Carrot chocolate cake

Carrot chocolate cake

1 h
Step into a world of dessert indulgence with our exquisite chocolate carrot cake. A luxurious fusion of rich cocoa and sweet carrots, it is perfect for those who appreciate a sophisticated twist on traditional flavours. Topped with a contrasting white cream cheese frosting and decorated with colourful dried carrot curls, it is not only a delight for the palate but also a feast for the eyes. It will easily become a favourite for any dessert-lover who craves something sweet and chocolaty.
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Instructions

Cake
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (conventional oven).
  • Grease a springform tin (about 18 cm in diameter) and sprinkle it with flour.
  • Melt butter in a saucepan.
  • In a bowl, mix sugar, vanilla sugar, and eggs.
  • In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa, and salt, and add it to the egg mixture together with the melted butter.
  • Peel and grate the carrot and add it to the batter. Add orange zest and juice and stir.
  • Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes, until it is slightly soft in the middle but done around the edges.
  • Remove the cake and let it cool in the fridge for about 3 hours.
Frosting
  • Whisk cream cheese, butter, and icing sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.
  • Peel and finely grate the carrot and fold it into the cream cheese frosting.
Garnish
  • Preheat the oven to 100°C (conventional oven).
  • Peel and cut the carrot into thin slices with a potato peeler or mandolin.
  • Place the slices on a tray with baking paper and drizzle with honey. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour, then leave to cool.
  • Top the cake with frosting and garnish with the dried carrot slices.
Enjoy!
Tips

When making the carrot frosting, ensure you do not add too much of the carrot juice as this will affect the texture of the frosting.

Tips

Storing the chocolate carrot cake properly is important to maintain its flavour and texture. With frosting, store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. We do not recommend freezing the cake with cream cheese frosting, as it may affect the flavour and texture when thawed. If you have not frosted the cake yet, you can store it at room temperature in an airtight container for 1-2 days. If you prefer to keep it longer, put it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. To freeze it, wrap it tightly in cling film and then in foil to protect it from freezer burn.

Ingredients

Cake
Butter
150 g
Icing sugar
300 ml
Vanilla sugar
2 tsp
Eggs
3
Flour
150 ml
Cocoa
4½ tbsp
Salt
2 pinches
Carrot
1
Orange, finely grated zest
1
Orange juice
1 tbsp
Frosting
Cream cheese
100 g
Butter, room temperature
50 g
Icing sugar
200 ml
Carrot
¼
Garnish
Carrot
½
Liquid honey

Indulge in a moist chocolate carrot cake

Delight in this elegant combination of rich chocolate and sweet carrot. The moist cake gives you the best of everything by combining two favourites, making it a wonderful choice for special occasions or as a luxurious treat to accompany your coffee or afternoon tea.

A dark base with a rich flavour

The base of the cake contains cocoa and finely grated carrots, resulting in a rich flavour and a pleasantly moist texture. Thanks to the cocoa, it also gets an elegant dark colour, which makes a beautiful contrast to the white frosting. The bitterness from the cocoa is balanced by the sweetness of the carrots, and paired with the fluffy cream cheese frosting, you get a little piece of heaven in every bite.

A soft and contrasting white frosting

To contrast the cake's chocolate and carrot flavour, it is topped with a soft, sweet frosting that is both creamy and luxurious. It is a classic cream cheese frosting but with a twist; it has finely grated carrots mixed into it, giving it both a festive, colourful look and a sweeter flavour with a bit of crunch. It offers a smooth and velvety texture with the gentle bites of carrot, and its delightful sweetness and creamy richness provide the perfect counterbalance to the deep flavours of the chocolate carrot base.

For more classic cake bases beautifully decorated with frosting, explore our recipes for carrot sheet cake with frosting and pistachios, festive Easter banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and, for yet another treat with carrots, this gluten-free carrot cake with warm spices and lemon frosting.

Decorate with colourful dried carrots

The cake is already festive to look at, with the carrots mixed into the swirls of frosting, but the decorations do not stop there. It is made even more beautiful and festive by dried carrots, looking like small, elegant curls. These delicate carrot curls, lightly drizzled with honey and baked to perfection, not only add a beautiful visual element but also a subtle, sweet crunch. The vibrant orange of the carrot curls against the white cream cheese frosting and the dark chocolate carrot cake makes for a striking and appetising appearance.

Add your own touch

Although delicious as it is, you can consider incorporating a hint of orange zest into the cream cheese frosting for a citrusy twist. It will complement the orange in the cake base, too, making for a well-balanced experience. You can also sprinkle the top with a dusting of cocoa powder for added chocolate intensity. For even more chocolate goodness, add a few handfuls of dark chocolate chips to the batter. Or, if you cannot get enough of the chocolate flavour, make a white chocolate cream cheese frosting by adding 100 g melted and cooled white chocolate to the frosting.