Easy Carrot Cake with Maple Whipped Cream Topping

This quick and easy carrot cake is bursting with carrots, raisins and cinnamon. It’s topped with maple whipped cream so it’s not as heavy as the typical cream cheese frosting.

Carrot Cake Recipe

It’s funny that as a person who is obsessed with vegetable cakes enough to write a cookbook on the subject, that I haven’t blogged a carrot cake!

I get all excited by vanilla pea cake or kale cake and somehow bypass the classics.

But let me tell you, I love making carrot cake.

It’s my husband’s favourite flavour and I can pack it full of veggies.

I’ve given this recipe a few tweaks though.

I’ve left out the walnuts, and added Greek yogurt to make it light and moist.

Maple syrup replaces much of the sugar and adds extra flavour to the topping.

Rather than a heavy cream cheese frosting, I’ve used a maple whipped cream so it doesn’t overpower the cake.

This cake is moist, delicate and filled with sweet earthy carrots.

The heady scent of cinnamon and the sweet plump raisins all mingle together in a delicious classic bake.

It’s a slice of nostalgia and your gateway to more unusual vegetable cakes.

Easy carrot cake

The flavour of maple syrup always takes me right back to Canada, where I was raised.

It’s funny how a song or a smell transports you right back to a moment in time and the smell of maple reminds me of breakfasts around the table with my family when I was young.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 12, but I remember my sisters pouring maple syrup on their sausages!

A hint of nostalgic maple now and again harks me back, and what better vegetable cake recipe to put it in than carrot.

The maple flavour is very subtle, so I’ve enhanced it with a maple whipped cream topping.

I find the typical cream cheese frosting to be a bit too rich, so this super-quick whipped cream is a lighter way to enjoy all the flavours of the sponge.

How to Make Easy Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is really simple to make and it’s moist and delicious.

It only takes 10 minutes to get all the ingredients mixed together before you put it into the pan and bake it.

Here’s how to do it in step-by-step pictures.

Scroll down for the full ingredients and instructions in the recipe card. 

1 – Peel and grate the carrots, then add the carrots and the raisins to a bowl

2 – Sift in the whole wheat flour, bicarb of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, then mix well.

3 – In another bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, maple syrup, oil (I used Mazola 100% pure corn oil) and plain Greek yogurt.

4 – Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and gently combine.

5 – Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Get the easy carrot cake recipe

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment and star rating below and share a picture on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #veggiedesserts.

Maple Carrot Cake

This nut-free carrot cake is packed with veg and flavour. 

5 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 10

378 kcal

Author: Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts

Ingredients

• 2 carrots (approx 300g)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 2/3 cup (200g) all-purpose wholemeal flour (plain flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarb of soda)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons maple syrup
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (130g) plain Greek yogurt

For the Maple Whipped Cream Topping

• 1 cup (250ml) whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease a 9” cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking paper.
• Peel and grate the carrots into a large bowl and add the raisins. 
• Sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt over them (adding any sieved out bran back into the bowl). Stir to coat the carrots and raisins.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, maple syrup, oil and Greek yogurt together well (by hand or with an electric mixer).
• Fold the wet ingredients into the dry gently and combine.
• Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan, take off the baking paper and cool completely on a rack.

For the Maple Whipped Cream Topping

• Whip the cream and maple syrup together with an electric mixer until it starts to stiffen. Refrigerate until ready to use. 
  (Note: the amount is enough to completely cover the cake)

Nutrition Information

Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 286mg | Potassium: 450mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 5450IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 133mg | Iron: 1.4mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts!

The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.