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This Carrot Beet Cake may look humble on the plate but it is anything but plain. This cake is moist and delicious, laced with vegetables, nuts, and dried fruit, and topped with a whipped and weightless maple cream cheese frosting.
I developed this recipe for my daughter’s second birthday. It was her first bite of cake and I wanted to make it as “healthy” as possible. This recipe is relatively low sugar. It was so good that I went on to serve it at the restaurant for years, dressed up with a sprinkle of chopped nuts and edible flower petals.
This recipe makes 1 large cake (4 rounds/ 2 rectangles) or 2 medium size cakes. I make 2 cakes and freeze one for later.
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Carrot Beet Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: two 9“x13” cakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This delicious carrot cake is loaded with vegetables, dried fruit and nuts and topped with a delicious buttery cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
3 3/4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 cups vegetable/canola oil
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
eggs?
2 cups chopped nuts (pecans/walnuts/pistachio work best)
2 cups grated beets
4 cups grated carrot
2 cups dried fruit (any combination of raisins, craisins, currants, dried cherries)
For the frosting
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
2 2/3 cups butter, softened
2/3 cup maple syrup, room temperature
6 cups sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
To Make The Cake
Grate the carrots and beet into a bowl. Chop the nuts and measure out the dried fruit into the bowl with the grated veggies.
Preheat your oven to 350 F, non-convection.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and sugar.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and using a wooden spoon, stir for 1-2 minutes until fully mixed.
Sift the flour into the wet ingredients.
Add the grated carrot, beets, nuts and dried fruit. Stir with the wooden spoon until well incorporated.
Prepare your baking pans. (See Note Below)
Spray the baking pans with oil. Cut out a piece of parchment and press it into the pan. Spray that with oil as well.
Line pans with parchment and oil well.
Evenly divide the batter among the baking pans. Rotate the pans every 20-30 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean 30-50 minutes depending on the size and shape of the baking pans. (two 10-x12″ rectangle takes 50 minutes).
To Make The Cream Cheese Frosting
Soften cream cheese and butter and bring the maple syrup up to room temperature. You can actually leave these out on the counter overnight (that’s what professional bakeries do 😉).
Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.
In a standing mixer or using a handheld mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes. Slowly add the maple syrup and continue whipping for another 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is light and airy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, little by little.
Once the frosting is made and the cake is cooled all the way- frost the cake. This recipe makes enough frosting to frost all around 4 layers of 8 inch round cakes. If you are making sheet cakes (like it did in these images) there will be some frosting leftover. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a way to use it😉.
Equipment
| Ultra Cuisine 10″ x 14.75″Cooling and Roasting Rack |
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| Stainless Steel Measuring Cups, 5 Piece Stackable Measuring Set |
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For the frosting – it is really important that all the ingredients are the same temperature, otherwise the frosting with break.
This recipe makes four 8 inch round cake pans or two 1/2 hotel pans (10″x12″ or 9″x13″). You could make one 4 layer round cake or two 2 layer round cakes. Or 2 sheet cakes. I make two sheet cakes and freeze one. You have lots of options here.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! We celebrated our wedding anniversary with this cake at the restaurant. I don’t think I will wait until June (our fiftieth anniversary) before I make it myself.
Oh Yum. I am headed today to get beets and carrots for this one! I will halve the recipe since I no longer have freezer available (a large Cinnamon bear discovered it and demolished it post enjoying the goods!)
oven temp?
350
I made the cake (½ of recipe) and took to the mountains this past weekend. It was a Big Hit even with the ‘Beet-Haters”
We had your divine Celery soup for dinner (with great hearty bread) and Cake for dessert.
Oh My!
I will share your recipes with our lucky friends who requested!
Hi Sally, Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend and I’m glad my recipes could go along for the trip! Also, thanks for using the star rating on the recipe card. Google really likes star ratings and it helps people find my posts in search results!
Cheers,
Kara