If you’ve been thinking about a cake to bake this weekend– for Easter (or just because you want to bake a cake), here is one to consider. This carrot cake is a single layer cake. There are no fancy layers to this cake, so it might feel a little more approachable to bake than other homemade cake recipes that are out there. It’s an easy carrot cake recipe!
How to make Carrot Cake:
Be sure to scroll to the end of this post to print out the complete recipe so you can make this cake at home. The first step in the recipe is to grate the carrots and put them in a bowl. Next, you’ll add the dry ingredients to the carrots and toss them together. Then you’ll mix the wet ingredients with the carrot mixture to create the batter for the cake. The batter is then scraped into the cake pan and baked.
Supplies helpful for making this cake:
box grater: I use this for grating carrots and cheese. It’s great to have all of the different size grating options on the box grater. 9-inch round pan with 3-inch tall sides: you need a deeper cake pan for this recipe since it bakes taller than a usual 9-inch cake. OR a 9-inch springform pan: this can be used if you don’t have a deep cake pan. 9-inch round parchment paper: you don’t NEED this (because you can cut your own parchment), but it does make things more convenient. kitchen scale: SO helpful for measuring accurately when baking.
Alton Brown’s recommendations for this cake:
This carrot cake is Alton Brown’s original recipe. Alton Brown is a bit of a food scientist. He likes to measure things by weight when baking, and his recommendation for baking the perfect carrot cake is to use a scale to measure instead of measuring by cups. If you have a kitchen scale, use it for this recipe. If you don’t have a scale, it’s okay to measure things out. I’ve baked it both ways with success.
The texture of this carrot cake:
This cake is more dense than your usual two layer cake recipe. It’s not a light and fluffy cake! Some have described it as more of a muffin-like texture than cake… but then again, I think muffins are a lot like cake, so go figure. It’s not meant to be two layers because it’s a heavier cake.
A simple cream cheese frosting tops this cake. You can frost just the top of the cake (as shown), or you can spread it down the sides too. Garnish the edges with chopped walnuts or pecans, if desired. Enjoy!
Here are a few more cake recipes you might like to try:
Lemon Sour Cream Cake Chocolate Truffle Cake Fresh Orange Layer Cake Easy Sponge Cake Spice Cake Milky Way Cake Mocha Fudge Cake Kahlua Cake
