This Vintage Carrot Walnut Cake is closer to a European-style carrot cake. It’s fluffier and airier than the traditional American Carrot Cake, but it’s perfectly soft and moist. The cream cheese frosting has a marshmallow-like fluffiness that will make you want to lick the spatula, the whisk, the bowl and your fingers if needed ;).
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Vintage Carrot Cake Video
I hope you enjoy this video on how to make this “Rustic” European-style Carrot cake.
Handed Down Recipe for Vintage Carrot Cake
Why I love this rustic carrot cake so darn much? It’s not overly sweet. Most store-bought carrot cakes throw you into a sugar coma after half a slice, but this one is just right; bite after delicious bite. Rave reviews all around (everyone ate a lot of carrot cake this week).
My Mother-in-law shared this carrot walnut cake recipe with me and one of her friends shared it with her who inherited the recipe from her mother. This carrot cake has been enjoyed by several generations and I feel honored to pass it on to you! I baked it three times in 1 week and modified it only slightly to increase the amount of frosting, cut the baking soda in half, and decrease the sugar. It was wonderful!
I love the vintage feel of this cake – it’s easy to bake, easy to assemble, and you’ll love every bite!
More Spring Baking Recipes
There are several flavors and ingredients that I look forward to in Spring, from blueberries that get jammy when baked into desserts to lemons and, of course, carrots! Here are my go-to spring desserts that are perfect for Easter.
Here’s the Print-friendly recipe for this Vintage Carrot Cake. Be sure to print copies for all your friends!
Vintage Carrot Cake (Handed Down Recipe)
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil or extra light olive oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 lb carrots, about 3 cups, grated on the large holes of a box grater
Frosting/Decor Ingredients:
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened at room temp
- 1 stick, 8 Tbsp or 113 grams of butter, softened at room temp
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted on a skillet and coarsely chopped
Instructions
How to Make the Vintage Carrot Cake Layers:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚. Butter two 9" round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer, whisk 4 eggs and 1 cup sugar on high speed 3 min until thick and fluffy. With mixer on medium speed, add 1 cup oil in a steady stream. Whisk in 1 tsp vanilla.
- Sift 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp baking powder into 2 cups of flour and whisk the dry ingredients together well. With the mixer on medium low, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in fourths, scraping down the bowl as needed. Once flour is fully incorporated, use a spatula to fold in 3 cups of carrots just until evenly combined.
- Divide dough in to two round baking pans and bake at 350˚ for 30-35 min or until toothpick comes out clean (mine was perfect at 30 min). Let cake layers cool in their cake pans for 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool to room temp on a wire rack before slicing layers in half.
How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Once cake layers are at room temp, make your frosting: With the wisk attachment on med/low speed, cream together 1 stick butter with 2 cups powdered sugar, scraping the bowl as needed (2-3 min).
- With the mixer medium speed, add cream cheese, one chunk at a time. After all the cream cheese is in, set the mixer to high speed and beat the frosting until smooth, fluffy and no lumps remain (5 minutes), scraping down the bowl a couple of times to make sure you don’t have stray cream cheese stuck to the bowl.
How to Assemble the Best Carrot Cake:
- Place the first layer, cut-side-up on a cake platter. Spread enough frosting to cover the top and sprinkle with 2-3 Tbsp of chopped walnuts. Repeat with remaining cake layers and spread remaining frosting around the sides. Decorate the top layer with remaining chopped nuts around the top border and sides of the cake.
Notes
* to measure flour, scoop into your measuring cup and scrape off the top.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More European-Style Cakes
I feel spoiled having grown up enjoying my Mom’s European cakes instead of boxed cakes – I can always spot the difference between a homemade cake and a store-bought one or a shortcut cake. If you love cakes that aren’t as sweet as American cakes but definitely have plenty of character and exciting flavors, check out these European-inspired cake recipes. There are so many treasures in this list!
- Italian Tiramisu
- Himmelstorte (Heaven Cake)
- Chocolate Souffle
- Almond Cake
- Baklava
- Blackberry Cake
- Poppy Seed Cake
- Black Forest Cake
Hi Natasha! I love your recipes and want to try your carrot cake recipe. would you recommend freezing the cake portion? then frosting after it thaws out?
