed up.

Carrot Cake8

The classic carrot cake

Carrots + Cake = Carrot Cake

Who would have thought that carrots and cake could go so well together?

Carrot Cake10

Carrot cake + Coffee = Perfect afternoon tea

Plus, I bet I know why you tried it in the first place –
the decadent frosting.

It was the tempting cream cheese frosting sitting right above the carrot cake, beckoning and challenging you to try it. The cream-colored frosting upon which the patterns of the spatula used to spread it are printed like waves in the ocean, washing you in with the tide.

Carrot Cake3

Decadent frosting, dripping down the carrot cake

CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (Makes 1 large cake)
Inspired by my friend Suzy’s recipe and a recipe sent by Maria, a friend from my gym

Ingredients:

1) 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2) 1 cup vegetable oil
3) 3 eggs
4) 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour (adding more flour if batter if too liquid)
5) 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or store-bought cinnamon powder)
6) 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
7) 3 cups of shredded carrots (around 5 medium or 4 large carrots)
8) 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts + a handful more for decoration
9) 400g of cream cheese
10) 100g of butter
11) 200g of icing sugar
12) 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Steps:

1) Pre-heat oven to 180 deg celcius
2) Peel and shred carrots
3) Chop walnuts into small pieces
4) Mix sugar, oil and eggs in a mixing bowl
5) Sift in self-raising flour and mix well until a homogeneous texture is reached
6) Add in cinnamon powder and vanilla essence and mix well
7) Add in shredded carrots and chopped walnuts, mixing so they are evenly spread throughout
8) Pour the cake batter into a greased and floured baking pan
9) Bake at 180 deg celcius for around 40 -45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
10) Mix cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until both ingredients are well integrated
11) Add in vanilla essence and mix well
12) Sift in icing sugar, mixing until you get a homogeneous texture
13) Chill cream cheese frosting in the fridge for at least 1 hour
14) After carrot cake has cooled and cream cheese frosting has chilled, spread frosting all over carrot cake
15) Decorate cake with walnuts if you wish (optional)


Mix sugar, eggs and vegetable oil:

DSC07248

To get this mixture:
DSC07249

Sift in flour and mix till homogeneous texture achieved:
DSC07250

Add in cinnamon powder and vanilla essence and mix well:
DSC07252

Add in shredded carrots and chopped walnuts, mixing so they are evenly spread throughout:
DSC07257

Pour the cake batter into a greased and floured baking pan:
DSC07258

Mix cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until both ingredients are well integrated:
DSC07259

Sift in icing sugar:
DSC07261

Mixing until you get a homogeneous texture:
DSC07262

After carrot cake has cooled and cream cheese frosting has chilled, spread frosting all over carrot cake:
DSC07274

Beautiful carrot cake:
Carrot Cake4

Recipes you might also like

  • Grain-free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese FrostingGrain-free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Easy Walnut Cake Recipe (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)Easy Walnut Cake Recipe (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
  • Gluten-free Oatmeal Walnut CookiesGluten-free Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
  • Baked Banana Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze and AlmondsBaked Banana Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze and Almonds
« Telling Stories About Life, People & Food In Between
A couple which eats together, grows together »

About Felicia

Hey you! I’m Felicia, a Singaporean girl who moved to Buenos Aires for love. A couple of things about me: I love food, writing and food photography. I wrote a grain-free ecookbook that I know you’ll love and I also do freelance writing and photography if you want to work with me. Follow me on this blog as I navigate the world of cooking gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

Did you make a recipe? Tag @felicialimhz on Instagram. I love to see what you cook!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jess Gonzalez says

    January 22, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    Doesn’t get more classic than carrot cake 😀 In my book anyway. It is one of my most absolute favorite cakes, even though it’s one of the most unhealthy. One (giant) slice is okay though, right? Or a whole cake, if you’re willing to ship this to the old US of A for me heehee

    Reply
    • rosewithoutthorns says

      January 22, 2013 at 6:30 pm

      Haha, jess, I had convinced myself into thinking that the negative-calorie carrots in the cake would cancel out the calories in the cream cheese frosting..

