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Manon Lagrève’s carrot cake

Name: Manon Lagrève’s carrot cake
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: PT35-45M
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 8-10
Cuisine: French recipes
Ingredients: 1 tsp butter to grease; 300g plain flour, plus 1 tsp to dust; 1½ tsp baking powder; 200g granulated sugar; 150g light brown sugar; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground mixed spice; 100g chopped walnuts (optional); 280ml vegetable oil; 4 large free-range eggs; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; 300g (about 5-6 medium) carrots, coarsely grated; For the icing; 120g lightly salted butter, at room temperature; 400g icing sugar; 220g cream cheese; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; You’ll also need; 3 x 15cm cake tins or 2 x 20cm cake tins

By: Manon Lagrève

Published: 6 Sep 23
Updated: 25 Mar 24

Manon Lagrève puts a French twist on a classic Anglo-American bake in this beautiful spiced carrot cake recipe. You can add walnuts, or leave them out for a nut-free bake.

Manon says: “When I first told my family about carrot cake, they were perplexed: ‘Un gâteau aux carottes?’ I had to make it for them to believe me. Nowadays there’s much more American- and English-style baking in France, but 11 years ago that was definitely not the case. It was the first time my family had had a tiered cake with some sort of icing on top, too. They love this cake so much now that I made a carrot cake both for my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary and my sister’s 30th birthday.”

Recipe taken from Et Voila: A Simple French Baking Love Story by Manon Lagrève (OH Editions, £22) and tested by delicious.

Easy
September 2023

Test kitchen approved

Serves 8-10
Hands-on time 45 min, plus cooling. Oven time 35-45 min

Manon Lagrève puts a French twist on a classic Anglo-American bake in this beautiful spiced carrot cake recipe. You can add walnuts, or leave them out for a nut-free bake.

Recipe taken from Et Voila: A Simple French Baking Love Story by Manon Lagrève (OH Editions, £22) and tested by delicious.

Vegetarian recipes

Nutrition: Per serving (for 10)

Calories: 907kcals
Fat: 51g (13g saturated)
Protein: 9.1g
Carbohydrates: 101g (78g sugars)
Fibre: 3g
Salt: 0.5g

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Ingredients

1 tsp butter to grease
300g plain flour, plus 1 tsp to dust
1½ tsp baking powder
200g granulated sugar
150g light brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
100g chopped walnuts (optional)
280ml vegetable oil
4 large free-range eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
300g (about 5-6 medium) carrots, coarsely grated

For the icing

120g lightly salted butter, at room temperature
400g icing sugar
220g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

You’ll also need

3 x 15cm cake tins or 2 x 20cm cake tins

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Method

Heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 6 and grease and dust the cake tins with butter and flour.
Combine the flour, baking powder, both sugars, cinnamon, mixed spice and a large pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add the chopped walnuts (if using).
In a separate bowl, combine the vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla, then add to the first bowl. Whisk well until you get a uniform batter. Finish by adding the carrots and use a spatula to fold them in. Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn upside down on a cooling rack, remove the tin and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Whip the butter for 2 minutes using an electric whisk, then add half the icing sugar and whisk for another 2 minutes. Whisk in the cream cheese and vanilla, then add the remaining icing sugar and whisk for another couple of minutes.
Slice the top of one cake with a serrated knife; hold the knife flat and work around the cake to create an even and flat sponge. Use a spatula and spread a 5mm layer of icing on top of the first sponge. Put the second sponge on top, then spread the rest of the icing on top of the cake (if you have made 3 smaller sponges, divide the icing evenly among the layers).