This Super Simple Carrot Cake is a wonderfully easy peasy recipe. It’s incredibly light and moist, and the olive oil gives it an amazing extra dimension. Although it takes a while in the oven, the prep is minimal, and it tastes and smells so good!
Super Simple Carrot Cake
This Super Simple Carrot Cake is such a wonderfully easy cake to make! All you need to do is mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, grated carrots and chopped walnuts in a bowl, and mix up eggs, olive oil and milk in a jug. Then simply pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient and stir. Pour the whole lot into a lined cake tin (see below for cake tin 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.
Not a fan of olive oil?
The olive oil in this cake 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.
Don’t forget to line the tin!
It’s really important to double line the cake tin for this carrot cake recipe, as lining the tin stops the cake overcooking on the base and sides. Don’t worry – lining the tin is not difficult at all with my easy peasy method!
How to double line a round cake tin
Simply double over the baking paper and draw round the base of your cake tin, then cut out the two circles. This is to line the base of your cake tin. Next, cut out a piece of baking paper long enough to go all the way round the tin and twice the height, then fold it over lengthways. This is to line the sides of the tin.
Grease the tin with a little olive oil and use a little olive oil to make the two circles stick together. Put the circles in the bottom of the tin and the long bit round the sides. Finally, grease the top of the baking paper. (In theory the baking paper shouldn’t stick to the cake, in practice I find it better to err on the safe side!)
How to store carrot cake
If the carrot cake is undecorated, simply place it in an airtight container, where it will keep for up to a week. If the carrot cake 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?
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
- Coconut and Pineapple Carrot Cake
- Apple and Cinnamon Cake
- Easy Coffee and Walnut Traybake Cake
- The Best Banana Bread Ever!
- Union Jack Flag Traybake Cake
Union Jack Flag Traybake Cake
Super Simple Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 350 g self raising flour sieved
- 325 g dark soft brown sugar sieved
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 250 g carrots grated (use the coarse side of the grater)
- 75 g walnuts roughly chopped
- 4 medium eggs
- 200 ml olive oil (See Note 1)
- 4 tablespoons milk
Frosting (optional):
- 180 g full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Original)
- 30 g icing sugar sieved
- 25 g walnuts finely chopped
Instructions
Super Simple Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease and line the bottom and sides of a 22cm / 9inch round cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper. (See above for step-by-step instructions.)
- Mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, roughly chopped walnuts and grated carrots in a large bowl.
- Beat together the eggs, olive oil and milk in a large jug.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly, stirring to make sure all the flour is incorporated.
- Tip the cake mixture into the lined cake tin and cook for 1h - 1h15, or until a skewer comes out clean. (If you don't own a skewer, use a teaspoon handle instead!)
Easy Cream Cheese Frosting (optional):
- Simply mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together and spread it on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the finely chopped walnuts on the top to decorate.
Video
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.
- Suitable for freezing - if undecorated.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Trish says
Easy to make and comes out perfect thank you !
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and thanks especially for the 5 stars!! Eb 🙂
Teresa says
Fantastic! So easy and all the family loved it.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that 😀 Thanks for letting me know. Eb 🙂
Lentigo says
Irritating: who weighs flour and sugar? Everyone has a measuring cup.
Eb Gargano says
Hi Lentigo, I am based in the UK where almost everyone has a set of scales and weighs flour and sugar, and very few people own a measuring cup. Because the majority of my readers are based in the UK I show quantities in metric weights. However, I know many of my readers prefer to use a measuring cup and so I usually offer the option to switch to US cups right under where it says ‘Ingredients’ in the recipe card. Simply click on where it says ‘US Customary’ and the quantities will change to cups. I hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Christina Denis says
Weighing is much more accurate.
HelsBells says
Brilliant, thank you! I am very grateful for a recipe that uses weights and measures as I don’t have a cup measure at home, in my family all baking is with weights and measures (the norm I think in England) and self-raising flour! My Nan had a proper set of copper scales with the actual black counter weights, which my sister still uses- really makes cooking feel like ‘magic’!
Lovely recipe too, I poured it into 2 7 inch tins and it makes 2 perfect smaller but nicely deep carrot cakes! Or you could layer them to make a really tall carrot cake if you wanted!
Eb Gargano says
Aw yay – I am so happy to hear you like this recipe so much! Yes, weights and measures are definitely the norm here in England – and my mum has one of those proper copper scales with the black weights too. That’s what I grew up with as a girl… and she still has them, and my kids love using them when they go to visit Grandma! You are so right, it makes it all a little bit magical. Thank you for such a lovely review 😀
Dubuc says
This carrot cake is the best I’ve ever made!
Lovely taste and came out perfect.
Thanks!
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay – I am so happy to hear this! Thank you for this lovely review 😀
Barbara S says
Fantastic. Made this today and it came out beautifully…. thanks for the recipe.