      I think you just burst my bubble!

      But i had a delicious time finishing up the cake (i think i ate most of it). So let’s just push those extra calories to the back of my mind! Hahaha!

      Shipping one huge carrot cake to Jess Gonzalez in New Jersey!! if it doesn’t arrive blame UPS or Fedex!

      Reply
  2. gracelimsaifong says

    January 19, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Yes, bake one on 3 Feb for all of us.. We sure look forward to enjoying the cake and the food that you will cook for us. Thanks in advance. Can’t wait to see you back in Spore

    Reply
    • rosewithoutthorns says

      January 19, 2013 at 1:34 pm

      Want to bake this carrot cake because i know it’s one of your favorites mummy!! love u! cant wait to see u soon!!!

      Reply
  3. Irene says

    January 19, 2013 at 4:27 am

    Beautiful carrot cake and I want to lick the frosting on the screen . Classic is timeless where I reach for it from time to time.

    Reply
    • rosewithoutthorns says

      January 19, 2013 at 1:29 pm

      thank you Irene!! This cake was really very addictive… i ate it every single day until the last piece disappeared into my stomach! 🙂 Have a great weekend my dear!

      Reply
  4. 76sanfermo says

    January 18, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    TREMENDOUSLY good !
    And looks classic and fantastic,too!

    Reply
    • rosewithoutthorns says

      January 18, 2013 at 3:47 pm

      Anna!!

      Grazie!! Thanks for your lovely comment, as usual!

      This is perhaps one of the best cakes I’ve ever made, and I couldn’t stop eating it for an entire week! This morning I ate the last piece for breakfast, and I think I shall bake it for my family in Singapore when I’m back from holidays 🙂

      Un beso y buen finde!!

      Reply
      • 76sanfermo says

        January 18, 2013 at 5:46 pm

        A vos tambien!

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello & welcome!

Hello & welcome!

I’m Felicia: a girl from Singapore who moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina for love. My husband is Celiac so I test and share gluten-free recipes on my blog! I help people with food intolerances and allergies cook and eat delicious, healthy food! Stay a while, and let's be friends! ♥

Read my story here →

Subscribe

to receive free email updates!

Most Popular

    Gluten-free naan in a cast iron skillet on a wooden board

    Best Gluten Free Naan Bread (No-Yeast, No-Yogurt, Dairy-Free)

    Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread Recipe (Dairy-Free, Vegan)

    Soft, Fluffy Gluten-Free Bread (Dairy-Free)

    Easy Honey Oat Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Option)

Air Fryer Recipes

Air Fryer Chicken Quarters (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Crispy Air Fryer Tater Tots (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Crispy Air Fried Potato Wedges (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Air Fryer Green Beans (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Bread Recipes

Low Carb Almond Flour Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

21 Fluffy Gluten-Free Yeast Bread Recipes to Make on Repeat

Low Carb Coconut Flour Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Gluten-free naan in a cast iron skillet on a wooden board

Best Gluten Free Naan Bread (No-Yeast, No-Yogurt, Dairy-Free)

Latest on the blog

Salmon Kabobs in the Oven (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Easy Oat Flour Waffles (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Gluten-Free Chicken Casserole (Dairy-Free)

Quinoa & Minced Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers

Gluten-Free Stuffed Peppers (Dairy-Free)

Buy Me a Coffee promo

Footer

Never miss a recipe

Sign up to get recipes via email

Footer


About

  • New? Start Here
  • Latest on the Blog
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Me
  • Work with Me

Recipes by Diet

  • Gluten-Free
  • Dairy-Free
  • Vegan
  • Egg-Free
  • Vegetarian

Recipes by Course

  • Bread Recipes
  • Appetizers
  • Main Courses
  • Snacks
  • Desserts


^ back to top

© 2023 Dish by Dish. Privacy Policy. Brunch Pro Theme by Feast Design Co.