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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
50 minutes
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Makes
one 8x8-inch snacking cake
Author Notes
If you dig a moist, deeply chocolate-y chocolate cake, that just happens to be loaded with something really good for you, then this snacking cake is for you. Finely grated carrots make for a super tender crumb and a soft texture, without ever letting you on to their whereabouts. The tangy cream cheese frosting is the perfect accompaniment. And if all that doesn't convince you to take a stab at this sweet treat right now, who doesn't want to make a cake with the word "snacking" in the name? —Jessie Sheehan
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Ingredients
- Snacking cake
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1 cup
granulated sugar
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3/4 cup
light brown sugar
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3/4 cup
neutral oil, preferably a mild olive oil, not extra-virgin
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1 1/2 teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
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2
large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
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1/4 cup
buttermilk, room temperature
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1 1/2 teaspoons
espresso powder
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2 tablespoons
boiling water
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1 cup
all-purpose flour
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1/2 cup
Dutch process cocoa powder
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1 1/2 teaspoons
baking powder
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rounded 1/4 teaspoons
baking soda
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3/4 teaspoon
table salt
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2 1/2 cups
finely grated carrots (about 3 1/2 regular-sized carrots), lightly packed
- Cream cheese frosting
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1
stick unsalted butter, room temperature
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1
(8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
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1 tablespoon
pure vanilla extract
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1/4 teaspoon
table salt
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2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups
confectioners' sugar, sifted if lumpy
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8x2-inch square pan with cooking spray or softened butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
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In a medium bowl, combine the sugars, oil, and vanilla and whisk vigorously. Add the yolk and eggs, one at a time, gently whisking after each addition. Add the buttermilk and whisk again. Dissolve the espresso powder in the boiling water, add this to the bowl, and whisk a final time.
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Sift the dry ingredients over the bowl and, with a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry into the wet, until a few streaks of flour remain. Add the carrots and fold again, until the carrots are completely incorporated.
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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan after 15, and checking it with a cake tester/toothpick after 40. The cake is done when the tester comes out with a moist crumb or two.
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Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Alternatively, if you would like to remove the cake from the pan, let it cool for about 10 minutes, until you can comfortably handle the pan, run a paring knife around the edges and invert it right side up onto a serving plate. Let cool completely before frosting.
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To make the frosting, combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and on medium high speed, beat until smooth and uniform. Add the vanilla and salt and beat again.
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With the mixer on low speed, add about a cup of the sugar at a time to the mixer bowl, beating thoroughly after each addition until combined. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium or medium high, and beat the mixture until smooth. Do not over mix or the frosting will lose structure.
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Generously frost the cooled cake with the frosting, using the back of a large spoon for optimum swirls.
Jessie Sheehan is a celebrated cookbook author, recipe developer, baker, and host of Cherry Bombe’s baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie. She is the self-proclaimed queen of “easy-peasy baking;” and has contributed recipes and writing to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Epicurious, Food52, Bon Appetit, and more. Her third cookbook, Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes for Exceptionally Scrumptious Sweets and Treats was a New York Times best cookbook of 2022. And its savory sibling Salty, Cheesy, Herby Crispy Snackable Bakes, was published in the fall of 2024.
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