Hi Teresa, I think that would work well to freeze the cake layers without frosting. I hope you love the recipe! 🙂
Last week I made Spartak cake which my family loved! This week I tried the carrot cake and was so disappointed. The frosting was good but the cake was so blah we ended up throwing it out. Boxed mixes taste better. I’ll keep trying but this recipe definitely isn’t a keeper for me.
Hi Dawn, I’m sorry to hear that! I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you change anything about the recipe?
No I did not so likely a personal preference. I would definitely add spices and perhaps raisins to increase taste and moisture. I’ll keep trying though…you have a lot of recipes to keep me busy!
I love those add-in ideas! I want to try some crushed pineapple as well next time I make this. In general, this is much lighter, fluffier and less sweet than most store-bought American-style carrot cakes.
I think some cinnamon and brown sugar would help
Hi Natasha,
How would I adjust the baking temperature and time for a bunt pan?
Hi Angela, I honestly have not tried this one in a bundt pan so you will have to do some testing. I would start the bake for 30 minutes, do the toothpick test and bake longer if needed.
Thanks, I’ll give that a try!
You’re welcome, please let me know how it goes!
Hi I am in Australia and I was wondering how much is a stick of butter.
Love your videos. Thank you so much.
Hi Gabriella, 8 Tbsp or 113 grams in one stick of butter and you are welcome 😀
It’s 1/2 a cup for me! Or 8 Tablespoons.
Thanks so much 🙂
My friend/coworker said she loves carrot cake, so I decided to make your recipe, since I’ve never made one before. Everyone agreed, the cake was ok, the cake tasted like flour, not enough like a carrot cake. I liked that it didn’t taste so sweet, like many others I’ve had. I also liked the frosting, I thought it was creamy. But a coworker asked if it was canned, thought it didn’t taste “homemade”. Also, my cakes didn’t rise enough to cut in half, so I made a layer cake and not 4 layers. Looks good, tasted ok.
Thank you,
Sherry
Hi Sherry, This is definitely not like carrot cakes sold in US grocery stores which seem to be 90% sugar :). I’m glad you liked that it wasn’t overly sweet. That is pretty standard for most of our desserts. I am always happy to help troubleshoot. I’m not sure why it would taste like flour – that has me a little stumped. Did you make any substitutions in the recipe? It may help to see our tutorial on measuring ingredients for baking. If the cake did not rise as expected, check that your leavening (baking soda/powder) is not expired. I hope that helps!
I’ve only had bakery carrot cake, or one someone else made, and they are always too sweet. My husbands a diabetic, and I have a heart issue that doesn’t do well with sugar, so I cut back on sugar wherever I can. No, I didn’t make any substitutions, and I did measure it the way you say, scoop it into my measuring cup with a spoon, don’t pack it and level off. And I checked my baking powder and soda weren’t expired. But I wasn’t the only one who said the cake was floury tasting. But thank you, maybe it’s just a taste thing, those that didn’t mention the floury taste, liked the cake.
Just want to be honest, I made this cake yesterday, the cream is great. The cake part wasn’t good at all though.
Hi Mary, I’m glad you enjoyed the cream. I am always happy to help troubleshoot if you can provide more information on what happened with the cake and if any substitutions or modifications were made to the recipe- I will do my best to help 🙂
The rise of the cakes were good. I did everything by the recipe. Looked just like the picture. It just didn’t taste good. It’s not just me, cause none of the family members liked it. I think it wasn’t as moist or soft as a carrot cake is expected to be, and also has a baking soda taste. It’s ok, I tried.
Hi Natasha, thank you for this great recipe. I happened to absolutely dislike the taste of the baking soda in baking, I remember in my Russian childhood my mom always combined it with vinegar or lemon juice, should I do it in this recipe?
