A carrot and raisin spice cake that is moist, flavorful, and easy to make. This recipe for a one-pan carrot-raisin cake makes a moist cake layered with raisins and shredded carrots.
You and I need to have a quick honest moment about this cake, mmm-kay.
Honest?
This cake is SOOOOOOOO good. Our recipe testers were in love with this recipe and it was tested a few more times than necessary, just in case :).
And y’all, my husband’s favorite cake is a carrot cake, in any version he can get. But having the cake studded with plump raisins and topped with classic cream cheese frosting is the version he loves most.
This cake is seriously moist. And that cream cheese frosting? Yeah, you need a spoon to eat it off the cake.
Please…give this recipe a try! I know that you’ll love it as much as we all do.
P.S. Don’t skip that tip in the recipe about throwing a bit of flour around the raisins or you’ll have a sinking raisin cake. Still tasty. But maybe not what you are going for.
Other Carrot Cake recipes:
- the BEST Carrot Cake Cupcake Recipe
- homemade Classic Carrot Cake recipe {with cream cheese frosting}
- Carrot Cake Scones with cream cheese frosting
Key Ingredients:
- Yogurt. Yogurt gives this cake a tangy and super moist texture.
- Spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg are my faves for this cake with a bit of cloves, if you like.
- Sugars. For the cake you’ll use a combo of brown and white sugar and for the frosting, powdered.
- Peeled, grated carrots. Use your food processor to grat your carrots in a fast hurry.
- Raisins. Make sure you soak your raisins first to get them good and plump.
- Cream cheese. Room temp is a must for cream cheese frosting.
- Walnuts and dates – for garnish. Go ahead and skip these, if you like, but I love how they taste and look with my carrot cake.
Optional add-ins:
Ginger. A bit of ground ginger powder (or even finely minced) is lovely in this recipe.
Pineapple. I know that many like to put pineapple in their carrot cakes. Be sure your pineapple is well drained.
Nutmeg. A good dose of nutmeg adds a nice spice to this cake.
Method for baking carrot cake:
- Preheat the oven and prepare the pan.
- Soak the raisins in water while you work on the dry ingredients. (this is the same tip that works brilliantly in my Lemon Blueberry Cake)
- In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients and spices.
- In another bowl, whisk the sugars, wet ingredients, and eggs.
- Incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet. Mix in the carrots, and raisins.
- Bake the cake and cool completely.
- For the frosting, beat cream cheese and add and beat the powdered sugar & heavy cream until the mixture is fluffy.
- Frost the cake when it’s completely cooled, garnish with walnuts and dates and enjoy.
How to store:
You won’t have any left to store so we can assume that isn’t needed. But just for the sake of being thorough, store this cake in an air-tight container for only a few days.
Friend, after you make this cake (which promise me you will like yesterday!), come back here and let me know about the wonder in your family’s eyes, the mmm mmm noises that you heard, and how quickly that cake was gobbled up.
That glory is guaranteed in your future.
Carrot Raisin Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- A pinch of salt
- 1/4 Cup Yogurt
- 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil 148 ml
- 3/4 cup Granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup Lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Grated peeled carrots
- 1/4 cup Raisins
FOR CREAMY FROSTING
- 1 pkg Cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup Heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup walnuts and dates – for ganish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180° C – 350 F. Grease a 10-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Soak the raisins in water while you work on the dry ingredients. Drain well and lightly shake them in a bit of flour to help them not sink to the bottom of the cake.
- Take a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon until combined.
- In another bowl, whisk the sugars, yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract till everything is combined well. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in three equal parts, stirring gently until they’re incorporated properly and the batter is smooth. Mix in the carrots, and raisins.
- Bake for 40-50 mins or till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely.
TO FINISH
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until it turns creamy, for about 1 minute.
- Add and beat the powdered sugar, a little at a time until the mixture is fluffy. Add in the heavy cream and beat on medium speed for about a minute. Cover and chill until ready to frost cake.
- Frost the cake when it’s completely cooled, garnish with walnuts and dates and enjoy.
Recipe Tester Lisa advises:
I did not have a 10-inch pan, so used a 9.5-inch springform. I did wrap the bottom in foil so it would not leak, and it took about 51 minutes, so I think the time is perfect.
I was also surprised that just cream cheese, heavy cream, and only a cup of powdered sugar would work, but it totally did! I thought for sure I’d be missing vanilla but no.
I liked the amount of spices some people may want more spices, but this let carrot flavor shine through. Not oily, but still moist.
Everyone probably has a carrot cake recipe but you should add this one. It’s so simple and fast to put together, great for last minute guests and very tasty!