Perfect, simple carrot cake tray bake with cream cheese frosting

I find that baking margarine works perfectly in this carrot cake tray bake, but oil can work well too.

In cake making, oil is added to the batter to keep everything super moist and to help open up the other flavours.

Almost any cooking oil with a neutral smell and taste will work – you could try vegetable, sunflower, peanut or corn oil. for example.

Personally, I think walnuts are the perfect nut to pair with carrot cake. They add crunch, but not too much. They’re mild, but with some bitter and tangy notes. Delicious.

However, if you’re not a walnut fan, you might try pecans and pistachios which also work really well. Avoid salted or flavoured nuts for this bake.

It’s best to use full-fat cream cheese for the icing – it offers the best taste and texture. In the UK, cream cheese comes in a tub and if you find it has a lot of water around it when opened, it’s best to drain that off.

If you prefer, reduced-fat cream cheese will also work and be very tasty. However, the consistency of reduced-fat cream cheese can really vary, so add it to the sugar bit by bit until you have a spreadable icing.

This carrot cake tray bake is best eaten on the day of baking.

After that, as with any cake, the sponge will begin to lose some of its moistness and seem dry.

Storing the carrot cake in an airtight container not much bigger than the cake and in the fridge will help.

If you found your carrot cake to be dry directly out of the oven then the most likely cause is that you have over baked it. This could either be due to an oven that’s too hot or baking for too long.

Pay careful attention to your oven temp and cooking times and keep an eye on your sponge in the last 10 minutes as it may be ready a little early. You can make sure your cake is fully cooked by inserting a flat skewer into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean.

The third most common cause of a dry sponge is not putting enough oil or other wet ingredient in the mix, so check your quantities were correct.

Egg weights can vary a little, so if you usually add a splash of milk to your bakes, feel free to do so with this one.

Yes, you can indeed use this recipe to make carrot cake cupcakes. I haven’t tested this specific recipe as cupcakes yet, so let me know how you get on.

There is enough batter in this recipe to make 24 cupcakes. I’d recommend halving all of the give quantities, and then sharing the resulting batter between a well greased non-stick 12-hole muffin tray.

If you prefer, you can use paper muffin cases. You may find the carrot cake mixture sticks to the cupcake cases a little more than a traditional sponge would.

Your cooking time for muffins will likely be shorter than with a tray bake, so check them after 20 minutes in the same way you would a traybake ie by inserting a flat skewer into the centre of a cake and making sure it comes out clean.

As your carrot cake is frosted with cream cheese, it needs to go in the fridge, where it will last for up to 3 days.

Remember to store it in an airtight container to keep it moist and fresh, and avoid absorbing other odours and flavours from the fridge.

Carrots have been a beloved part of sweet baking for a long time.

Sweet carrot puddings were baked in Europe as far back as the Middle Ages, because sugar was scarce and very expensive, so the naturally sweet carrots made for a great alternative.

Yes, carrot cake can be frozen, just be aware that the cream cheese frosting made not have quite such a creamy smooth frosting afterwards.

To defrost simply place the carrot cake in the fridge overnight.

I would recommend cutting the carrot cake tray bake into slices and freezing them in a single layer in a sealed container. Then you can defrost them a slice at a time, as and when you fancy.

Yes, it’s a breeze to make this carrot cake in advance.

My preference is to bake the traybake the night before and leave it to cool overnight, covered with a tea towel. Then, in the morning, I whip up the icing, spread it over the cake, sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

Alternatively, you can make the whole carrot cake tray bake the night before, cream cheese icing and all, then pop it in a sealed container in the fridge to enjoy the next day.