This is an old post from back when I was looking for the perfect recipe for carrot cupcakes. I ended up going with the recipe at the bottom adapted from The Essential Baker by Carol Blook. They're basic carrot cupcakes made with both brown and granulated sugar, oil rather than butter, lots of eggs and in this case, baby carrots.
Old Post -- Best Ever Carrot Cake
On Friday I posted an adapted version of the Allrecipes.com “Best Ever Carrot Cake”. I liked it because it was dark (more of a brown hue than orange), had lots of pineapple, and was dense and moist without being soggy. The additional step of roasting the shredded carrot before adding them to the batter made the carrots less detectable in the baked cake, and in the end, the cake reminded me of the cake served at Gibson’s in Chicago -- my favorite carrot cake.
Carol Bloom's Carrot Cake
The next day I tried a new recipe adapted from Carol Bloom's The Essential Baker, and posted by Zoe. It was quite different from the other -- extremely moist, orange in color, and with carrots scattered throughout. I made the mistake of adding pineapple and even though I'd drained it, the cake was actually a bit too moist for my taste. Luckily, when I made it again without the pineapple it was perfect and made great cupcakes.
I still like a denser, darker, crumblier cake, but for those interested in a seriously moist carrot cake that doesn't need raisins or pineapple for moisture, I recommend the one from The Essential Baker. Here's the recipe in cupcake form.
Very Moist Carrot Cake Cupcakes
1 pound baby carrots
4 large eggs (or extra large)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
⅔ cup light brown sugar
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (10.1 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
Shred the baby carrots in the food processor, then put the carrots on a stack of paper towels and press down on them with more towels to remove as much moisture as you can. With a chef’s knife or the chopping blade of a food processor, chop the shredded carrots.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, both sugars, vanilla and oil.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, then add to the batter and stir until incorporated. When flour mixture is incorporated, stir in the carrots.
Divide batter evenly between cups and bake on center rack for 25-30 minutes or until set (they’ll spring back when touched). Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from cupcake cups to cool completely. Frost with your favorite cream cheese icing.
Anna says
Hi Kalista,
I don't think I've ever baked this one as a regular carrot cake, so you'll have to let me know. Or maybe I could buy some carrots and try making it today. This is a recipe that is easy to scale down, so if I make it I'll probably cut it in half and make it in an 8 inch square metal pan.
kalista says
Hi Anna. Thanx for linking me up p to this recipe. I was wondering how this recipe would hold up of I were to bake it as a cake instead of cupcakes? And if it'll work as a cake do I adjust temperature to 325? Would the mixture yield a double layer cake?
Sorry for asking so many questions but seriously, I love your carrot cake recipe with such a light cakey texture. Can't get many recipes like yours these days! 🙂
vanillasugarblog says
i love a good carrot cake. And I adore it when the cream cheese frosting has a touch of saltiness to it. Shocker right? LOL
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
My husband just brought home a 5 lb bag of carrots. I know what I'll be making now!!
Sue says
This is a great recipe for those times when you bake for people who don't like "stuff" in their baked goods. You know... those people who don't like raisins and nuts and stuff messing with the texture.
Anna says
Gloria, it's a little more "vegetable" tasting (if that makes sense). You can really taste the carrots. I think what people really like about it is the soft, light, texture. Since there are 4 eggs, you might consider making a quarter batch just to see if you like them.
Louise, it's domed. And yes, this cake is fine without any add-ins. The Best Ever cake really needs the add-ins to offset the dryer, denser, texture, but this one doesn't. The nuts and coconut would be good, though.
Gloria says
How does this recipe compare in flavor to the Best Ever? Now I don't know which one to make!!! I like pineapple and raisins, but easier might be better...
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
So cute! I love carrot cake.