This recipe comes to you from my second book, Comfort and Joy: Cooking for Two. While the cover features my famous (well, internet famous!) 15-minute puff pastry, it does in fact have 15 dessert for two recipes in the back. I just couldn't resist sharing more small-batch sweets with you! You know how I am.
This warm carrot cake with melted cream cheese frosting almost didn't enter into my life. One of my hobbies is barbecue. (Yes, a eating a certain kind of food can be a hobby!). I've eaten at many stops along the Texas barbecue trail, I've had all the famous places in Kansas City, and since my Dad grew up in North Carolina-you better believe I've slurped that mustard-sauced barbecue like a champ. Clear barbecue sauce? Yep! White barbecue sauce in Alabama? Yes ma'am! I love all forms of barbecue.
I have serious harsh words for restaurants that do not make good barbecue. It's not like I've gone on a twitter rant about it (I have), but it just irks me off. Barbecue is sacred. There is a method. One method. There are different meats, different sauces, and different woods, but low & slow & smoky is the same.
I'm rambling. The point is, I ate at a very bad barbecue restaurant one time, but the warm carrot cake with melted cream cheese frosting on their dessert menu made up for it. In fact, the carrot cake kept me from a Yelp rant--it was that good.
My husband loves carrot cake like no other cake. The middle layer of our wedding cake was carrot cake. He eats all the carrot cake flavored Lara bars. He asks me to make carrot cake when the Easter bunny is still in the bushes in the middle of winter. I make a lot of carrot cake.
Did you know: I have 5 different sizes of small carrot cake on this site?
-this carrot cake for two made in ramekins
-a single layer carrot cake made in a 8x8” pan
-my 6” small carrot cake
-a healthy carrot cake made in a mini muffin pan
-and of course, a small batch of carrot cake cupcakes
This warm mini carrot cake recipe is made in two tiny ramekins (the same size you use for creme brulee--6 ounces). Just to reiterate: this recipe makes TWO MINI CARROT CAKES IN TWO RAMEKINS. Then, make the warm cream cheese sauce the moment the cakes come out of the oven. A sprinkling of toasted pecans on top is, well, the icing on the cake.
Warm Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Sauce
These warm carrot cakes are finished with a cream cheese sauce.
Ingredients
For the mini carrot cakes:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup freshly grated carrot
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the cream cheese sauce:
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray two 4-ounce ramekins very well with cooking spray.
- Place the ramekins on a small baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla, and grated carrots.
- Next, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients in a small bowl, and add to the wet ingredients. Stir until well-combined.
- Divide the mixture between the two ramekins; the batter should come almost up to the inner line.
- Bake on the baking sheet for 23-25 minutes, until nicely domed and a toothpick inserted comes out with only moist crumbs.
- In a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients except for the vanilla, and microwave in 30-second pulses until melted.
- Whisk together, and stir in the vanilla. Pour over the cakes and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 648Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 151mgSodium: 308mgCarbohydrates: 72gFiber: 1gSugar: 52gProtein: 8g
Suzanne says
These were wonderful!! It is the perfect special dessert for empty nesters! :)
Holly Mischnick says
Do you have any idea how I can adapt this recipe for a 6" double layer cake?
Christina Lane says
I have a 6" carrot cake recipe on the site already :) Use the search bar :)
jo says
christina, i love your recipes! however, i made this recipe and it was extremely dense. have you made this recipe since and considered updating it? otherwise, has anyone made it with baking powder or soda yet?
Christina Lane says
I made it yesterday and it was great! If you overtake, it can be dense. Sometimes the top of the cake looks wet, so you think it's not done and you bake it longer. Use a toothpick to test.
Sofia says
Christina, just made these and they grew A LOT! People should test the recipes before they send you nasty emails!! Amazing recipe, specially for when we run out of baking powder and soda! :) Thank you for sharing! <3
Christina Lane says
Aw thanks, Sofia! We just baked them again too :)
Heather Gibb says
I made this tonight for Easter dinner but when I made h the glaze there was still lumps of cream cheese. Should I have microwaved it longer or mixed it longer? The cake was dense but I like that in a carrot cake! It was delicious!
Heather says
Hi there! I made your 8inch one layer carrot cake this weekend and it was great! I just tried to find it again to send to my mother-in-law and I can’t find it! It keeps bringing me to the carrot cake with warm Frosting and that’s not the recipe! Any thoughts?
Christina Lane says
Hi Heather, use the search bar to type 'carrot,' and you'll find the other recipes :)
Kate says
This is a lovely tasting cake but they don’t come out of the ramekins like the picture so line with greaseproof paper or st cake out of a ramekin.
Christina Lane says
Did you spray the ramekin with cooking spray, as directed?
Maria Purdy says
I love carrot cake, and I never made for two, I can’t wait to bake the recipe for two, thank you very much for sharing ♥️🥰😘