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
I made this for our Thanksgiving dessert tonight and it is delicious! I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, but without those this cake is still delicious! It’s very moist and light (my fav kind of cake!) Thanks Natasha for another great recipe! 🙂
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Karley!
It’s delicious! My only complaint is that there should be some salt added to the cake, It would taste even better than it already does.
Hi Luminita, thank you so much for that suggestion! We think it works great without it, but if you experiment, I would love to know how you like that!
Natasha can I make this carrot cake recipe in one pan. Tube pan instead of 2 round pans.
Hi Leah, I imagine that should work well too. Please share with us how it goes if you try it!
Love your Recipes Natasha have made your Unbaked Cheesecake and it was scrumptious. Looking forward to Baking your Carrot Cake
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me Erica!
Could you give metric measures as I don’t use cups. In the carrot cake you use cup measures for the cake and ozs and grams for frosting. Thanking you.
Hi Anne, this Ingredient Weight Chart can help.
How do you thicken the cream cheese frosting?
The cake is great texture and I added the walnuts to the batter!
Turned out great!
Just the frosting was a bit runny but still was ok.
Hi Tricia, the frosting should not be runny, When softening the cream cheese be sure it is not melted or too soft. Was anything possibly altered in the recipe?
Hi Natasha,I love You so much enoy everything you create. I just made my first carrot cake and did two small squares and it came out yummy. My hubby lovs your recipes.
Thank you for sharing that wonderful review with me Rosemarie
Hi Natasha,
I plan to make this recipe on the weekend for a birthday party.
I have a question in regards to storing the cake the night before, as
I was planning to make it the day before which is Friday when the party is on Saturday.
I actually don’t know what I would store it in, and will it be good for the next day.
I hope you can help me with that?
Thanks,
Shalaka
Hi Shalaka, this cake should last at least a few days in the fridge.
perfect thank you!
Hi Natasha — why do your cakes come out flat and mine dome up? Loved the cake flavor, but had to shave off the tops. What am I doing wrong? I tested the oven temp and it was accurate.
Hi Jeannie, did you possibly use the wrong kind of leavening or too much leavening?
Hi, Natasha.
I love you to bits and have added several of your fantastic recipes to my regular lineup. I trust you all the way, but I have to say this one was a clunker for me. I’m so sorry I am a baker by trade and I was I mixing it I kept saying to my husband, “Huh. Only I c sugar? No vanilla? No salt? 3 c of carrots but only a tsp and a half of leavening? I pushed on because I love you, but I have a very flat, sad cake. I’m still going to try the frosting that goes with it, though. I’m making Pumpkin Whoopies for market this week and I’m hoping it will be a nice filling <3 Still a fan. Will still try more recipes!
HI Michele, did you possibly mixup the baking soda and powder? I’m not sure why else the rise would be off unless there was some type of substitution. Sorry to hear that. Such a bummer when a cake doesn’t work out.
Mine didn’t rise as well and wasn’t enough batter with only 2 cups of flour. Is this correct?
Hi Jenn, I’m sorry to hear that. I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Make sure to measure ingredients accurately and check that your leavening (baking soda and powder are still active).
Hi Natasha!! Thank you for your recipe…so tasty but honestly i changed a little bit the second time, i felt i need more taste in it:)
I added 1 cup of pineapple juice and put the half quantity of the oil (1/2 cup), 1 tps of cinnamon and accidentally i added 2 cup of carrot not 3 🙈 and with the frosting it was super super super yammi!!!! Thank you for your recipes and I’m sure if you create an application for your website, we will all be interested to use it!
I just made this, texture and structure are perfect but the taste is just not there for the bread part of the cake. I read the comments below about it having no taste so I added a dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract but not even that could save it :(. Im dissapointed this is the first Natasha recipe that doesn’t turn out and I’ve been using the blog for years now.
Hi Gaby, I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this one. We loved the light flavor and texture of the cake and it is not supposed to be like the traditional dense and very sweet cakes at the grocery stores.
I agree. I love Natasha’s recipes but didn’t get a thumbs up on this one. Family loved the icing but we do prefer a little more taste in the bread part of the cake.
Is there something that I can add for a little sweetness?
Thank you.
I made this yesterday followed up by a request to bake another carrot cake after my boyfriend tried your “healthier carrot cake recipe”. This is amazing too. I think I´ve never fallen in love with carrot cakes before, but now I think Im a big fan too 🙂
I love all your recipes. They never fails me. Thank you Natasha! Keep cooking amazing 🙂
You are very welcome. So happy to hear that you loved this recipe so much! Thanks for sharing and for giving an excellent review.
For some reason I remember carrot cake having cinnamon flavor. Do you think I could add cinnamon? Also this cake has eggs so dosen’t it need vanilla to balance the egg smell? Do you think I could add both cinnamon and vanilla ??
Hi Lydia, I haven’t tried adding cinnamon but if you add it, I would suggest whisking it into the dry ingredients first and if you want a little vanilla flavor, you can add a teaspoon or so, folded in at the end until blended.
Hi Natasha, I only have canola oil is that still ok for the carrot cake , thank you
To be honest, I haven’t tried those substitutions and with baking being so much a science, I couldn’t really say without testing it myself. If you try it out, let me know how it works out.
Awesome recipe! My family loved it. It’s not as pretty as yours but it tastes really good.
Thanks Natasha
I’m so glad you enjoyed that, Deanna! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Hi, I made this for my husband’s birthday. He is a carrot cake over. We were disappointed that it had no flavor. Why do you not use any spices? The frosting however was dynamite in flavor. I will add vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg the next time I make it.
Hi Natasha i love your recipes ! I made the blueberry lemon cake and it was fantastic.
Now for this carrot cake if i want to make it smaller in 5 inches tray do i need just to go to half the ingredients??!!
Hi Rola, I have not tested that in a 5″ tray to advise. I imagine you may have to. If you experiment please let me know how you like that.
Can I use granulated sugar instead of powdered for the frosting?
Hi Giselle, It wouldn’t thicken up properly without powdered sugar.
Hello Natasha,
I want to make this recipe but would like to know how to toast nuts please.
Thank you!
Hi Andrea, toast on a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently until they are fragrant and golden. Don’t walk away from them since nuts can easily scorch and burn.
Hi Natasha!
Can I add a tsp of cinnamon?
Hi Carmelle-Anya, I think that should work. I would add the cinnamon to dry ingredients. I hope you love the cake!
Thanks! What about nutmeg?
Others commented that they used 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and it was great!
Perfect! I’ll try 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. I’ve seen some recipes with brown sugar and/or canned pineapples. What do you think about these two ingredients?
That should work Carmelle! I would love to know how you like it with those add ons.
I’m going to make them as cupcakes! I will let you know how it turns out. Thank you again!
I look forward to it!
How did they come out? I want to make them as cupcakes this week.
I made this cake for my husband’s office party. Everyone loved it and had two pieces! He brought home the very last piece for me to try. It was delicious! You were right, it was not too sweet and also looked great, like from a professional bakery! I also need to mention that it was the first layered cake I made from scratch. Thank you for this great recipe!
Oh it really is amazing! Tha flavors are so awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me.