Carrot Cake Loaf

All the best of traditional Carrot Cake in a loaf form! Complete with a cream cheese filling layer and frosting. A fast and easy cake recipe.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Cooling Time (estimate) 20

Total Time 1 40

Servings slices

Calories 535kcal

1 ½ cup all purpose flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrots approximately 3 carrots
½ cup raisins
¼ cup crushed pineapple drained well
½ cup chopped pecans

1 large egg
4 ounces cream cheese softened
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoon all purpose flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan with a non-stick baking spray.
Optional: Line the pan with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper, spray the paper and the pan with a non-stick baking spray. This is done for easy removal after baking.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and oil until the oil is completely mixed in.
Whisk in the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk together just until combined.
Stir in the carrots, raisins, drained pineapple, and pecans and fold them into the batter with a spatula. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, beat together (with a hand or stand mixer) the filling ingredients (egg, cream cheese, sugar, and flour) until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Pour half of the carrot cake batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Spoon the filling on top of the bottom layer, do not spread all the way to the edges (leave some room around the filling).
Spoon the remaining carrot cake batter on top and spread to the edges.
Bake for 60-65 minutes, checking it at the 1 hour mark.
The cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then move to a cooling rack to completely cool.

In a medium sized bowl, beat together (using a hand or stand mixer) all of the frosting ingredients.
NOTE: for thicker frosting, start with 1 teaspoon of the heavy cream and add more cream until the desired consistency has been reached.
If a pecan topping is preferred, sprinkle ¼ cup of chopped pecans over the top.
Store covered in the refrigerator. Good for several days and the flavor just gets better even after day 1! A good make ahead cake.

The gluten-free version of all our recipes are tested with Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

Variations

Walnuts can be used in place of pecans
Pineapple can be left out if it is not desired. Add 1 more carrot to the mixture if you plan to leave it out to retain the moisture level of the cake.
To create another layer of flavor and dimension, you could do a ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup light brown sugar.
Toast the pecans before adding them! This adds another level of nuttiness to the cake. To toast the pecans, l
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the pecans out.
- Bake for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Check often to not let them burn.
- They are done once the pecans have reached 1 level darkness in color and are fragrant.