This carrot cake is lightly spiced and unbelievably moist. Best of all, you can make it in just one bowl! It pairs perfectly with tangy cream cheese frosting.
This recipe makes 6 carrot cupcakes but you can double the recipe to make a two layer 6 inch cake or triple the recipe to make a two layer 8 inch cake.
How to make carrot cupcakes
To make the carrot cupcakes you’ll need a large bowl and a spatula. You can use a handheld mixer if you like but it’s not necessary. Start by stirring the oil and sugars together and then add the egg and vanilla.
When everything is combined add the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir as few times as possible, until you can’t see the flour in the batter anymore. Add grated carrot and chopped walnuts or choose your own add-in ingredients, for example replace the walnuts with pecans or add raisins or sultanas for more sweetness.
Fold these ingredients into the batter and then use an ice cream scoop to fill six cupcakes wrappers about 3/4 full.
Bake at 350F or 175C for 18 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back slowly when you poke them or a toothpick poked into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes onto a wire cooling rack while you make the cream cheese frosting.
Make the cream cheese frosting
For cream cheese frosting it’s essential that the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before you start, otherwise you’ll have lumpy frosting. Take them out of the fridge 4 hours before you start baking or if you forget you can microwave them for 10 seconds to take the chill off.
Mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add powdered sugar and stir for about a minute to combine completely. You can use a mixer if you like but it’s also possible to make this frosting without one. The powdered sugar give the cream cheese frosting its stability, meaning it will hold its shape when you pipe it.
Stir in vanilla and salt and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star shaped piping tip like a Wilton 1M. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe a swirl onto each one. You can store these in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days but I doubt they’ll last that long!
You can adjust the recipe below by switching between US and Metric measurements and you can also scale the recipe to make larger batches of this recipe. See the recipe notes for what size batch you'll need for different sizes of cakes!
These carrot cupcakes are lightly spiced and unbelievably moist. Best of all, you can make them in just one bowl! They pair perfectly with this tangy cream cheese frosting and can easily be converted into a cake instead.
Ingredients
UnitsScale
For the carrot cupcakes:
1/3cup oil
1/4cup white sugar
1/4cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4cup carrot, grated
1/4cup walnuts, chopped
For the cream cheese frosting:
4oz cream cheese, softened
2oz unsalted butter, softened
1cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
Stir the oil and sugars together to make a thin paste. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.
Add the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir as few times as possible, just until you can’t see the flour in the batter anymore.
Add carrot and walnuts and fold into the batter with no more than 5 strokes of your spatula.
Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill six cupcakes wrappers about 3/4 full.
Bake at 350F or 175C for 18 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back slowly when you poke them or a toothpick poked into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
For the cream cheese frosting:
Using a large spoon, spatula, or an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add powdered sugar and mix to combine until there are no lumps in the frosting.
Stir in vanilla and salt and then spoon into a piping bag fitted with any star shaped piping tip. Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake.
Store cupcakes in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
If you use salted butter instead of unsalted butter, skip the salt in the frosting recipe.
To soften the butter and cream cheese for the frosting, take them out of the fridge 4 hours before using or microwave them for 10 seconds on each side.
You can use this same recipe to bake a cake instead of cupcakes. Use the "2X" or "3X" buttons above this recipe to double the recipe for a two-layer 6 inch cake or triple it for a two-layer 8 inch cake.
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