Mini carrot cake for two people made in a 6" round cake pan.
I make a lot of carrot cake this time of year.
It’s not just for Easter in my house; it’s also the birthday cake of choice for many friends with spring birthdays. We’ve been munching on carrot cake cupcakes, carrot muffins, carrot cake whoopie pies and the like since February.
I’m confident that this mini carrot cake is the absolute best carrot dessert to be had. The full-size recipe I used as a reference for scaling down is one of my grandmother’s. No one is quite certain of its origin but most of the time, in my family, a recipe without a source can be attributed to an old issue of Southern Living or a church cookbook.
Whatever the source, this cake makes all who taste it a little weak in the knees. The oil and egg make for a tender cake, the cinnamon adds warmth, and the cream cheese frosting provides its wonderful tanginess. The walnuts on top are optional, but I really love their crunch!
Oh, and this mini carrot cake is made without pineapple. A lot of people ask in my other recipe for small carrot cake (that recipe is made in a 8x8" pan; this particular recipe is made in a 6" round cake pan)
One small note here: You really need to manually shred the carrot with a hand grater. One year, I used my food processor to save time, but the thicker shreds made the texture of the cake seem off. Along these same lines, don’t be tempted to buy pre-shredded carrots. Use some muscle, we only need ¼ cup. Your reward is cake!
Mini carrot cake for two updated notes:
This recipe is quite a few years old, but people continue to write to me and tell me it tastes like their favorite carrot cake for Publix! Which tells me that Publix doesn't use pineapple in their carrot cake, and also has a heavy hand with the cinnamon, just like me.
I hope you and your family love this mini carrot cake. Let me know if you make it for your small Easter celebration.
Yields 1 small 6" carrot cake. This recipe uses a 6x2" small round pan that yields 4 small slices of cake.6 As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Carrot Cake for Two
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 515Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 197mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 1gSugar: 37gProtein: 6g
shireen says
HI there, just wondering if I can omit the walnuts? will that make a difference to the cake and how it bakes?
thanks!
Christina Lane says
Hi, so the directions state that you can stir the walnuts in the batter OR save them for the frosting. It's fine.
Sachi Sangle says
Love this receipe ...a beautiful ,delicious, moist, lip smacking cake !!!!! Glad you shared it
deeksha says
Nice...cute short recipe..... Which is very difficult to find for the biggeners....can I omit egg
Christina Lane says
Thanks. No, the cake will fail.
AJ says
Hi Christina,
This is one of the most easiest and fail-proof recipes I have come across on the internet.
I loved how the carrot cake turned out and it was gone within minutes at home.
I also wanted to let you know that your measurements on this recipe are also ideal for the worlds best banana chocolate chip cake. I substituted -
~ 1 ripe banana [mashed using a fork] in place of the carrot
~ Chocolate chips in place of Walnuts
The rest of the ingredients was followed according to the above recipe and BOOM - Worlds Best Banana-Chocolate chip cake!!
Shazia Khan says
A lonely banana was staring at me while I was mixing the batter for this cake. I also have a mini pack of choco chips begging to be used. You sir/ma'am, have made my day even better!
Shazia Khan says
JUST took them out of the oven, I simply can't wait to frost and attack them tomorrow uhhh!! I made two batches as I knew one would disappear in no time ;)
My friend made your carrot cake and I loved it, so she sent me here. I'm getting married soon, and cooking for two without heaps of leftovers isn't my talent, so this is perfect!
Also, love your sense of humour :D
Christina Lane says
Thank you so much! It's nice to meet you :)
Ali says
This was awesome!! I made it gluten free using Bobs Red Mill 1-to-1 GF baking blend and it was PERFECT.
Angie says
My husband and I are empty nesters and we only eat dessert on Sundays. We have had the ding dongs (minus the fluffy filling), the chocochip cookie cake and today the carrot cake. These smaller recipes are perfect for us so we don't have leftovers around to tempt us during the week. I forgot to adjust for high altitude on the carrot cake and so it has a dent in the middle but it's imperfection was covered by the delicious frosting! Looking forward to more Sunday Desserts for Two!
Madison says
Looks yummm!!! If i wanted 2 6 inch layers i would just double the recipe corret?
Christina Lane says
Ooh, Madison, I haven't tried that. To be safe, I'd make it two separate times, but I have anxiety in the kitchen :)
Cheryl says
Hi Lost 45 lbs (still have a way to go ) since March 2016. Carb cravings have ceased .. didn't even know that would happen! And I LOVED LOVED sweet - when anyone would say -- oh, that is too rich for me! I would think What? You are crazy!!! Nothing is ever sweet enough!!!! LOVE SUGAR LOVE IT!
however for 6 weeks carrot cake keeps popping in my head ... and finally started searching for small/mini/ etc. carrot cake and that is how I got here!
I just couldn't allow myself to do the sugar - i don't use artificial sweeteners except a tad in my a.m. coffee - husband keeps big bag of wally world stevia - so I did it - I put a 1/2 cup of stevia instead of sugar and 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce instead of oil .. .. if this turns out - will be the first white flour to touch these lips since late JAN 2016.
They baked well - moist but not wet - firm but not dry. I made 3 ... one for me and will give the other two away! Thank you for the great recipe! DELICIOUS . even with the 1:1 substitutes.... your original recipe is surely even better - thank you for publishing and sharing - love the smaller portion! Cheryl
Rekha Nayak says
Hi, I am Rekha from India. I recently started going through your blog posts. The recipes are just perfect :) Tried this carrot cake today. It was the best carrot cake that i ever had :) Much love ❤️