You can’t beat a great Glazed Carrot Bundt Cake. This cake is made with fresh grated carrots and lots of spices for a fantastic flavour and texture. It’s topped with a simple sugar glaze and chopped nuts extra flavour and texture.
If you’re a regular follower of the blog, you’ll probably notice that there aren’t a lot of big cakes. Way back in 2015 I posted a Triple Layer Chocolate Ganache Cake and I didn’t do a whole lot after that.
There are lots of loaf cakes, Swiss Roll Cakes, smaller cakes and muffins, just not bigger cakes. Just recently, I thought I needed to address the cake situation. Because I’m aware that readers love cake! So, this Glazed Carrot Bundt Cake will be the first in a long running series!
I’ve been carefully planning a cake a month for the fall. And I’m looking forward to sharing them with you over the coming months. And today, were starting with this delicious Glazed Carrot Bundt Cake!
Ingredients
- Flour – All purpose flour works best for cakes.
- Rising agents – I used both baking powder and baking soda for this recipe.
- Salt – A little salt helps bring out the flavours in the cake.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar.
- Eggs – room temperature eggs for baking, always.
- Butter – This recipe uses unsalted butter at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Brings out flavour in the cake.
- Spices – Both cinnamon and nutmeg were used for this cake.
- Carrots – I used finely shredded carrots for this cake
- For the Glaze – I used a combination of confectioners sugar with a little milk.
- Nuts – I topped this cake with chopped walnuts
REMEMBER, The full recipe and instructions is always found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Preheat oven – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Grease and lightly flour a 10 cup ( 9 x 2 1/2 inches/23 x 6 cm) bundt pan and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients – In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients – In the bowl of you electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for about one minute, until smooth. Add all the granulated white sugar at once and mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients – Fold the flour mixture into the batter and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. Fold in the grated carrots until just combined. This will be a thick cake batter.
- Bake cake – Pour batter into prepared pan and bake between 45 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
- Cool cake – Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and release the baking pan. Leave cake to cool completely.
- Make sugar glaze – Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.
- Glaze cake – Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. (see tips in the post). Top with chopped walnuts if using.
- Serve – Slice and serve. Cover any leftovers.
Tips for Making Bundt Cakes
- Use correct pan size – It’s important that you use the correct bundt size for this recipe. I used a 10 cup pan, but up to a 12 cup pan will work. If you pan is too small, the cake will rise too much, spill over and then deflate. If the pan is too large, you won’t get the desired shape.
- Bake at correct temperature – Bundt cakes are usually baked at 350 degrees c/180 degrees f. If the oven is too hot, the cake will rise and brown too quickly, leaving the inside of the cake underdone.
- Grease and flour the pan – It’s important to do two of these steps. Make sure to grease every crevice of the bundt pan to ensure the cake doesn’t stick. Then coat the entire pan with flour and shake off any excess flour. The flour helps the batter stick to the sides as it rises during baking.
- Fill the bundt pan with the correct amount of batter – Your batter should fill about 2/3 of the cake tin for optimal results.
- Cool in pan – bundt cakes need to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack. It’s fragile when it comes out of the oven and will likely fall apart if you turn it out too soon.
- Invert after 10 minutes – Invert the cake onto a cooling rack after 10 minutes. If you leave it any longer, the cake may start to stick to the bundt pan.
Tips for Icing and Frosting Bundt Cakes
Bundt cakes are best with little decoration. I chose a pourabe glaze for this cake so you can still see the beauty of the cake. Don’t use heavy frosting as it will hide the pattern of the cake. Here are my best tips for decorating a bundt cake.
- Chose a pourable topping – I used a sugar glaze, but you could use cream cheese glaze, caramel sauce or even chocolate ganache. Make sure it’s thin enough to pour but thick enough to stick to the cake.
- How to pour the glaze/frosting – Put the glaze/frosting into a jug with a spout, like a measuring jug. Place the cake on a cake plate or stand. Start pouring over the top and turning the cake as your pour. I did two layers on this cake. it will naturally fall down the cake into the crevices of the cake. I found this helpful video online that you might like too.
Substitutions
This cake has been tested exactly as written in the recipe card, and there aren’t many substitutions I would recommend for the same results. However, here are a few changes that could me made to the topping.
- Sugar glaze – This cake uses a basic sugar glaze that is thick yet pourable. You could top the cake with a pourable cream cheese frosting or even Homemade caramel sauce.
- Nut topping – I topped this cake with chopped walnuts. You can easily leave these off of you can use pecans, finely chopped almonds, hazelnuts or macadamia nuts.
Storage Instructions
- At room temperature – Keep this cake on the counter in a cake tin or any other air tight container up to 3 days. NOTE – if you use a cream cheese glaze, you will need to keep the cake refrigerated.
- In the refrigerator – You can alternatively store the cake in the fridge for about 5 days.
- In the freezer – This cake freezes really well for up to three months. I recommend making sure you use a proper freezer proof container and make sure there isn’t much leftover space in the container for air.
What to Serve With The Carrot Cake
- Homemade Caramel Sauce
- Ice cream
- Fresh whipped cream
Frequently Asked Questions
This cake has only been tested in this 12 cup bundt pan. I’d recommend sticking to the correct pan type a nd size. You can check out my Carrot Loaf Cake or my Cream Cheese Frosted Cake.
Glazed Carrot Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
- 1 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cup butter at room temperature
- 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 cups grated carrots
For the Glaze and Decoration
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk more if needed
- 1/3 cup walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Grease and lightly flour a 10 cup ( 9 x 2 1/2 inches/23 x 6 cm) bundt pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of you electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for about one minute, until smooth. Add all the granulated white sugar at once and mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Fold the flour mixture into the batter and mix until just combined. Don't overmix. Fold in the grated carrots until just combined. This will be a thick cake batter.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake between 45 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and release the baking pan. Leave cake to cool completely.
- Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. (see tips in the post). Top with chopped walnuts if using.
- Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
- Slice and serve. Cover any leftovers.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Notes
- Use correct pan size โ Itโs important that you use the correct bundt size for this recipe. I used a 10 cup pan, but up to a 12 cup pan will work. If you pan is too small, the cake will rise too much, spill over and then deflate. If the pan is too large, you wonโt get the desired shape.
- Bake at correct temperature โ Bundt cakes are usually baked at 350 degrees c/180 degrees f. If the oven is too hot, the cake will rise and brown too quickly, leaving the inside of the cake underdone.
- Grease and flour the pan โ Itโs important to do two of these steps. Make sure to grease every crevice of the bundt pan to ensure the cake doesnโt stick. Then coat the entire pan with flour and shake off any excess flour. The flour helps the batter stick to the sides as it rises during baking.
- Fill the bundt pan with the correct amount of batter โ Your batter should fill about 2/3 of the cake tin for optimal results.
- Cool in pan โ bundt cakes need to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack. Itโs fragile when it comes out of the oven and will likely fall apart if you turn it out too soon.
- Invert after 10 minutes โ Invert the cake onto a cooling rack after 10 minutes. If you leave it any longer, the cake may start to stick to the bundt pan.