Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
The classic Swiss carrot cake: incredibly moist, with almonds, cinnamon, and a creamy frosting.
- Preparation
- 25 min
- Cook/bake time
- 45 min
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 454 kcal
- Servings
- 12 slices
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cooking & baking
- 45 min
The classic Swiss carrot cake: incredibly moist, with almonds, cinnamon, and a creamy frosting. Grated carrots keep the cake fresh for days, and for Easter, marzipan carrots make it the star of the coffee table.
Why this works
Carrots consist of about 88 percent water, which they slowly release into the crumb during baking. That is why the cake stays moist for days, even though it contains hardly any fat. Finely grating them works best: coarse shreds release their water in spots and leave moist areas next to dry ones, instead of distributing the moisture evenly.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 175 °C and grease a 24 cm springform pan. Finely grate the carrots and squeeze them only very lightly, because some of their juice should remain in the batter, which is exactly what makes the cake so moist.
- 2
Mixing the batter
Beat the eggs with the sugar for about 3 minutes until light and frothy, and then pour in the oil in a thin stream. Briefly stir in the almonds, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and orange zest, and finally fold in the grated carrots carefully. The shorter you stir now, the lighter the batter will remain.
- 3
Baking
Pour the batter into the pan and bake it for 40 to 45 minutes. Do the toothpick test at the end: if no batter sticks, it is done. Let the cake cool completely afterwards before you apply the frosting, otherwise it will simply melt away.
- 4
Whipping the frosting
Beat the soft butter with the powdered sugar until creamy. Then add the cold cream cheese and stir it in only very briefly. If you stir too long, the frosting will become liquid, so a few seconds are completely sufficient.
- 5
Finishing
Spread the frosting in gentle waves in a dome shape on the cooled cake. Place the marzipan carrots on top for decoration, and the star of every Easter coffee table is ready.
Our best tips
- Grate carrots with the fine grater, coarse shreds make the cake crumbly.
- Stir cream cheese cold and only briefly, otherwise the frosting becomes liquid.
- The cake tastes even moister on the second day, ideal for preparing ahead.
Tasty variations
With walnuts
Add 80 g of chopped walnuts to the batter, more bite and roasted flavor.
As a Bundt cake
Bake in the Bundt pan and dust only with powdered sugar, the quick everyday version.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 454 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 41 g |
| – of which sugar | 28 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
Where the 454 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my carrot cake dry?
Usually the carrots were squeezed too much or the cake was baked too long. The carrots should remain moist, they are the natural juice dispenser.
How long does the cake keep?
With frosting chilled for 4 days, during which it becomes even moister. Without frosting, it keeps covered at room temperature for 5 days.
Can I bake the cake gluten-free?
Yes: The flour can be replaced 1:1 with a gluten-free flour blend, due to the high proportion of almonds the texture remains almost identical.
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