This is a moist and not overly sweet cake with a tangy cream cheese frosting. The fresh grated carrots adds such a wonderful flavor when paired with my secret ingredient, orange zest! It makes a lovely cake to serve at any time of the day. The recipe is pretty easy and makes for such a nice treat.
I like to add chopped pecans to the frosting, and sometimes mixed into the cake batter too. That is completely up to you. Or if you are not a nut lover you can just leave them out.
If you love carrot cake you should give my carrot cake waffles a try! Recipe here: Carrot Cake Waffles!
Ok let’s jump right in!
Carrot Tea Cake
This is a moist and not overly sweet cake with a tangy cream cheese frosting. The fresh grated carrots adds such a wonderful flavor when paired with my secret ingredient, orange zest!
Servings: 8 servings
Equipment
- 5x9" bread loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tbsp. orange zest
- 2 carrots peeled and grated or 1 cup full
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (1 bar) cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- chopped pecans Topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Spray the bread pan with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Set aside.
- Now in a mixing bowl with a standing mixer or electric mixer, add the butter and brown sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Next step is to add the eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Turn mixer on low and add the carrots and orange zest. Mix.
- With the mixer still on low, add the flour and just mix until combined.
- Pour into the bread pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 5 minutes and then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Let's mix up the frosting while it cools.
- In a mixer or using a electric mixer, add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla. Whip until smooth and fluffy.
- Top the cake with frosting and chopped pecans. Keep the cake refrigerated for freshness.
- ENJOY!