Hi Diana, I haven’t noticed a baking soda taste but it might be worth experimenting if you are very sensitive to baking soda. I honestly haven’t tested it that way so I’m not sure how the batter would react the the vinegar. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Let me give you an outstanding Idea that I use now with Carrot and Red Velvet cakes. Using a spring form lined with parchment or wax paper instead of a graham cracker crust, Make about a 1″ (+) thick cheesecake disc the same diameter as your cake. Once cooled, refrigerate. Then it will be easier to turn out, and place as the middle layer of your cake. Surprise! It’s quite an awesome thing for your guests to find, especially since your icing is cream cheese as well. 😀
I absolutely love that idea! Carrot Cake Cheesecake!! YUM!!
I would love it if food bloggers would include the necessary recipe adjustments for high altitude!
Hi Susan, unfortunately I have zero experience with high altitude baking and have no way to test it 🙁 Sorry I can’t be more helpful with that!
when I lived in Denver, the dept of agriculture used to put out an altitude guide, to adjust for bakers like me..it’s probably online now..(this was way before the internet)..My recipes all have the differences scrawled beside the ingredients list
Hi Natasha. I love your recipes! I have made several. If I do not have a stand mixer, can I use a hand mixer? Is it still possible to have it turn out the same?
Hi Mary, yes that will work fine to use an electric hand mixer. In step 1, mix for 5 minutes instead of 3 and then in step 2, turn the mixer to low speed instead of medium/low. I hope you love the cake!
A great cake, Natasha!
I`ll do it ,but I do not understand – 3 cups or 1lb – haw many grams it is
16 oz – ??? grams of cheese
The carrots – ?
Haw many grams
2 cups of sugar, that`s 400 grams of sugar, that`s a lot of quantity is not possible…. Something I eaan not understand. I want to prepare her for my birthday.
Thank you so much, Natasha!
Maria, Bulgaria
………And another thing , Natasha, you are a very beautiful girl!!!
Thank you Maria 😀. I think this post will be helpful for you to use as a reference. In the future I will add metric measurements to make it easier.
My favourite 10/10
Hi I was wondering if I use 10.25 inch round pan how would my bake time vary? And should I still slice layers in half since they will probable be thinner?
Hi Nadya, I haven’t tested in a 10.25 inch pan but the bake time would be less since it will be a wider and flatter cake. You can try to slice the layers in half – it will be a little more challenging since the layer will be thinner.
Delicious. The best carrot cake and so easy to make. Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome Cristina! I’m glad to her how much you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Natasha! Have you tried baking this cake with walnuts and pineapple chunks in the batter? Do you think it would in any way modify the batter or make it not rise properly? Thank you in advance!
Love your website and your recipies, you are an inspiration!
Hi Mariya, thank you so much for your sweet words 🙂 I haven’t tried those add-ins but I think it could work well. Let me know how it turns out if you experiment with it.
Natasha, thank you so much for your reply, and before New Year’s too! I’ve tried putting nuts in the batter, and added fresh pineapple chunks to the cream cheese frosting. It turned out absolutely amazing! My daughter is still begging me to make this cake one more time 🙂 It’s a family favorite recipe now!
My pleasure Mariya! I’m happy to hear your family enjoys the recipe as much as mine does! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review!
Hey Natasha! I love your website, it’s my go to every night. I have made this recipe a few times already and it is super tasty. Today I tried making cupcakes and they turned out superb! Just decreased the baking time slightly.
Hello Julia! I’m happy to hear that! Thanks for following and sharing your great review with other readers!
Hi can these be make into cupcakes
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tried that but I think it could work well for cupcakes. If you experiment, let me know how it goes! 🙂
Just like the version I have done for years except I add cinnamon to the batter and use 3 cups 10X sugar in frosting…..a long time favorite!
Great tip Sylvia! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi! Natasha. Can I use the table sugar instead of granulated sugar for the cake?
Hi Alona, I thought table sugar was granulated sugar. Is it some kind of specialty product you have?
Thanks for your reply. You are right. Nothing special, sometimes a term of an item is confusing. By the way, I like your cooking Natasha and I am your number one fan. For today, I am going to make carrot cake for my mum in law’s birthday.
I hope you love it and happy birthday to her!! 🙂
Hi! May I know 1 cup is how many gram?
Stella, one cup of sugar is 200 grams and 1 cup of oil = 224 grams = 8 ounces.