Orange Ginger Carrot Cake
Founder / Chef / Everyone’s Best Friend
Andy Hay
Welcome to my kitchen. I hope to inspire you to grow as a home cook!
I really love old school desserts. Well executed classics bring people right back to their childhood. This is one of those desserts for me.
Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. Pretty old school recipe here, other than the addition of orange zest and fresh ginger. They give an additional layer of complexity to the cake. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2½ cups flour
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1½ cups chopped pecans (1 cup for cake, 1/2 cup for topping)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 tbsp fresh zested ginger
- 2 cups grated carrots
Cream cheese Icing
- 1 block cream cheese (250 gms)
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp whipping cream
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a large 9×14 cake pan with oil; line with parchment.
- In a large bowl, mix together white and brown sugars, apple sauce, vanilla, eggs, and oil. Mix until there are no lumps of brown sugar.
- In a second bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger and salt. Once mixed, add dry ingredients (flour mixture) into the wet (sugars and eggs). Mix with a spatula. Be sure not to overwork the batter and stop once flour is incorporated.
- Next up, fold in the pecans, grated carrots, orange zest, and grated ginger. Pour into prepared cake pan and place in oven for 34-37 minutes. Use a wooden skewer to check for doneness.
- While the cake is baking place the cream cheese and room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment. Beat together for 2 minutes.
- Next, add in the vanilla, salt, whipping cream, and powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on low (or you will have a huge sugar mess on your hands) and let the mixture come together. Once combined, turn to high and let beat for 1 minute.
- After cake is done, remove from oven and let cool fully. Ice cake liberally and top with chopped pecans. Enjoy with a cup of tea.
Andy Hay
Andy is the founder of ECK, Chef, and let’s admit it… the reason you’re here. He taught himself to cook, and it all paid off when he secured his spot in the season 5 Finale of Master Chef Canada. Now, Andy uses his big energy to showcase recipes that actually make people want to cook. His brand was built on butter and East Coast charm, and Andy’s kept that same energy ever since. Off-camera, you’ll find him doing what started it all: cooking for his two daughters, wife and the people he loves.
Similar recipes
Rate & leave a comment
2 Comments
— End of comments —
— No more comments to load —
Just wondering if this could be made into round 8 inch layers?
Hi Carol! You can bake this in two 8-inch round pans instead of the 9×14. Just reduce the bake time a bit—start checking around 25–28 minutes.