This is a properly easy carrot cake, everything goes into one bowl, gets a good mix, and bakes into a moist, tender cake. Grated carrot and apple keep it beautifully moist, almonds add a bit of crunch, and warm cinnamon ties it all together.
Topped with a tangy lemon cream cheese icing, it hits that classic carrot cake balance of sweet, spiced and fresh. No creaming, no fuss, just mix and bake.
It is the reliable carrot cake you will come back to for morning teas, birthdays and everything in between.
Why You’ll Love It
It is a one bowl cake, so it is genuinely easy with hardly any washing up. The grated carrot and apple keep it lovely and moist, the almonds add texture, and the lemon cream cheese icing brings that fresh, tangy finish carrot cake is known for. It is a reliable, crowd pleasing cake that is hard to get wrong.
The Shortcut That Makes It Work
It all goes in one bowl. There is no creaming butter and sugar and no separate wet and dry mixing, you simply combine everything, pour and bake. The oil keeps it moist without any of the fuss, so it is about as low effort as a from scratch cake gets.
Handy Tips
Grate the carrot fairly finely so it softens into the cake as it bakes. The apple, whether tinned or fresh grated, adds moisture, so do not skip it. It is a big, moist cake, so give it the full baking time and check the centre with a skewer before pulling it out. Let the cake cool completely before icing, or the cream cheese icing will slide straight off.
What To Serve With It
Lovely as is with a cup of tea or coffee. For a dessert, a dollop of cream alongside a slice is a nice touch.
Leftovers / How to Store It
Keep the iced cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, as it has cream cheese icing. Bring slices to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavour.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
If you enjoyed this Easy Carrot Cake, here are a few more ideas to add to your rotation:
Easy Carrot Cake
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time
1 hour 
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes 
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Mix it all together in one big bowl of joy.
- Bake at 180C for an hour in a 25cm cake tin. And voila, you're only an hour away from a slice of heaven!
- Combine 1/2 block of cream cheese, 1 cup icing sugar, and the zest of 1 lemon. Once your cake is cooled, slather this creamy delight on top.
Nutrition
Video
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Don’t Forget to Share
Tried my Easy Carrot Cake recipe? I’d love to see how you used it. Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @steph_cooks_stuff, I love seeing your creations.
FAQs
Can I leave out the almonds?
Yes. Leave them out for a nut-free cake, or swap in walnuts for a more traditional carrot cake crunch. The cake still works perfectly without.
Can I use fresh apple instead of tinned?
Yes. Use about 3 grated fresh apples in place of the tin. Both add lovely moisture to the cake.
Why did my icing slide off?
The cake was likely still warm. Let it cool completely before icing, as cream cheese icing melts and slides on a warm cake.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. The cake keeps well for a few days in the fridge once iced. Bring slices to room temperature before serving.
So easy to follow Recipe, simple to make. Love how you show what your doing & enjoying sharing with everyone
Wow that’s absolutely delicious and yummy
Waiting for mine to finish cooking! Loved how easy it was. Have previously made the biscoff cheesecake, as well as the a chocolate cake
Used 3 granny smith apples . Mix looked very wet. Still looks like wet baby food puree after 90 minutes baking at 180 degrees. Oil oozing out of edges.
Glad I didn’t waste more money on making the icing while it was baking.
Am glad I found you you help me and others understand how to do these things simply but great thanks 🙏🏻 xx
Thank you for the lovely comment. xxx
AMAZING AMAZING A…MA….ZING!!!!!!! You make baking and cooking enjoyable interactive and achievable! Thank you x
It is my pleasure. Thank you so much for being here
Thank you Kevin. I love reading that :). Do you have any other favourites?
Hi do you have to have the apples will it still turn out nice?.
Hey, Yes it will but you will need yo add some extra liquid or it will be dry. 1/2 cup of yoghurt will work
Love this recipe, made it a couple of months ago, so easy to make. Everyone loved it, will have to make again soon.
Loved this recipe
Changed nuts for 1/3 cup each of sultanas, sunflower seeds & pumpkin seeds & substituted 1 cup of flour to 1 cup of wholemeal flour & they turned out brilliant. Thxs Steph
That’s so cool you were able to swap those ingredients Peta 🙂
Self raising flour? Or plain?
Hi Elpida, thanks for asking. It’s plain flour as there’s baking powder in the ingredients. I’ve updated the recipe so that it’s clear 🙂
Please tell me the size of pan used for this recipe?
25cm Elaine
Hi, looking forward to making this cake, it ticks so many boxes 😋 except for my gluten free daughter, can I use almond flour? And what adjustments please
Hi Dian, I haven’t tested this one with almond flour so I honestly don’t know what you’d need to change. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
What oil do you use in your carrot cake
Vegetable oil, but you can also use canola oil.
Can I ask if I can use pineapple instead of apple please
I haven’t tried this one with pineapple so I can’t promise how it turns out. If you do, use crushed pineapple and drain it really well, tinned pineapple is a lot wetter than apple. Let me know how it goes.