Carrot and Beetroot Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

This carrot and beetroot cake is the one to bake when a plain carrot cake feels a bit predictable. Raw, grated beetroot goes into the batter alongside the carrot, adding earthy depth and keeping the crumb moist for days. The cake isn’t very sweet, so the caramel cream cheese frosting does the work, rich and tangy, with muscovado and dulce de leche beaten through. Folding in whipped egg whites at the end keeps it surprisingly light for a cake with that much grated vegetable. It bakes in a ring tin in under an hour and has so much X-factor that it works as a birthday cake, a tea cake or a pudding.

Where This Recipe Comes From

This recipe for carrot and beetroot cake comes from well-known South African cookbook author Carolie de Koster. Carolie now lives in New Zealand, where she continues to create all kinds of magic around food. I have been a fan of hers for years, so I was delighted when she discovered my blog last year, and we have been virtual friends ever since.

Lannice Snyman Publishing first published this recipe in Carolie’s book ‘Home Bakes’ in 2001. It’s one of my main baking reference books but sadly out of print. Carolie has very generously given me permission to use it here. I have created my own icing, which I adapted from the maple cream cheese icing. These feather-light frostings are my new absolute best way to finish off a cake.

What Beetroot Does in a Carrot Cake

Beetroot behaves much like carrot in a batter. It is sweet, holds a lot of water, and, when finely grated, disappears into the crumb rather than sitting in chunks. It adds an earthy, slightly mineral note, along with a warm reddish tone running through the sponge.

It goes in raw. You don’t need to roast or boil it first, and boiling would wash out both the colour and the flavour you want.

Two parts carrot to one part beetroot is the balance that works here. Push the beetroot higher, and the cake turns heavy and starts tasting like a vegetable rather than a pudding.

Why the Eggs Are Separated

Most carrot cakes are a straight stir-together batter, which is why so many of them come out dense. This one separates the eggs and folds in the whipped whites at the end, and that step does all the work on texture. The air in the whites lifts a batter carrying 300 grams of wet grated vegetable, so you get a cake that is moist and still light.

The only thing to watch is the folding. Be gentle and stop as soon as you cannot see streaks of white. Beat them in properly, and you knock out the air you just spent time creating.

Tips and Substitutions

Grate the vegetables on the finest blade of your grater. It takes a bit of effort, so if you have a husband, friend or child lurking about, hand that job over. A food processor with a fine grating disc does it in seconds.

Pecans and walnuts both work, and the cake is fine without nuts altogether if you are baking for someone who cannot eat them.

Bake it as two 20 cm / 8 inch round layers if you want a layer cake, and start checking at 30 minutes rather than 40.

Use full-fat cream cheese and have it cold. Low-fat has more water and will give you frosting that slides off the cake.

If the frosting splits or goes runny, the butter or the cream cheese was too warm. Chill the bowl for 20 minutes, then beat again.

A Note on the Caramel

I use a ready-made caramel in the frosting because it is just as good as anything you can make at home. I had some proper Argentinian dulce de leche which was perfect, but tinned caramel treat or any other ready-made caramel works just as well. Caramel treat is condensed milk boiled in a tin for two hours to turn into caramel, and we are lucky enough to buy it easily in South Africa.

Carrot and Beetroot Cake FAQs

Can you taste the beetroot?

Only faintly, and not in a way that reads as beetroot. It comes through as an earthy depth behind the cinnamon and nutmeg. People who say they do not like beetroot rarely pick it out.

Do I need to cook the beetroot first?

No. It goes in raw and finely grated, exactly like the carrot. Cooking it first adds a step for no benefit and dulls both the colour and the flavour.

Why is my carrot cake dense?

Usually one of three things. The whites were underwhipped, the batter was overmixed once the whites went in, or the vegetables were grated too coarsely so they released water into the crumb instead of blending into it.

Can I use plain flour instead of cake flour?

Yes. Cake flour has less protein and gives a finer, softer crumb, which is what you want here, but plain flour works and the cake will just be a little firmer.

Will the cake turn pink?

Not dramatically. Baking dulls the colour, so you get a warm reddish brown running through the sponge rather than bright pink.

Can I make it ahead?

Yes. Bake the cake a day ahead and keep it in the tin, then frost it on the day you serve it. You can also freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months and thaw it at room temperature.

Carrot and Beetroot Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

A moist carrot and beetroot cake with a caramel cream cheese frosting. Raw grated beetroot gives it an earthy depth, and whipped egg whites keep the crumb light.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:40 minutes mins

Cook Time:50 minutes mins

Total Time:1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

Ingredients, cake

• 3 free-range eggs separated
• 300 grams 375 ml / 1½ cups sugar
• 175 ml sunflower oil
• 5 ml / 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 ml / ¼ cup hot water
• 250 grams 500 ml / 2 cups Sasko cake flour
• 15 ml / 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 ml pinch of salt
• 5 ml / 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• A pinch of ground nutmeg
• 200 grams 500 ml / 2 cups finely grated carrot
• 100 grams 250 ml / 1 cup finely grated raw beetroot
• 50 grams 125 ml / ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecan nuts, plus a handful extra to decorate

Ingredients, caramel cream cheese frosting

• 100 grams / 3.5 oz butter softened
• 100 grams / 3.5 oz dark brown muscovado sugar
• 80 ml / ⅓ cup dulce de leche caramel treat or other ready-made caramel
• 240 grams / 8.5 oz full fat cream cheese cold

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and grease or spray a 23 cm / 9 inch ring cake tin.
• Separate the eggs and put the yolks into a food processor or electric mixing bowl with the sugar, water, vanilla and oil. Mix until combined.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices over the bowl and mix or process until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
• By hand, stir the beetroot, carrot and nuts through the mixture, then gently fold through the egg whites.
• Fill the cake tin and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the cake has browned, feels firm to the touch and a sharp knife comes out clean.
• Leave the cake to cool in the tin while you make the frosting.
• For the frosting, beat the sugar, butter and caramel until pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and carry on beating until smooth and the sugar granules have worked out.
• Spread a thick layer all over the cooled cake and decorate with a few extra chopped nuts.

Notes

The cake must be completely cold before you frost it. Even slightly warm cake will melt cream cheese frosting straight off the sides.

Grate the carrot and beetroot on the finest blade. Coarse shreds hold water and give you a damp, heavy crumb.

Ready-made caramel is what I use. Tinned caramel treat, dulce de leche or any other ready-made caramel all work.

Storage. Keep the frosted cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, since cream cheese frosting needs refrigerating. Take it out 30 to 40 minutes before serving, because both the flavour and the texture are much better at room temperature than straight from the fridge.

Freezing. Freeze the unfrosted cake, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and frost on the day you serve it. Cream cheese frosting does not freeze well.

Servings: 12

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