Small Carrot Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

August 8, 2024

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It is a small carrot cake with caramel cream cheese frosting is a one-layer cake for Spring and Easter!

Two square pieces of carrot cake with caramel frosting stacked.

First issues first, do you know: I’ve 5 totally different sizes of this recipe on this website?
-this single layer carrot cake made in a 8×8” pan
-my 6” small carrot cake
-my carrot cake for 2 made in ramekins
-a wholesome carrot cake made in a mini muffin pan
-and after all, a small batch of carrot cake cupcakes

Whereas we love heat mini carrot truffles with melted cream cheese frosting, we additionally love chilly carrot cake proper out of the fridge. That is a kind of chilly carrot truffles you sneak for breakfast with espresso.

I am undecided how massive your Easter celebration goes to be, however I am guessing carrot cake is on the menu. Whereas I have already got a mini carrot cake for 2 on this website, I believed I’d make you a barely larger one.

One square piece of carrot cake with caramel swirled frosting.

This is not your normal 3-layer carrot cake–which is tremendous yummy however oh-so-much work; it is a smaller 8×8-inch single-layer model. (A 8×8-inch pan is your normal brownie pan, pals.)

I am not skimping on the frosting right here. Simply because it is small doesn’t suggest we will not have mounds of frosting. And as a substitute of cups and cups of powdered sugar in a regular cream cheese frosting recipe, we’ll stir in melted caramel sauce. This will probably be your new go-to cream cheese frosting recipe.

Components

Small bowls of baking ingredients on a marble counter.

Oil. One-half cup of any pure oil with out taste, like vegetable oil, canola oil, sunflower seed oil or avocado oil. Don’t use coconut or olive oil, please.
Granulated Sugar. One cup granulated white sugar.
Eggs. Two massive eggs, overwhelmed earlier than including to the bowl.
Vanilla Extract. We’d like vanilla extract for the cake batter and the frosting.
Canned Crushed Pineapple. It’s essential to use canned crushed pineapple for this recipe, as a result of it has the correct amount of moisture for the batter. Measure out ½ cup, after which evenly squeeze it to empty it on a paper towel earlier than including to the batter.
Carrots. It is best to grate carrots your self, as a result of the store-bought ones are too dry. Use the massive holes on a field grater to make 1 cup of grated carrots. For me, that is 2-3 medium-sized carrots.
Flour. Common all-purpose flour, not self-rising flour.
Baking Powder.
Baking Soda.
Cinnamon. The one spice my household makes use of in carrot cake is cinnamon, however I do know different households use floor ginger and even nutmeg–add it, should you like.
Caramel Bits. The quickest strategy to soften caramel to make this caramel cream cheese frosting is to make use of the caramel bits. You may as well use a store-bought jarred caramel sauce in a pinch, nevertheless it’s a little bit runnier than what we’d like. The bits harden a bit within the cream cheese frosting and make a sturdier frosting that holds its form.
Cream Cheese. One bundle (8-ounce) of full-fat cream cheese that has been softened to room temperature.
Powdered Sugar. Powdered sugar for sweetening the frosting.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350, and line a 8×8-inch sq. pan with parchment paper on all sides

In a big bowl, stir along with a picket spoon (don’t use an electrical mixer) the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, pineapple and carrots. Stir once more to mix.

In a separate bowl, stir collectively the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the dry substances over the moist.

Stir the combination to mix. Scrape it into the ready pan.

Bake on the middle rack within the oven for 33-36 minutes, till properly golden brown and beginning to draw back from the sides. Let the cake cool. It would barely sink within the center should you did not get sufficient moisture out of the pineapple, nevertheless it’s wonderful.

As soon as the cake is totally cool, make the frosting. Soften the caramel bits within the microwave with a splash of water (following bundle directions). Put aside.

With an electrical mixer, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar till mild and fluffy.

Beat within the vanilla final.

Unfold the frosting on the cake plain, after which drizzle caramel on prime earlier than swirling it in.

White frosting swirled with caramel on a square cake.

A number of notes about this small carrot cake:

My model of carrot cake has pineapple in it. I hope that is okay with you! My household will be purists about carrot cake and demand that it mustn’t have walnuts, raisins, or pineapple. They love this model!

Slice of carrot cake on white plate with fork on side.

I ought to warn you that the cake goes to sink ever-so-slightly within the heart because it cools. I’ve by no means met a carrot cake that does not sink a tiny bit. By nature, it is heat, spicy, and so very moist. To be able to make a non-sinking flat or domed carrot cake, the feel of the cake must be altered to be too mild and fluffy. That’s simply not what we’re going for. The ultimate result’s dense and moist, and that is precisely the way in which it ought to be.

So, seize your brownie pan, a handful of carrots and caramels, and make this small carrot cake. Inform me it is not probably the most scrumptious carrot cake you’ve got ever had!

Yield: 9 small items