Im not a cake professional but my Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of my favorite things to bake. Especially during the fall and winter months. Its crazy good! Topped with a vanilla bean, cream cheese frosting it is one of the best cakes you will ever make and eat.
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Why you love my Pumpkin Carrot Cake Recipe
- The cake is easy to make and comes together in one bowl.
- It is incredibly moist and slathered in the most delicious vanilla bean cream cheese frosting.
- No cake decorating skills required.
- Very versatile recipe. The cake can be made into cupcakes, a sheet pancake or layered cake for all occasions. See recipe variations or notes on the recipe card for baking instructions.
Ingredient Notes to make the best Pumpkin Carrot Cake
Olive Oil: Use a quality olive oil and make sure the ingredient label reads “Extra Virgin Olive Oil” only. Or else it more than likely contains other cheap oils like canola oil to dilute it. My preference is a Kalamata Olive Oil from Greece or Turkey because the flavor notes are more buttery than fruity and pairs beautifully in baked goods.
The extra virgin olive oil makes the pumpkin carrot cake extra moist but you can also use other oils. Like avocado oil or coconut oil. No seed oils. Non of us like extra inflammation in our bodies.
Carrots: Don’t use baby carrots. Purchase the large whole organic carrots. Make sure to wash them and peel off the skin before shredding the carrots for the cake. Here is a link for my favorite vegetable peeler and shredder. You want to wash away any chemicals, glyphosate’s or other bacteria or germs from your produce before using before consumption.
Vanilla Bean Paste: Not all vanilla bean paste are created equally. I like using Blue Cattle Truck Trading Co. Vanilla Bean Paste because it only contains natural ingredients and natural preservatives. Ingredients are Mexican Vanilla Extract, Sugar, Water, Vanilla Bean, Tragacanth Gum (Natural Thickener).
Trader Joes also has a really good organic vanilla bean paste as well. Just make sure to check the ingredient label when purchasing processed food items so you know what you are buying. Some companies charge you the same or more for a product that are not pure. You can use vanilla extract instead of the paste if you do not have any on hand. I just love how pretty the vanilla bean specs look in the frosting.
Ingredient Variations
- Are You Gluten Intolerant? If so use Namaste Organic Cup for Cup Flour to make the pumpkin carrot cake so you can enjoy this recipe too! It’s the best gluten free flour I have been able to find that has very clean ingredients and resembles regular wheat flour the most.
- Instead of pumpkin puree use sweet potato puree.
- Feel free to add in a cup of chopped nuts instead of shredded coconut to the batter before baking. You could also use some to decorate the finished cake.
- Try spicing the frosting up by adding a tablespoon of pumpkin spice to the cream cheese frosting or a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Or poke holes into the warm cake and drizzle a can of caramel sauce over the top, cool, refrigerate and top with whipped cream and toffee bits.
- You could also serve the pumpkin olive oil cake plain with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Variations
Cupcakes: You will need two, 12-Well muffin pans to make 24 cupcakes and some unbleached cupcake liners. I love the tulip liners. They make the cupcakes look fancy without any effort. Make the batter as instructed. Then with a 4 oz cookie scoop, scoop the batter into 24 muffin wells. Or 8 tablespoons of batter per muffin well. Then bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick is inserted and comes out almost clean, with a few crumbs. Cool the cupcakes completely and then frost.
Sheet pan cake: Grease and flour a good 12×18 baking pan. I only use USA Baking Pans. They always give me the best bake with. no sticking. Then make the batter as directed and pour into the pan. Bake the cake in a 350 F preheated oven for20-25 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out mostly clean, with just a few crumbs. Cool the cake completely and frost.
Crazy Good Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Olive Oil
Equipment
- 2 9 inch Cake Pans or a 9×13 dish and or 2 12-well muffin pans
- 1 Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- 1 Kitchen Shredder or Hand Shredder
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice seasoning
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cup 100 % pumpkin puree
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil and or coconut oil
- 2 eggs room temperature.
- 4 cups carrots peeled and shredded
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¾ cup softened butter salted or unsalted
- 3 oz full fat cream cheese softened
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
The Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Now line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pans so you can easily turn them out once they are baked and cooled.
- Begin to make the batter by adding the flour, sugar, shredded coconut, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients together until combined.
- Then add the olive oil, pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling), room temperature eggs and shredded carrots. Mix the ingredients until the last bit of flour disappears.
- Pour the batter evenly into two, prepared 9 inch cake pans and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes. If a toothpick is inserted and it comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs the cake is perfectly baked and ready to be removed from the oven.
- Cool the cakes on a heat proof surface (I like placing mine on top of hot pads) in the pans and start making the frosting.
The Frosting:
- Prepare the frosting by adding softened butter and cream cheese to a bowl and beat a few minutes until smooth with a hand mixer.
- Then add a cup of powdered sugar at a time, mixing between each cup until smooth.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla bean paste and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. With a rubber spatula whip the frosting fast to release any extra air.
Assembly of the cake:
- On a cake stand and a small dollop of frosting in the center and smooth out with an offset spatula. Turn a layer of cake directly onto the center. Then add about 3/4 cup of frosting to the cake layer and spread out evenly. Add the other cake on top and lightly frost the top and sides, reserving quite a bit of frosting. Place the cake into the refrigerator to set for 20 minutes. Remove and frost with the rest of the frosting. Slice and enjoy!
Storing:
- Store leftovers by covering the cake with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to five days. You can also wrap individual slices and place them in an airtight container to refrigerate for 5 days or freeze for for up to 3 months. If you freeze the cake slices, in order to eat them, remove them from the freezer and allow them to come back to room temperature in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
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