Christmas Carrot Cake
What makes my carrot cakes a family favourite? It is super moist and the not-so-secret ingredient I use is pineapple! The cream cheese frosting is creamy, slightly tart and balances out the textural contrast of the cake. I have slightly updated the recipe for Christmas by replacing the black currants with tart, sweet, dried cranberries, and we serve fresh pomegranate arils with each slice. That is, it, I did not want to mess with a winner!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons dried cranberries chopped
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- ¾ cup crushed pineapple drained well
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1⅛ cups vegetable oil
Frosting
- 3 tablespoons hard butter
- ⅔ cup icing sugar
- Juice of one lemon
- 500 g cream cheese cubed
Decorations
- 4 rosemary sprigs
- 1 tablespoon Pomegranate arils or as many as desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir in the cranberries, walnuts, pineapple, and carrots to coat in the flour mix.
- In a food processor, add the eggs, sugar and oil and blend until smooth.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Pour into a greased and floured 8” x 8” baker.
- Bake for 65-75 minutes or until an inserted knife comes our clean.
- Place cake on rack to cool
Frosting
- Add the butter into a food processor, then sift in the icing sugar, pour in the lemon juice, and add the cream cheese. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting.
Decorate
- Decorate with rosemary sprigs and pomegranate arils.
- Serve and enjoy!
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Video
Notes
Can you freeze carrot cake?
Yes, you sure can! My brothers both froze some of their wedding carrot cake (that I made them) to eat on their first anniversary, but I personally would not recommend freezing it for that long!
Place the cake in the freezer or fridge until the frosting hardens to the touch. Then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place in an airtight bag or container and freeze.
Can you make this Carrot Cake Gluten Free?
Absolutely! We have substituted the flour with a 1-to-1 Gluten-Free baking flour and you could not even tell!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!