Home » Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

A classic carrot cake that couldn't be easier to make!

60 minutes

Serves: 12-14

Easy

A great base for a cake you can bake and use in a variety of ways.

This vintage carrot cake recipe is just terrific! It is so easy to make and full of flavor. Plus, it can easily be adapted in a variety of ways. The baby food is an easy way to flavor the cake without a whole lot of work. The key is to mix everything by hand and not to over mix—you want all of the ingredients to be just combined.

Grandma’s recipe calls for baking the cake in a 9″ x 13″ pan or a jelly roll. I chose to bake my batter in two cake rounds as I wanted to make a more traditional cake. Whatever kind of tin you plan to bake your cake in will alter the cook time but just keep your eye on it and it should be easy to adapt it.

Any carrot cake wouldn’t be complete without a great cream cheese frosting to top it off. The best option is of course, Grandma’s Cream Cheese Frosting but I’d probably omit the chopped nuts. I’m sure any cream cheese frosting would be just a great though. For something fun, I also made candied carrots to decorate (recipe here), and I strongly recommend them. They add a great texture and a little more sweetness.

Steps:

Preheat Oven to 350º
Beat Eggs
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk by hand until well beaten.
Add Baby Food & Oil
Add oil and empty jars of baby food into the eggs and stir well to combine.
Mix Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon). Whisk together to mix evenly.
Add Dry Ingredients Into Wet
Add about a third cup of the dry ingredients into the wet batter and stir by hand until just combined. Continue with this process until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated and just combined.
Pour Into Tins (or Tray)
Pour the batter into whatever you're baking them in. Grandma suggests a 9" x 13" pan or jelly roll pan. I baked mine into two 8" cake rounds. Be sure to grease and flour whatever you choose to use.
Bake the Cake
Put the baking tin into the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For my cake rounds, it took about 35 minutes. For a 9" x 13" pan, bake for about 45 minutes and about 25-30 minutes for a jelly roll. As always, baking times are just a rough estimate. Be sure to check your cake every five minutes after the initial 25 minutes or so. Do not over bake!