Easy Carrot Cake Recipe in Less than an Hour

A Quick Healthy Cake with Carrots, Cinnamon and Lemon Cream Topping

Oct 22, 2008
Helen Smeaton

Carrot Cake - Helen Smeaton

This quick one bowl carrot cake recipe with a simple lemon cream cheese topping is easy to make, melts in the mouth and tastes amazing. Less than one hour to make.

Carrot cake is a favorite healthy dessert option with adults and kids, but many recipes are complicated and take hours to prepare.

This recipe for carrot cake is one of the easiest around as all the ingredients are put into the mixing bowl together with no need for creaming butter and sugar. Olive oil provides the fat content, a super healthy alternative to butter, and the carrot cake frosting is a simple mix of low fat margarine, philadelphia cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice. Top with grated lemon rind to add a mouthwatering zing to an incredibly moist dessert.

Easy cake recipes like this one can be adapted for a variety of occasions. Double the quantities to make a large 28 cm round carrot cake for a party or, if in a real rush, cut the cooking time by baking small carrot cake cupcakes.

Using Olive Oil in Cakes

Some cooks may consider the use of olive oil in this cake recipe a little odd but olive oil is widely used in all types of Mediterranean cookery including baking and works well in cake recipes as an alternative to vegetable oil or unhealthy butter.

Cake lovers can therefore indulge their passion without feeling so guilty.

Ingredients for Carrot Cake

1 cup castor sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 and ½ cups grated carrots
2 eggs
½ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

(Note: Use ½ cup self-raising flour and ½ cup plain flour if necessary)

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
Line a standard loaf tin or oblong cake tin with baking paper.
Place all ingredients into a bowl and beat well.
Pour mixture into cake tin.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from oven and allow to cool.
Turn cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before icing.

Carrot Cake Frosting

Mix 25g of low fat margarine with a similar quantity of philadelphia cheese, some lemon juice and icing sugar to taste. Decorate with finely grated lemon rind.

Serving Suggestions for Carrot Cake

Cut into thick slices and serve with a hot mug of tea of coffee.
Cut the same slices in half for smaller appetites or to make the cake go further for unexpected guests.
Moist carrot cake is perfect for an informal post dinner dessert, to indulge with afternoon tea or as a post workout treat.
This cake makes a great "energy bar" snack to carry in a rucksack - simply omit the topping, slice and wrap in foil.

The best carrot cake recipes attract numerous compliments and requests for more so be prepared when offering guests a piece of this mouthwatering dessert. A good tip is to buy several extra loaf tins to make a whole batch of cakes for the freezer too.

Related Article

For another quick and easy recipe try this one - Chewy Chocolate Cookies.

Helen Smeaton - Helen Smeaton runs a cycling and hiking business and is also a freelance writer and web designer. Read her profile for more information

Comments

Jan 1, 2010 5:29 PM

Guest :

This recipe was so easy and quick to make. Everyone in the household enjoyed it. Some left over cake was left in the fridge for a few days and it was still brilliant! I thought it would've gone hard by then.

May 29, 2010 3:03 PM

Guest :

Watch out for cake sticking to greaseproof paper. A hint from us in England: grease the greaseproof paper. To add to the suggestions, can also be eaten as a breakfast.

Nov 13, 2010 5:25 AM

Guest :

I don't normally leave comments, but had to say a big thanks for the recipe -it turned out really well. Some other things people can do is to throw in some mixed fruit, grated orange peel etc and if you're a little lazy you can make a simpler cream by mixing icing sugar (say 100g) with half that amount of butter (i.e. 50g). In terms of grams, the recipe is approximately:
200g for flour, sugar, olive oil and carrots

Nov 13, 2010 6:02 AM

Helen Smeaton :

Thanks for leaving the gram equivalents. I have to admit that I don't actually own any measuring cups, so I use a mug filled half way as a measure. Beats getting the weighing scales out and makes the cake even quicker to make!

Jan 16, 2011 6:47 AM

Guest :

does it make well in a long rectanglular backing tray

Jan 16, 2011 8:33 AM

Helen Smeaton :

I normally use a rectangular loaf tin 10x 4 inches. A baking tray is not suitable unless it has high sides like one you might use for making brownies.

Feb 1, 2011 8:34 AM

Guest :

I tried this cake for the first time, the cake came out well but i would like to know how to make the topping stiffer, thanks.

Feb 1, 2011 8:40 AM

steve398 :

Hi, how do i make the topping stiffer, thanks.

Feb 1, 2011 10:04 AM

Helen Smeaton :

The thickness or stiffness of the topping depends on the mix of ingredients. If you want it to be stiffer, try adding less lemon juice, more philadelphia cheese or more icing sugar according to your taste.
I'll be honest, I don't measure anything, I just put a big spoonful of cream cheese, a small spoonful of margarine, a dash of lemon juice and then add the icing sugar. The mix must be stiff enough to sit on top on the cake without sliding off, but if it does, everyone just eats it quickly!

Feb 1, 2011 5:30 PM

steve398 :

Thanks Helen i will try your method next time. p.s the cake turned out great !!

Feb 2, 2011 6:22 AM

Helen Smeaton :

Glad to hear the cake turned out well.
A note - my friend just made this cake and it was a disaster. Why? She makes lots of cakes and thought the mixture was too wet, so she added lots more flour! Please note that the mixture is SUPPOSED to be quite wet, due to the olive oil in the recipe. Follow it exactly and you will end up with a lovely moist cake, every time.

Feb 2, 2011 6:23 AM

Helen Smeaton :

Sep 7, 2011 8:24 PM

Guest :

I was very surprised! I thought there was no way it was going to work after i mixed it and it didnt look like any cake mix i had made before. But it tastes good. I added some sultanas to mine and it is fab, and the kids like it too. I used some ready made frosting i had though not the one here. Oh and it took a lot longer than 45 mins to bake in my oven. will be makng this again!

Sep 24, 2011 3:47 AM

Guest :

Cool. I might try it! It looks delicious and I love carrot cakes! :)

Dec 9, 2011 8:01 AM

Guest :

Fabulous cake and so easy to make. My 12 year old son makes it on his own as he loves it so much any time of the day breakfast, lunch or dinner! Thank you for the recipe

Feb 18, 2012 9:36 AM

Guest :

I've made this cake a few times now. It's lovely and moist! I love the fact it doesn't require lots of ingredients. The topping was really runny when I first made it but there are a few tricks. Firstly don't use low fat cream cheese (it turns incredibly watery when mixed). Secondly mix the ingredients until they're just combined, the more you mix the more the cream cheese will thin.

16 Comments