Carrot Loaf Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
This moist, rich and delicious carrot cake loaf is loaded with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Topped with cream cheese frosting it is the perfect treat to enjoy any time of day.
Carrot cake is one of my all time favorite desserts to make and to eat. In fact, if there is a carrot cake in the house I will eat a piece for every meal, I love it that much. But sometimes I do not want that much cake in the house nor do I want to go to the trouble of a layer cake so a carrot loaf cake is perfect because I get the cake I love but with much less work.
Easy Easter Centerpiece
The best part about this recipe, in addition to the taste is that the recipe makes two loaves, one to eat and one to share! You can add one cake to your Easter buffet table to share with friends and keep one for yourself to eat later in the week, or freeze one(without the frosting) to have a few weeks from now.
How to Make Carrot Loaf Cake
- Gather your ingredients
- Grate carrots
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside
- Mix wet ingredients in food processor or stand mixer
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry, mix
- fold in the carrots
- pour into pans
- bake the loaves
- Make the frosting and decorate the loaves
Carrot Loaf Cake
Ingredients For the cake
2 ½ cups of all purpose flour
11/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
11/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
11/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 lb. whole carrots peeled
11/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
11/2 cup vegetable oil
chopped walnuts or pecans optional
Ingredients For the Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
31/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Green and orange food coloring(or red and yellow to mix) to decorate the loaves with carrots
Directions
Prepare two 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pans with cooking spray and parchment paper, set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk thoroughly to combine, set aside.
Grate carrots using a hand grater or in a food processor with a grater/shredder attachment. Pour the shredded carrots into medium bowl and set aside. Do not use grated carrots from the store, they are too dry.
Wipe out food processor and fit with standard metal blade attachment. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, and the eggs. Process until mixture is thoroughly combined.
Next, with food processor running, drizzle oil into the sugar/egg mixture until mixture is thick and emulsified. About 30 seconds.
Pour the wet mixture from the food processor into the dry ingredients, using a spatula to scrape as much of the liquid ingredients as you can from the food processor. Then whisk the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
Fold the carrots into the batter using your spatula. Distribute the batter evenly between 2 loaf pans. Then bake for 50-60 minutes. Check for donees with a skewer or toothpick, the carrot loaf cake is done when there are a few crumbs stuck on the toothpick.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Using hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time and beat until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
If you want to decorate the loaves with a carrot design, place 1/4 cup of frosting into two small bowls and using your food coloring mix some orange and green frosting.
Spread the cream cheese frosting onto the cooled carrot cake loaves and then decorate with the colored frosting.
Place the frosting into sandwich baggies, one for the orange, one for the green. Squeeze the frosting to on corner and clip off a small amount of the baggie. Pipe little carrots onto the bread, then do the same for the green and make leaves.
You could also pipe one large carrot or pipe the word carrot onto the leaves. If you do not want to decorate the loaves with carrot design skip it and just frost the loaves and enjoy.
What are you making or baking for Easter? Are you celebrating at home or going out? We are headed to my brothers for a traditional Easter dinner and I still cannot decide what to bring for dessert. My niece and nephew are not too fond of carrot cake, so this may be saves to eat at home.
I think I might make an Italian cream cake or banana cream tarts. If you like bananas and or coconut desserts here are 15 that you might want to add to your Easter dessert table.
Have a wonderful day friends, thank you for spending part of your day with me, I hope you enjoyed the carrot loaf cake and if you decide to make it please let me know how you liked it.
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Carrot Loaf Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe details
Ingredients
Ingredients for cake
- 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour
- 11/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 11/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 11/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 lb. whole carrots peeled
- 11/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 11/2 cup vegetable oil
- chopped walnuts or pecans optional
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 31/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Green and orange food coloring(or red and yellow to mix) to decorate the loaves with carrots
Instructions
Directions for Cake
- Prepare two 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pans with cooking spray and parchment paper, set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk thoroughly to combine, set aside.
- Grate carrots using a hand grater or in a food processor with a grater/shredder attachment. Pour the shredded carrots into medium bowl and set aside. Do not use grated carrots from the store, they are too dry.
- Wipe out food processor and fit with standard metal blade attachment. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, and the eggs. Process until mixture is thoroughly combined.
- Next, with food processor running, drizzle oil into the sugar/egg mixture until mixture is thick and emulsified. About 30 seconds.
- Pour the wet mixture from the food processor into the dry ingredients, using a spatula to scrape as much of the liquid ingredients as you can from the food processor. Then whisk the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Fold the carrots into the batter using your spatula. Distribute the batter evenly between 2 loaf pans. Then bake for 50-60 minutes. Check for donees with a skewer or toothpick, the carrot loaf cake is done when there are a few crumbs stuck on the toothpick.
Directions for Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time and beat until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
- If you want to decorate the loaves with a carrot design, place 1/4 cup of frosting into two small bowls and using your food coloring mix some orange and green frosting.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting onto the cooled carrot cake loaves and then decorate with the colored frosting.
- Place the frosting into sandwich baggies, one for the orange, one for the green. Squeeze the frosting to on corner and clip off a small amount of the baggie. Pipe little carrots onto the bread, then do the same for the green and make leaves.
- You could also pipe one large carrot or pipe the word carrot onto the leaves. If you do not want to decorate the loaves with carrot design skip it and just frost the loaves and enjoy.
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