Eb Gargano says
Oh yay! I am so happy to hear that. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know. You are more than welcome! Eb 🙂
C c says
You forgot to mention putting the walnuts in the cake mix.
Eb Gargano says
Oh no – so I have. Thanks so much for spotting this. I do proof read my recipes several times, but I am only human! I’ve fixed it now. Thanks for spotting it and letting me know. Eb 🙂
Praneel says
I made this cake and it was amazing! I doubled the ingredients to make 2 of them. One for work and one for home. And I added a basic buttercream frosting on top.
EVERYONE at work loved it! It had a beautiful crust and still moist inside. And it got devoured in record time! I got so much positive comments from everyone!
At home my wife and daughter had it for afternoon tea and they really enjoyed it as well. This recipe is a winner, and I only thing I would change is to add pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. From now on this would be my go to recipe from now on when I feel like carrot cake.
Many thanks for sharing this simple and amazing recipe!
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear you and your family AND your work colleagues liked this so much 😀 That makes me very happy. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me now! Eb 🙂
Denise Bailey says
Did this with my 6 year old son this evening and it was so easy! Hardest bit is getting him to bed without eating it… I have had to compromise and say he can have some for breakfast ?! Thanks for the recipe and the double lining worked a treat too
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay! I am so happy to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I hope your son enjoyed his breakfast! Mmmm carrot cake for breakfast – now I’m jealous… Eb 🙂
Grace says
It was really yummy but the texture was a little off. I couldn’t hold it in pieces and had to eat with a spoon. What possibly went wrong?
Eb Gargano says
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. I’m not quite sure what can have gone wrong. It always comes out perfectly cake-like for me. Have you double checked the recipe to make sure you did everything exactly as written? If so, the only things I can really suggest is maybe either cook it for a little bit longer next time and/or reduce the amount of liquid in the cake. I’d try cooking for a little longer first, then if you still have the same problem, reduce the liquid in the cake batter. Maybe just miss out the milk. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Grace says
I’ll try it again soon. Thank u so much for the recipe n ur suggestions! 🙂
Esther says
Do you need baking powder?
Eb Gargano says
No – no baking powder needed! Eb 🙂
Grace says
Hi Eb! Thanks a lot for this recipe! It’s not only super easy but also perfect. The cake come out delicious! Grace x
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that. Thanks for this lovely feedback and especially the 5* rating! Eb ?
Annette Benn says
Thank you Eb for this brilliant recipe. I’m new to baking and this came out perfectly, and tasted soooo good.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear you got on so well with this recipe… and especially that you liked it so much 😀
Ava says
can we use a square tray?
Eb Gargano says
Yes you can! This cake should work with pretty much any shape or size of tin, although you might need to adjust the cooking time slightly if your cake tin is bigger or smaller.
Teeny says
Hi can I use two 8in tins
Eb Gargano says
Absolutely! But, obviously you will need to reduce the cooking time. I haven’t tested this particular recipe in 2x 8inch tins, but my guess would be you’re looking at a cooking time somewhere between 30-45 minutes. I would start testing after 30, test every 5 minutes and keep going until the skewer comes out clean. Enjoy!
Joanne says
Absolutely devine.. My first ever recipe for carrot cake and it was perfect. Thank you.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! That’s so good to hear.
Libby says
My dad loves carrot cake and ive never made one before but wanted to make one for his brithday meal… safe to say it turned out amazing and he LOVED it. Only thing i changed was halved the cream cheese and added double cream with it and whipped it.. basically a cheese cake topping 😂 … thank you so much for the recipe
Eb Gargano says
Aw, I am so happy to hear that you and your dad enjoyed this cake so much! And love the sound of that topping – I might have to try that next time I make this 😀
Jane Marsh says
Cake is great, but my icing was too runny. Used supermarket soft cheese spread, not Philadelphia…. Thought that would be the same consistency, but apparently not! Added more icing sugar, and put it in the fridge until we’re going to eat the cake.
Eb Gargano says
Aaah no, that’s a shame! I hope it still tasted good though!? Eb 🙂
Jan M says
I have a friend who needs gluten-free ingredients-apart from using gluten-free SR flour what else do I have to substitute that is gluten-free please?
Eb Gargano says
All the other ingredients in the cake are usually gluten free. All you need to do is use gluten free self-raising flour in place of the regular self raising flour, and I also recommend using 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to give the cake a better texture / structure. (Some gluten free self-raising flours already contain xanthan gum, in which case you can omit this and just use the flour.) Otherwise, you can just cook the cake as per the recipe. Hope that helps… and let me know how you get on! Eb 🙂
Denise says
So easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks for this lovely review… I am so pleased to hear you liked the recipe so much – and thanks especially for the 5 stars!
