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The famous carrot cake is a dessert that you either love or hate, or at least that’s the way it seems from everyone I know. There doesn’t seem to be any arguments about the cream cheese icing though?! But how about a moist carrot cake loaf? It’s a little denser and everything that you love in a carrot cake but in a simple loaf recipe. Perhaps, I can even persuade the carrot cake haters, to love a loaf like this?
This carrot cake loaf is moist with plump golden raisins and has a nutty crunch from the pecans scattered throughout. Spices like cinnamon and ginger enhance the flavours and the carrots give an earthiness and sweetness to the loaf naturally. I still use sugar in the recipe; a combination of white and brown, again for that richness. This recipe is fairly simple and quick to prepare. The most effort comes from grating those carrots (or perhaps your patience in waiting for the loaf to cool to slather the top in cream cheese frosting?!).
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Olive oil
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar & icing sugar
- Eggs
- Full fat sour cream
- Carrots
- Pecans
- Golden raisins
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Baking powder & baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Salt
Substitutions
Olive oil gives flavour and moisture to the carrot loaf cake. You can also use a neutral oil like vegetable oil or Canola oil. Keep in mind it will give less richness in flavour to the loaf.
You can use any of your favourite nuts in replacement for pecans. I find the pecans are very balanced in the recipe though. Walnuts are a great option too.
Yogurt can be replaced for sour cream in a pinch. Make sure to use plain (or vanilla) yogurt with a similar consistency to sour cream.
Tips for a Moist Carrot Cake Loaf
- Grate Fresh Carrots: Use freshly grated carrots for the best flavour and moisture. Avoid pre-packaged grated carrots, as they can be dry and lack the same level of freshness.
- Soak Raisins: Before adding them to the batter, soak the golden raisins in warm water to plump them up. This will prevent them from absorbing moisture from the cake batter and becoming dry during baking.
- Toast Pecans: Toast the pecans before adding them to the batter. Toasting enhances their nutty flavour and adds a delightful crunch to the loaf. If you don’t like pecans, you can use walnuts instead.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure that all your ingredients, especially eggs and butter, are at room temperature before mixing. Room temperature ingredients blend together more smoothly and evenly, resulting in a light-textured loaf.
- Don’t Overmix: Mix the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined, this is very important! Overmixing can lead to a dense and tough loaf. Use a gentle hand and stir or fold the ingredients together until no streaks of flour remain.
How to Grate Carrots for a Carrot Cake Loaf
The best way to quickly and safely grate carrots is using a food processor. By simply changing the blade on your food processor to the grater attachment you can easily grate carrots in a snap. Take any extra grated carrots and freeze them in freezer bags. I like to measure out 2 cups of carrots and place them in freezer bags for when I’m ready to make this carrot loaf recipe again or when I want to make mini carrot cakes. Of course, you can use leftover grated carrots for salads, soups and other cooking recipes too.
How to Store a Carrot Cake Loaf
Like most loaves, store in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Cake domes or tins are also a great way to store baking. Avoid placing the carrot loaf in the direct sun as the cream cheese icing will go rancid. The fridge will dry out the loaf quicker as well. But you can freeze this carrot loaf. Place the loaf on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the icing to harden, then place in a freezer bag (or an airtight container) and freeze for up to 2 months.
What Makes a Carrot Cake Loaf Moist?
In this carrot cake loaf the moisture comes from the olive oil and full fat sour cream. Avoid using no-fat or a lower fat sour cream for this recipe. The better the quality of ingredients you use the better your loaf will be! That goes for the olive oil too! If you don’t like the taste of the oil on its own then you won’t like it in your baking either! Because of the fats used in the recipe it makes a denser texture than you would find in a cake. But don’t be mistaken, there is still a lighter crumb to this carrot cake loaf!
How To Make a Carrot Cake Loaf
Moist Carrot Cake Loaf
This carrot cake loaf is moist with plump golden raisins and has a nutty crunch from the pecans scattered throughout. Cinnamon and ginger enhance the flavours and the carrots give an earthiness and sweetness to the loaf. It’s topped with a traditional cream cheese icing which turns this loaf into that carrot cake that you know and love.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 cups shredded/grated carrots (approx. 3 large carrots)
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup pecans, toasted (for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ËšF. Grease or line a 9″x5″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt together. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a stand mixer (or use an electric mixer) beat oil and sugars together until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time and sour cream. Beat until smooth and pale in colour, approx. 2-3 minutes. Now add grated carrots, raisins and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, mix to combine.
- Add flour mixture to egg mixture, mix until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix your batter as this will create a tough, dry loaf.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, make your icing. Add powdered sugar, cream cheese and butter to a bowl and beat until smooth, light and fluffy. If the icing is too soft, place in the fridge to firm up.
- Once the carrot loaf is cooled ice the top with the cream cheese icing and sprinkle toasted pecans on top.
Notes
Use a food processor to easily chop carrots. I find this is the easiest method and the least wasteful. If you don’t have a food processor use a box grater.Â
Store the loaf in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Or freeze for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice of 18
- Calories: 301
- Sugar: 26g
- Sodium: 197mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 38.5g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 3.5g
- Cholesterol: 34mg
FAQ’s
The best way to safely grate carrots is using a food processor. By simply changing the blade on your processor to the grater attachment you can easily grate carrots in a snap. If you need the carrots finer, you can switch the blade back to the original and pulse the carrots a few times. Take any extra grated carrots and freeze in freezer bags for up to 2 months.
A dry carrot cake loaf may be due to a few reasons:
1. Overbaking the loaf
2. Not using fresh carrots or squeezing the juice from the carrots
3. Not using canned crushed pineapple, or draining the pineapple too much
Yes, you can easily bake the loaf, wrap in plastic and freeze until ready to serve. Let the loaf defrost at room temperature before serving. It’s also best to make the icing fresh the same day, but you can freeze the entire loaf with icing if you need.
Leave a Rating and Comment!
I love hearing from you! Leave a comment with any questions or how your recipe turned out (your email address will not be published)!
Cooked for a full hour still raw in the middle! Myn6sual recipe vases for 1 hour and 15 minutes. What a waste of time and money would not recommend.
My family and I loved this recipe, so flavourful and moist. The cream cheese icing just tops it right off. We’ll definitely be making it again! thx
Brandie, I’m so sorry to hear your carrot loaf didn’t turn out, that makes me really upset to hear. Unfortunately bake time differs for every oven, that’s why I always note in the recipe to bake for ‘x’ amount time or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The moisture of your carrots or the pineapple could have added extra liquid to your loaf making the bake time longer. Again I’m sorry to hear, I hope you continued to bake the loaf until it was done so you could at least enjoy the end results.
Thanks for the review Shannon. Happy to hear you and your family enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Hello, Alie and fellow bakers! I made this loaf yesterday, and it came out scrumptious! The baking time was indeed longer that it says in the recipe, around 90 minutes, yet the loaf stayed nice and moist. In my version, there were dried apricots and toasted walnuts – a power combo, for my taste. Thank you for the great recipe, I’m surely will come back to it many more times!
Hi Serge, that’s so great to hear and thanks for the comment. I love the idea of adding dried apricots, I’ll have to try that on my next loaf. Happy Baking.