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Chocolate carrot cake sliced into squares with white chocolate cream cheese frosting on top and chocolate shavings.
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5 from 8 votes

Chocolate Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This chocolate carrot cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting is the perfect moist cake to share with your family.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Resting Time10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Cake, Dessert, Snacking Cake
Cuisine: British
Servings: 16 squares
Calories: 350kcal
Author: Sasha Hooper

Ingredients

For the white chocolate cream cheese frosting:

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper.
  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and orange zest until well combined. Mix in the carrots until combined.
    ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 ¼ cups soft brown sugar, 3 medium eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, 2 cups peeled and grated carrots
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and fine sea salt.
    1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold in until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped pecans or walnuts and chocolate chunks.
    ½ cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped, ½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Start checking for doneness after 35 minutes - you want a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake to come out clean, it will also be springy to the touch. If it’s not ready, return to the oven and continue to check in 5 minute intervals. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Whilst the carrot cake is cooling, make the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until uniform and well combined. Add the powdered sugar, melted white chocolate and salt and continue to beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides if needed.
    10 tablespoons cream cheese spread, 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, 3 cups powdered sugar, 50 g white chocolate chips, pinch fine sea salt
  • Once cool, frost the top of the cake with the white chocolate cream cheese frosting. If desired, top with dark chocolate shavings to decorate. Makes 16 squares.

Notes

The cream cheese frosting makes a lot - you can use the extra to create a layer cake, or freeze in an air tight container. If you want a thinner layer of frosting you can halve the frosting ingredients.
The frosting recipe is written for cream cheese spread as we can't get block cream cheese here. If using block cream cheese, ensure you leave it to come to room temperature before making the frosting. You may also need to use less powdered sugar, so add it gradually. 
To make the batter in one bowl, just add the dry ingredients on top of the wet, instead of whisking them together in a separate bowl.
We baked our cake in a conventional oven (not fan). If using a fan oven, you will find the cake will cook quicker as fan ovens tend to run hotter. Reduce the oven temperature to 170C/340F.
If you don't have an 8 x 8 inch square tin, or you'd prefer to make a round cake, you can use a 9 inch round cake tin instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 square | Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.6g | Protein: 4.3g | Fat: 16.8g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4.3g | Cholesterol: 45.5mg | Sodium: 130.3mg | Potassium: 359mg | Fiber: 2.5g | Sugar: 34.1g | Vitamin A: 204.1IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 101.7mg | Iron: 1.8mg