This classic carrot cake recipe with a twist is enough to drive you nuts! Topped with creamy cheese frosting and garnished with your favorite nuts, you can be guaranteed an aromatic experience of a flavorful dessert that will keep you asking for more! This is a healthier alternative to store-bought pastries, and with the addition of cardamom, it’s a guilt-free dessert that you can never live without!
Cardamom has a lot of health benefits. Among the benefits of cardamom are:
- It freshens your breath; especially after a meal;
- It helps balance blood sugar levels;
- It aids in the digestion process;
- Helps lower blood pressure;
- and, acts as a stimulant to improve circulation.
Thus, having Cardamom Carrot Cake Recipe for dessert will not only satisfy your sweet tooth but also offer a lot of health benefits, especially after consuming a meal. This is also perfect with coffee during breakfast or for an afternoon snack. The creamy cheese frosting balances the flavors so even kids will love it! It would be best to prepare extra cheese frosting if you have kids so they can spread more if the taste of cardamom is too strong.
You can also adjust the amount of cardamom that you put in it. However, I can assure you that the taste of cardamom is not overpowering and perfectly balances this recipe.
This cardamom carrot cake recipe was baked in the roaster pan that comes with the complete bakeware set because I wanted to have enough to last for a week. What’s great about this complete bakeware set is that you have a lot of options to choose where you want to bake your cakes. You can also bake the cardamom carrot cake in the round or square pans. Or bake it on a loaf pan so you can offer some to your friendly neighbor or friends. The roaster pan comes with a lid so you can store the leftover carrot cake in the fridge.
I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did! We love hearing from our customers so let us know in the comments if you’ve tried this! Enjoy!
Cardamom Carrot Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9 x 13 inch baking tray
Ingredients
For the Cardamom Carrot Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups oil
- 2 cups sugar *you can add 1/4 cup more if you want it sweeter
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 3 cups carrots freshly grated
- 1/2 cup almonds crushed
- 1/2 cup pistachios crushed
For the cardamom cheese frosting:
- 8 oz softened cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup softened butter room temperature
- 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
To make the cardamom carrot cake batter:
- Line the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking tray and spread some butter on it. You can also use 2 9-inch round cake pans for this recipe.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk with a fork to combine and set aside.
- In another large bowl, add oil and sugar and beat with a hand beater or stand mixer for about 2 minutes until well combined and the sugar is dissolved; the liquid should be grainy.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 to 40 seconds after adding each egg.
- Add the cardamom powder and vanilla essence. Use a spatula to mix until well combined.
- Add the grated carrots and lightly fold.
- Add half of the crushed pistachios and almonds, reserve some for garnish. Fold into the mixture with spatula.
- Add the sifted flour and lightly fold with spatula until well-combined.
- Pour the carrot cake batter into the prepared baking tray. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
- Let it cool for an hour while you make the cream cheese frosting.
To make the cream cheese frosting:
- In a large bowl, soft 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar or icing sugar depending on your preference for sweetness. Sifting helps prevent the frosting from clumping.
- Cut the softened butter and cream cheese into cubes.
- In a large bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the cubed butter until creamy.
- Add the cubed cream cheese a few pieces at a time and beat after every addition. Do this until the mixture is light and creamy.
- Add the vanilla and cardamom powder.
- Gradually add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time while beating. Adjust the amount of sugar depending on your preferred sweetness. If you find the cream cheese mixture too hard, add a few tablespoons of milk until you reach the desired consistency.
- Apply the cream cheese frosting on the cake when completely cooled.
