I’ve been wanting to share with you this carrot cake recipe for a long time, but did not get around doing it until now. A cafe-style South African carrot cake recipe that won’t dissappoint.
It is one of those recipes passed along from grandma’s side and you will probably wonder why it is called South African carrot cake because perhaps it looks like an ordinary recipe? Well, it is made with South African products and loved by South Africans, hence the name!
Most South Africans love baking from scratch. It was only recently that I saw a variety of boxed cakes on the shelves of grocery stores, it is just not readily available. I personally prefer baking from scratch, it just tastes better, right?
This recipe calls for pecan nuts, but I am allergic to it, so I usually leave it out. You can also add raisins if you wish, we do not like raisins so I do not add it in.
Another note: The finer you grate the carrot, the smoother texture you will have. I like it quite textured so I tend to grate it roughly, but it is your choice. This is a great step to allow the kids to help, grate away!
Garnishing- traditionally you add a few pecans or crumbs of pecans to the cream cheese frosting, but since I don’t add nuts, I just added a few carrot bits to make it pretty. You can garnish it however you like it!
It is an easy recipe, easy enough for the kids to help with, and it does taste amazingly moist! Why not try our South African carrot cake? Print the recipe card below for your recipe box!
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South African Carrot Cake
Moist carrot cake with variation options.
Ingredients
- Cake
- 1 1/2 cup (375ml) sugar
- 1 tsp (5ml) cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp (10ml) baking powder
- 1 1/2 cup (375ml) cooking oil
- 4 medium carrots(grated)
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp (5ml) salt
- 1 tsp (5ml) bicarb of soda
- 2 cups(500ml) all-purpose flour
- pecan nuts(optional)
- raisins(optional)
- Topping
- 230g cream cheese tub(more or less)
- 2 cups(500ml) icing sugar
- 2 tbs (30ml) butter
Instructions
- Beat the eggs and add sugar slowly while beating.
- Add oil.
- Sift the dry ingredients in.
- Add carrots(and nuts/raisins) if used.
- Mix.
- Pour into a greased baking tin.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180'C or 360'F for 40 min.
- Cool down the cake before adding the topping. (Simply mix the ingredients together to form a glaze-like topping).
- Enjoy!
Nadia van Zyl says
Yes, def!
Didi says
If you don’t butter can you use margarine
Nadia van Zyl says
Oh wow! We are SAFFAS too! I think it is a 24 inch?
Be sure to join our Smul FB group for more SA recipes!
Nadia van Zyl says
We don’t get all-purpose in South Africa, hence the cake flour. But either works;)
Ashley says
Hi there Nadia
Your recipe calls for all purpose flour, yet your ingredients picture has cake flour. Which flour do you use, as there is a difference between the two, and all purpose is not readily available in SA.
Many thanks
Liezel says
omg i stumbled upon your website looming for banana bread and im now reading about carrot cake 😊 im a Saffa living in Belgium and i love cooking up south african things for my belgian family. may i ask, what size cake mold did you use? cant wait to make this. love Liezel
Janet says
Hello.. I’ve tried the carrot cake ND came out perfect..only used one cup of sugar..thank you 👌👏
Nadia van Zyl says
Well done!
Shumail Ashraf says
I’m not a baker but this was easy and turned out like a carrot cake in a Cafe. Thank you so much. I used 4 large carrots. I think next time I will use a cup of sugar instead of 1 and a half.
Robin Williams says
This is my absolute favorite recipe, I bake it regularly and it is perfectly moist and tasty every single time. Thank you.