Carrot-Walnut Cake With Sugarless Cream Cheese Frosting

Jul 1, 20203 min read

Updated: Jul 8, 2020

The flavour of carrots, toasted walnuts paired with the slightly tart taste of cream cheese frosting are a delicious combination.

I love making desserts with fresh and dried fruits! There is a certain charm to that flavour. And when you incorporate walnuts into your bakes, their toasty aroma and the slightly burnt taste are to die for. This carrot cake recipe will make you two thin batches or one big batch (like mine).

I adapted this recipe from JOY OF BAKING and this one is so easy to put together, that it is a regular fixture in my home. The best part is, my toddler can have this too! And his expressions with every bite are the ultimate prize!

This is a great tea-time cake and I usually cut it up into smaller pieces and store them in the refrigerator in an air tight container. I personally like to warm the pieces up for about 15 seconds in the microwave before eating. This just softens up the cake a bit. Feel free to top this with some chocolate sauce if you wish!

TIP: Toast your walnuts ahead of time for extra flavour.

You can make the cream cheese frosting in advance and store it in the fridge. The cake tastes great without the frosting as well, but carrot cake and cream cheese frosting are one of those matches made in heaven!

My cream cheese frosting recipe uses no sugar and comes together in just 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

For the CARROT - WALNUT CAKE

1 cup (100 grams) walnuts, preferably toasted
About 2 to 2.5 cups of grated carrots
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1.5 tsp cinnamon powder
4 eggs at room temperature
1.5 cups granulated white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) cooking oil (sunflower or canola oil preferable)

For the CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

150 gms cream cheese, softened (leave it out of the refrigerator for half an hour)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3-4 tbsp honey
Juice of half a lemon
½ tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

For the CARROT – WALNUT CAKE

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease your parchment paper lined 9 inch baking pan (1 or two depending of whether you prefer a two layer cake or a big one like mine).
In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder.
In another bowl, beat the eggs for about a minute, until frothy.
Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until light and thick.
Now, with your whisk on low speed, gradually add the oil in a steady stream as you continue to beat the mixture.
Add in the flour mix and beat till the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter.
Fold in the grated carrots and the toasted, roughly chopped walnuts gently.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan (or half the batter in case of a double layer cake).
Bake for 45-50 minutes at 180 C (or for 25 minutes per pan if you are putting in your double layer pans one after the other). Check if a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes.
Bring it out of the oven and let the cake cool completely.
Once cooled, bring out the cake from the pan and keep the two layers separately in case you choose to bake the double layer version of the cake.

For the CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Beat the butter on low speed.
To this, add the honey, lemon juice and vanilla extract and continue to beat.
Add the softened cream cheese and beat till you get a smooth, shiny texture for the frosting.
Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container.

Assembling the double layered cake

Double the proportions for the frosting.
Place one part of the cake on your plate or cake stand.
Spread the half the frosting on top of the cake evenly.
Gently place the other part of the cake over this layer and spread the remaining frosting on top of the second layer.
Sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top.