There’s something about Carrot Loaf that has never enticed me to make it. Perhaps it’s courtesy of the dislike I held for orange vegetables for most of my life. Carrots have slowly been making their way onto my plate these last few years and when I stumbled across this Carrot Loaf recipe, I felt compelled to make it.

When reading the ingredients, I knew this was going to be a full flavoured loaf. The spices in it filled my kitchen with such an enchanting scent and when we ate it, we were not disappointed. It just tastes like a winter comfort food. We each had thirds. This loaf is topped with a cream cheese frosting which balances out the sweetness of the icing sugar perfectly. The loaf and frosting are a perfect combination of sweet with a hint of savoury, making this loaf one that will be consumed quickly.

I was hesitant to post this loaf because it’s not super quick and easy, but the taste sensation won so here it is. This is not a loaf that can be whipped up in five minutes. It probably took me around 12 minutes to get it into the tin. As I was preparing it for my family, I substituted out some sugar and replaced them with dried dates but you can do either.

I used a longer loaf tin than standard and there was enough batter to make three mini loaves with it as well but you could easily use the extra batter to make a half dozen muffins or two smaller loaves.

Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Cake

125g unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar – I used 1/2 a cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of dried dates, blitzed in the food processor 

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/4 cups coarsely grated carrots, packed loosely

1 cup raisins, optional but recommended – I bought raisins for this recipe and was so glad I didn’t substitute with sultanas like I normally would

3/4 cup diced nuts (such as walnuts, pecans), optional – I omitted

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

115g cream cheese, softened

60g cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups+ icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan forced and spray and flour loaf pans/muffin tins.

2. Melt butter and add it to bowl with:

- oil

- eggs

- buttermilk

- sugars and/or dates

- vanilla

- cinnamon

- cloves

- allspice

- nutmeg

And whisk vigorously until combined. Because I was using the dates, I used my Kitchen Aid.

3. Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and stir to mix it in.

4. Add the carrots and then the raisins and/or nuts.

5. Pour batter into tins, filling a little over half way as they do rise.

6. Regular loaves take around 50 minutes to bake but the mini loaves were cooked in around 20-25 minutes.

After they’ve cooled, apply the frosting.

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until softened and combined (around 2 minutes) – use the paddle attachment.

2. Add the vanilla and the icing sugar, a bit at a time, until you have your desired consistency.

3. Frost your loaves/muffins and enjoy!

I stored this in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting and it should last around five days in the fridge though ours didn’t.. it was eaten within three days..

Until next week, stay fresh, buy fresh, eat fresh, be fresh.