All the deliciousness of carrot cake in traybake form! This Easy Carrot Cake Traybake is quick and simple to make, and results in a wonderfully light cake that’s perfect for parties, bake sales and buffets – or any time you need a delicious traybake cake!
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Carrot cake in traybake form!
My Super Simple Carrot Cake is one of the most popular recipes on Easy Peasy Foodie. And now you can make this cake as a traybake. I have adapted the recipe to fit a standard 33cm x 23cm (13inch x 9inch) traybake pan. This Easy Carrot Cake Traybake recipe is perfect for parties, bake sales and buffets – or any time you need a delicious traybake cake!
Just as easy to make…
This Easy Carrot Cake Traybake is just as easy to make as my Super Simple Carrot Cake – and because it’s a traybake, it takes even less time in the oven!
All you need to do is mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, grated carrots and chopped walnuts in a bowl, and mix up eggs and olive oil in a jug. Then simply pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir. Pour the whole lot into a lined traybake pan (see below for traybake pan lining instructions) and bake! What could be easier?
The cream cheese frosting is optional, but equally simple. Just mix cream cheese with icing sugar and spread over the cake! Add a simple decoration of chopped walnuts for a classy, but ridiculously easy, finish and voilà – a beautiful but very low effort cake.
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
Not a fan of olive oil?
The olive oil in this carrot cake tray bake gives it a wonderful moist texture and an extra depth to the flavour – it doesn’t taste at all of olive oil, just richer and more delicious! However, if you are not a fan of olive oil, you might prefer to use sunflower or rapeseed (canola) oil instead.
How to line a traybake pan – the easy peasy way
It’s important to line the traybake pan for this carrot cake traybake. But don’t worry – lining a traybake pan is not difficult at all with my easy peasy method!
Simply cut a piece of baking paper the width of your cake pan and quite a lot longer than the length. Then cut a piece of baking paper the length of your cake pan and quite a lot longer than the width.
Next, grease the base and sides of your cake pan with olive oil. Then place one of your pre-cut pieces of baking paper across the base of your pan and up two of the sides (you should cut it long enough so it covers the base and two sides and sticks up above the sides a bit).
Grease the base of your pan again (it help the paper stick), then place the other piece of baking paper the opposite way so that it covers the base and the other two sides and sticks up above sides a bit too.
Finally grease the base and sides again, just for good measure (in theory, cake shouldn’t stick to baking paper – in practice, an extra layer of oil really does help the cake come off the paper better!)
Not only is the cake pan now beautifully lined (without any complicated maths or measuring!), but the overhanging baking paper will serve as sort of ‘handles’ to help you lift the cake out of the tin and onto the cooling rack – so no more tipping the cake up-side down and back again!
How to store carrot cake traybake
If the carrot cake traybake is undecorated, simply place it in an airtight container, where it will keep for up to a week.
If the carrot cake traybake is decorated with cream cheese frosting, you will need to store the cake in the fridge – ideally in an airtight container, or at least covered. The decorated cake should keep for 3 days in the fridge.
Can you freeze carrot cake traybake?
If the carrot cake is undecorated then, yes – you can freeze it. Once completely cold, wrap it first in a double layer of baking paper and then in a double layer of foil. Properly wrapped, the cake should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If the carrot cake is decorated then, no – it’s not suitable for freezing and should be stored in the fridge and eaten within 3 days.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Carrot Cake Traybake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Traybake:
- 525 g self-raising flour sieved
- 475 g dark soft brown sugar sieved (you can also use light brown sugar if you prefer)
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 350 g carrots grated
- 150 g walnuts roughly chopped
- 6 medium eggs
- 300 ml olive oil (see Note 1)
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional):
- 280 g full-fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Original)
- 50 g icing sugar sieved
- 50 g walnuts finely chopped
Instructions
Carrot Cake Traybake:
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease and line a traybake pan (33cm x 23cm / 13inch x 9inch).
- Mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, roughly chopped walnuts and grated carrots in a large bowl.
- Beat together the eggs and olive oil in a large jug, using a fork or hand whisk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly, stirring to make sure all the flour is incorporated.
- Tip the cake batter into the lined cake tin and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. (If you don't own a skewer, use a teaspoon handle instead!)
- Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional):
- Gently mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together in a small bowl, then spread it evenly over the top of the cake. (See Note 2.)
- Sprinkle the finely chopped walnuts on the top to decorate.
Notes
- I like to use extra virgin olive oil, as it gives a really wonderful depth of flavour to this cake, however - unless you are a big fan of extra virgin olive oil (like me!) - you may prefer a lighter olive oil. Alternatively you can use sunflower or rapeseed (canola) oil, if you prefer.
- Ensure the cake is completely cold before frosting – this usually takes around 2 hours.
- Suitable for freezing - if undecorated.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only. (Nutrition information is given for decorated cake. Undecorated cake is approximately 318 calories per slice.)
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*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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