Carrot cake is one my favorite cakes and if you have been following my blog you would know that I mentioned the same when I posted Carrot Cupcakes recipe on Easter this year. I got the opportunity to bake carrot cake again during my stay in India this time. The occasion was special, it was my mom & dad’s 34th wedding anniversary and so I obviously wanted to make the PERFECT CAKE. This was the first time I was going to bake something for my parents and it made me excited and also nervous.
My grandmother doesn’t eat eggs and so I made this eggless version of carrot cake and it turned out exactly the way I wanted it to be – soft, moist and bursting with cinnamon and carrot. Because I didn’t use eggs I used little extra oil and buttermilk to get the right texture for the cake. I always prefer using oil over butter for carrot cakes because of the moistness that it imparts to the cake. I don’t miss the butter flavor because the frosting more than compensates for it.
Buttermilk again makes the cake moist, you can use milk in stead but I prefer using buttermilk. To make your own buttermilk at home in 5 minutes take 1 cup measuring bowl and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to it. Add milk till the cup is full, let sit for 5 minutes or till milk curdles sightly. You can then use this homemade buttermilk in your recipe.
My cake had a lot of carrots you can cut down on it but as far as I am concerned my carrot cake should have loads of carrots in every bite and hence I added 2.5 heaping cups of shredded carrot to the batter.
The classic frosting with carrot cake is cream cheese frosting and that’s the frosting I used for here. I am a cream cheese frosting fan but I think a light whipped cream frosting would also taste great with this cake.
This cake was a big hit and everyone finished it in minutes – that obviously made me super happy not only because it turned out perfect but also because for the first time I was able to bake something for mom & dad : )
Happy Anniversary Mummy Papa. I love you!
PS: I used Wilton tip 2D to make the big 3 roses on the cake and wilton tip 18 to make the rosette border.
*Adjust consistency of the frosting as per your requirement. Add more heavy cream/milk for a more spreadable consistency and more sugar for a stiffer frosting.
Carrot Cake (Eggless)
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1.25 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2.25 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1 cup oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 2.5 heaping cups carrot shredded
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons yogurt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter [1 stick]
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1.5-2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9 inch round baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. I used a spring form pan and it was big enough, if using regular cake pans you can divide the batter into 2 pans.
- Grate the carrots finely using a food processor or using a hand grater. Set aside.
- In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon powder. Set aside.
- In steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat together oil and sugar till well combined.
- Add in the yogurt and mix.
- Now start adding the flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. Add flour in 3 parts and buttermilk in 2 parts starting and ending with flour. Mix till batter is smooth but do not overmix.
- Finally fold in the shredded carrots.
- Pour batter in prepared pan and bake at 350 F degrees for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting it.
Frosting
- In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat butter and cream cheese together till smooth and creamy.
- Add vanilla and mix.
- Start adding confectioners sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add milk/cream and mix till frosting is smooth.
Nutrition
Hi Manali,
Lovely looking cake and even lovelier frosting!! Did you use the cream cheese frosting for the rosettes too?
yes I did!
Hi Manali,
I was wondering if there was a way to make this with unrefined sugar or even better honey.
Thanks!
maybe but the recipe will need to be re-tested with honey, won’t be a 1:1 substitute
Hi..what is the yogurt to water ratio to make buttermilk??
it’s actually vinegar to milk ratio that works best- use 1 tablespoon vinegar and add it to 1 cup measuring cup. then fill that cup with milk , let sit 10 minutes and then use in the recipe in place of buttermilk.
Hi Manali. I have been following your healthy cake recipes and am a fan. Somehow missed this carrot cake recipe. Tried 4 other recipes , none worked – won’t rise at all . But my baking powder and soda are working well for other cakes. Just the carrot cake won’t come out well. I am gonna try this recipe tomorrow. What care should I take so that the cake rises well? Plz comment. Thanks in advance.
this recipe also isn’t a very rise recipe, maybe you are expecting the cake to rise like a vanilla cake? the carrot cake doesn’t have the same texture.
Hi Manali, Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes instead?
sure
Hey,
I am going to bake this carrot cake using wheat in cooker tomorrow.
What points should be remembered?
Can I add only nutmeg?
Hello I have never baked in cooker, so I am afraid I can’t help there. Nutmeg alone will not give the flavor which we want. In fact you can skip nutmeg but do add cinnamon in carrot cake
Hi Manali,
I tried the carrot cake and my family loved it! It was delicious and moist even though i reduced the oil to 3/4cup. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Hello Manali,
I made your cake for my mom (for Mother’s Day) and she absolutely loved it -said it was sooo moist and could not believe that I made it and thought I bought a premade cake!! EXCELLENT RECIPE! Will definitely make it again. Thanks so much!!