Celebrate this Easter Sunday with a moist and flavorful Carrot Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake recipe uses freshly grated carrots to produce the best tasting cake.
Happy Resurrection Sunday! This Sunday is definitely much different — for many of us, we have to spend this sacred day practicing “social distancing” instead of being surrounded by loved ones (but please please do it ya’ll, our actions can save lives!). Still, many things remain the same, including the fact that we have so much to celebrate and give thanks for! Let’s not let our location dictate our praise!
So today, my praise takes the form of this homemade carrot cake. Carrot cake is so easy to make, but so satisfying! Plus, I top this carrot cake with my now infamous Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting. I promise this frosting is the best cream cheese frosting you will ever have. I’ll probably put it on everything I bake for the next decade… it’s THAT GOOD!
The recipe…
There are a couple ingredients that set this carrot cake apart:
Greek yogurt. I’ve tried making carrot cake using just oil, oil and butter, oil and apple sauce, and all kinds of other combinations. But I think the best combination is to use oil and Greek yogurt. Like buttermilk, Greek yogurt has that tangy, almost sour flavor, which adds a great flavor to the cake. Plus, with the power of science, Greek yogurt does all these fancy things to the cake batter that help produce a super moist cake.
Freshly grated carrots. Taking the time to grate your own carrots makes such a difference! The grated carrots you get from the grocery store are often thick and hard, and never truly soften up when baked. Trust me, crunchy carrot cake is NOT, and should never be, a thing. Also, I know the amount of carrots in this recipe sounds like a lot, but it is a carrot cake, so let the main ingredient shine.
Light and dark brown sugar. Brown sugar is made with molasses, a wonderful maple-syrup like substance that Caribbeans just adore. I think that’s why I notice a difference in flavor when I use dark brown sugar in my carrot cake. But too much dark brown sugar can discolor the cake and throw off the flavors. That’s why I like to use equal amounts of light and dark brown sugar. You can also use granulated sugar and dark brown sugar, but you’ll lose a little of the flavor.
Walnuts. Honestly, carrot cake is not carrot cake without some nuts. Chopped walnuts add crunch without too much additional flavor. Pecans also work great.
Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting. I think carrot cake tastes best with cream cheese frosting and I can’t think of a better complement to this cake than my Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting. The flavors in the cake, specifically ginger, vanilla extract, and nutmeg, are repeated in the frosting, so it’s a match made in heaven. If something’s great, don’t mess with it lol!
Simple ingredients, but when combined, they produce a fantastic cake!
Share this recipe…
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know by rating it and leaving a comment below. I would love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag #sweetandsorrel on Instagram!
Carrot Cake with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt* (combine 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt and water to make 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup neutral oil (vegetable oil works well)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 chopped walnuts
Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz low fat cream cheese
- 4 tbsp salted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 square cake pan and line with parchment paper.
- Wash, peel, and grate carrots. It took me about 4 large carrots to get 1 1/2 cups grated.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, fresh grated nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Stir together 1/3 cup of 0% plain Greek yogurt with water until yogurt reaches the consistency of a thick cream. You should pour freely. Set aside.
- In bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine oil, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Turn stand mixer on to medium and beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time. Alternating between the Greek yogurt and flour, add wet and dry ingredients to the sugar and egg mixture until just combined. Pause stand mixer periodically to scrape down edges.
- Using a spatula, fold in grated carrots and chopped walnuts. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake in middle rack for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
- Let cake cool on a wire rack completely before frosting. You can also store unfrosted cake in the freezer.
Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine ingredients for frosting in bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment. Whisk until frosting becomes light and fluffy.
- Frost cake and serve! Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @sweetandsorrel on Instagram and hashtag it #sweetandsorrel so we can see all the deliciousness!
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