High-Altitude Carrot Loaf Cake

I have a classic Spring recipe to share this week- if you’re looking for a carrot cake recipe but something a little more manageable and a smaller serving, this Carrot Loaf Cake is perfect. A soft, spicy carrot loaf topped with a dreamy sour cream icing that gives you the perfect flavor.

Whatever time of year you’re making this, I promise you’ll love it. It’s easy to pull together and it tastes amazing- let’s get to it!

How to Make High-Altitude Carrot Loaf Cake

This recipe uses super simple ingredients, lots of warm spices, and the hardest part is grating up the carrots- it’s all smooth sailing from there! You can even mix the batter entirely by hand.

To start, stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set this mixture aside. Then whisk together the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until everything is well combined. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until you have a smooth mixture.

Next you want to add in about 1/2 of your dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Then add in the buttermilk and whisk until combined, followed by the remaining dry mixture.

Stir in the shredded carrots until they are distributed throughout the batter, and then it’s off to the oven to bake until the cake is lightly brown all over and puffed.

Spread the batter evenly into your loaf pan- I’m using a 2 pound loaf pan, though they do come in different sizes and variations- whatever full size loaf pan you have will work great here!

Once the cake has baked, you want to let it cool completely before spreading the icing over the top. If you add the icing while the cake is warm, it will melt off of the cake. Then slice and enjoy!

Tips & Tricks for the Perfect Carrot Loaf Cake

Here are my tips and tricks to help you along the way towards making a super soft, fluffy carrot loaf cake:

• Do I have to use vegetable oil? You can use any neutral oil in this recipe as a 1-1 swap; avocado or grapeseed are great options as well.
• Do I have to use this mix of spices? I’m using a fairly classic spice mix for carrot cake in this recipe to give you that classic flavor, but you can adjust however you’d like here- you want to generally keep it around the same total amount of ground spices.
• Don’t use pre-shredded carrots here. Freshly grated carrots have more moisture and it contributes to the overall flavor and texture of the cake, so I don’t recommend using pre-shredded carrots here.
• How do I know when the batter is finished mixing? You want the cake batter to be mixed through with no dry pockets of flour remaining, but there’s no need to continue mixing beyond that point.
• How do I know when the cake is finished baking? The cake is finished when it’s puffed and golden all over and a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
• Be sure to cool the cake completely before icing it or the icing will just melt off the cake completely!
• Why does this recipe use sour cream in the icing? I love using sour cream in icing because it gives you a similar tanginess to cream cheese, but it’s a little easier to work with. It’s soft enough that you can use it straight from the fridge!
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

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High-Altitude Carrot Loaf Cake

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot about 3-4 large carrots
• 1/3 cup buttermilk

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a loaf pan and optionally line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves until combined, and set aside. In a large bowl stir together the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and stir until just combined and smooth.
3. Add in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture, and mixing well between each addition until all the ingredients are added.
4. Fold in the shredded carrots until well combined.
5. Pour the batter evenly into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the sour cream, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until you have a thick, smooth icing. You can add more powdered sugar a few tablespoons at a time if it’s not thick enough.
2. Spread over the top of the cooled loaf and then slice and enjoy!
3. The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 4-5 days, or in the fridge for about 7-10 days.

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!