Petra says
So easy to make but beautiful cake . I used less sugar and add some honey instead.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! I am so happy to hear that 😀 Thank you for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating!
Anne says
Have tried this recipe for the first time and followed the instructions to the letter.
I know carrot cake should be quite dense but it has not risen much. Is that how it should be?
Made it for a friend’s birthday so a bit anxious!
Eb Gargano says
Carrot cake is definitely a lot more dense than a regular sponge. That said, it should rise a little. Just double checking – did you use self raising flour and the right number of eggs? (The usual reason why things don’t rise.) If it’s still not risen well, then you could add 1 teaspoon of baking powder – that should help. I hope your friend enjoys it! Eb 🙂
Brooke says
Hey! Just wondering if I can omit the walnuts as I don’t have any on hand? Shouldn’t change the consistently much right?
Eb Gargano says
Yep – you can definitely omit the walnuts and it will still work just fine!
Kat says
Very easy to make, I don’t even need a mixer! Very delicious and healthy! I make it regularly!
Eb Gargano says
That’s so great to hear! Thanks for this lovely review 😀
Gordon Bruce says
Really easy to follow recipe, resulting in a super tasty cake made with our three year old grand monster (made her wash her hands before starting). A bit of kitchen mess was well worth the effort. Thanks.
Eb Gargano says
Yay – that’s so great to hear! Thanks for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating 😀
Lori Ireland says
Would I be able to add some raisins to this recipe too ?
The first cake was very good but I am do like a bit of fruit in a carrot cake…
thank you
Lorraine
Eb Gargano says
Absolutely! Great idea 😀
Saffron R says
Delicious and easy to make. Followed the recipe to the letter, no changes needed. Made for a Boxing Day gathering, so good I am making another for the New Year gathering.
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay – I am so happy to hear this! Thank you for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating! 😀
Jeanette Macfarlane says
Can you use loaf tins to cook the cake
Eb Gargano says
I’ve never cooked this particular cake in a loaf tin, but there’s not reason why you couldn’t. I can’t say for certain, since I’ve not tested it, but my guess would be you’d need 2 x 2lb loaf tins and it would probably take about an hour – or maybe a little longer – at 180C / 160C fan. Let me know how you get on! Eb 🙂
Zara says
Can I use plant milk instead?
Eb Gargano says
Absolutely!
James says
I am an 85 year old man started to take an interest in baking, I have made 2 of your carrot cakes now one with nuts and one with sultanas both have turned out well, i have had to adapt a little as I use a halogen oven, for this size oven I use a loaf tin and halve the recipe, I have another trick that I use so as not to burn the cake I place one tin on top of the other to form like a Dutch oven and remove it for the last 10 or 15 minutes or so if it needs it to crust, do you have experience of halogen cooking i understand its not for everyone due to its size.
.
Eb Gargano says
Great to hear how much you liked this recipe and how you have adapted this to work in your oven. Thanks for the tips!
Fiona says
Do you have a preference of how you grate the carrot – course or fine? how much difference does it make?
Eb Gargano says
I’ve always used the coarse side of the grater for carrot cake, and any time I grate carrots for anything. I find the fine side breaks the carrot down too much. I don’t think it would make a huge difference to the cake, but as I have not tried the fine version, I could not say for certain. I’ll amend the recipe to make it clear that the carrot should be coarsely grated.
Ainz says
Thank you for this lovely tasty recipe. I have looked at lots of different carrot cake receipes and most of them have 11 ingredients or more and then stumbled on to your site, thank goodness …… I made your cake a week ago and my husband thought I had brought it at a shop 😄 I am now making two a week, as one doesn’t last long in our household 😁 thanks again 👍
Eb Gargano says
Aw, that’s so lovely to hear! Thank you for this lovely review 😀
Ainz says
Definitely 5 stars 👍
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thank you so much
Michelle Trueman says
I found this and made it today came out wonderful and so easy to make .thanku
Eb Gargano says
Aw, that’s so lovely to hear! Thank you for this lovely review 😀
Dan says
Hi can you add raisins to this recipe or will it affect the way it cooks or time
Thank you
Eb Gargano says
I have not tried adding raisins to this particular recipe. But experience tells me that it should be absolutely fine to add raisins. And I doubt very much it will affect the cooking time. (Well, unless you go totally crazy with raisins – but I assume that is not your plan!) Let us know how it goes, if you try it! Eb 🙂
Russell says
Super easy to bake and lovely to eat. My daughter loved it
Eb Gargano says
Aw, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for this lovely review and 5* rating 😀
KORINA says
I made this for my friend’s birthday, on request, and (she and everyone) absolutely loved it! I followed the recipe to the T, and it was simply delish!!! Yum yum yum!
Eb Gargano says
Aw – yay, I am delighted to hear that! Thank you for this lovely review and especially the 5* rating 😀