Carrot cake recipe
Recipe for carrot cake with dried fruit, perfect for holidays
Today I invite you to try an incredibly delicious carrot cake full of dried fruit. Thanks to the grated carrots added to the cake, it retains exceptional moisture and freshness. What’s more, the cake itself is incredibly simple and quick to prepare – even without a mixer! Be sure to check out my detailed recipe with photos and a preparation video and bake this extraordinary cake for the holidays or in the pre-holiday season.
Table of content
Carrot cake recipe step by step
If you like cakes and pastries full of dried fruit, you must bake this version with grated carrots – I highly recommend it!
Carrot Loaf Cake Recipe with Video
Wyposażenie
- Rectangular loaf pan, 30 cm long and about 10 cm wide.
Składniki
ingredients for carrot loaf cake
- approx 450 g mixed dried fruit and nuts (I used cranberries, dried apricots and plums, walnuts)
- 1 tablespoon wheat flour – all-purpose (for the dried fruit and nuts)
- approx 170 g carrots (mine weighed 150 g after peeling)
- 225 g wheat flour – all-purpose (1.5 cups)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (slightly heaped)
- 100 g sugar (I used cane sugar – half a glass, the cake is not very sweet, you can add more sugar if you wish)
- 1-2 teaspoons gingerbread spice (to taste)
- 200 ml apple juice
- 50 ml oil
- 3 eggs (size L)
Instrukcja
How to make carrot loaf cake step by step
Step 1 – preparations
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan-assisted) or 180 degrees (top/bottom heat mode).
- Line the loaf pan with baking paper or grease with butter and dust with flour.
- Cut the apricots and plums into smaller pieces – I cut them into strips.
- Roughly chop the nuts and transfer them to a large bowl, add cranberries or raisins.approx 450 g mixed dried fruit and nuts
- Add the chopped dried fruit and a tablespoon of flour – mix the dried fruit thoroughly with the flour.1 tablespoon wheat flour – all-purpose
Step 2 – prepare the fruitcake batter
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the dough.225 g wheat flour – all-purpose, 100 g sugar, 1-2 teaspoons gingerbread spice, 2 teaspoons baking powder
- In a second bowl, mix the wet ingredients and eggs together.200 ml apple juice, 50 ml oil, 3 eggs
- Grate the carrot on a fine grater.approx 170 g carrots
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon.
- Add the grated carrot and mix.
- Add the chopped dried fruit and mix with a spoon.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared mold.
Step 3 – bake the fruitcake
- Place the fruitcake in the preheated oven and bake for about 70-80 minutes – check with a skewer to see if the cake is well baked.
- Cool the finished cake and remove it from the mold.
- Decorate as desired.
Film
Uwagi
Wartości Odżywcze
Christmas carrot cake – notes
My cake today is a bit of a combination of our traditional Christmas cake and American carrot cake. I think this combination turned out excellent, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this cake to everyone. The grated carrots added to the dough gave it a fresh taste and natural sweetness, but also ensured a nice moistness. Lots of dried fruit makes the cake taste like the best cake. Be sure to try it and bake this cake with your favorite dried fruit. And by the way, I also recommend the cider cake recipe here – delicious!
What ingredients are necessary to bake a Christmas fruitcake?
To bake this cake, you will need a few basic ingredients. Below I list the products I used and possible substitutes.
- dried fruits and nuts – this is the base of every fruitcake; I added 450 g of chopped dried fruits and nuts here, which for me was 150 g of dried cranberries and 100 g each of walnuts, dried apricots, and prunes. You can choose other dried fruits and nuts you like here – e.g., raisins, hazelnuts.
- gingerbread spice blend – when choosing a spice blend, be sure to check its ingredients – if it lists wheat flour, sugar, or cocoa first, you’ll be buying a spice blend with weak flavor and aroma – it’s a waste of money. Look for a Kotanyi brand spice blend, or even better, make your own using my gingerbread spice blend recipe :) If you have a spice blend with a weaker composition, add 2 teaspoons of it to ensure the aroma is noticeable; if you have a strong spice blend, you can use one teaspoon. I added two, as I really like aromatic gingerbread cakes.
- apple juice – I used regular carton juice; if you don’t have this juice and can’t run to the store, you can substitute it with orange juice, or as a last resort, even regular milk.
- oil – for me, it’s rapeseed oil; another oil can also be used, but preferably one with a mild flavor.
How to decorate a carrot fruitcake?
Thanks to the generous amount of dried fruits and nuts and gingerbread spice blend, the fruitcake is already very rich in flavor, so I only dusted it with powdered sugar. For the photos, I additionally styled my fruitcake by adding a spruce sprig and fresh cranberries. If you want to bake a carrot fruitcake for the holidays and want it to look special, you can additionally drizzle it with icing or chocolate glaze and sprinkle it with, for example, candied orange peel or cranberries.
How to make icing for carrot fruitcake?
To make icing for the fruitcake, transfer about 1 cup of powdered sugar (150 g) to a bowl and dilute it to the consistency of slightly runny icing. Depending on the flavor you want to achieve, you can add a little heavy cream (with it, the icing will be the whitest and thickest), milk, or orange juice to the icing. You can also add a pinch of ground cinnamon for flavor. Remember that when adding liquid to powdered sugar, you add it spoon by spoon, mix, and then add a little more. It’s very easy to make icing that is too thin and will run off the cake. Therefore, add the liquid gradually until you get a thick and slightly flowing icing. Spread this icing over the top of the fruitcake.
How to make chocolate glaze for carrot fruitcake?
You can make chocolate glaze for the fruitcake from dark or milk chocolate, or even white chocolate. Depending on which chocolate you choose, you will need different amounts of heavy cream. For preparing the glaze, I recommend 30% heavy cream in a carton – the liquid kind.
For 100 g of dark chocolate, use 100 ml of heavy cream; for 100 g of milk chocolate, use a maximum of 70 ml of cream; and for 100 g of white chocolate – 50 ml of heavy cream.
To make the glaze, pour the appropriate amount of heavy cream into a small saucepan and heat until hot. Turn off the stove and add the broken chocolate to the cream. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate to soften, then mix it thoroughly into a smooth glaze. Cool the prepared glaze, and when it starts to thicken, pour it over the carrot fruitcake.
How to store carrot fruitcake?
It’s best to transfer the fruitcake to an airtight container with a lid. In such a container, it can easily last up to a week. You can also freeze the fruitcake for about 3 months.
I hope you’ll be eager to try this recipe and that this carrot fruitcake with dried fruit will grace your Christmas table :)
By the way, I recommend following my Instagram profile, where you’ll also find my recipes, and it’s easy to save them for later.
Recommended fruitcake recipes
Also try my other recipes for fruitcakes and fruitcake-like bakes. I recommend these three recipes here, and on the blog, you’ll find plenty of delicious bakes perfect for the holidays. Be sure to check them out!
Popularne Przepisy
Polecane przepisy
Carrot Fruitcake (Keks) Recipe
For the upcoming Christmas season, I highly recommend this delicious and simple carrot fruitcake, baked with a generous amount of dried fruits and nuts. Fruitcake (keks) is a traditional Polish Christmas staple. Baked with dried plums, apricots, cranberries, raisins, and crunchy nuts, this cake stays fresh and moist for a long time thanks to the addition of grated carrots.
Be sure to try this recipe and see how easy it is to make a carrot keks. Watch my short video and check out the step-by-step photos to see for yourself that baking this traditional holiday fruitcake isn't difficult at all!
