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Three slices of carrot cake with frosting on parchment, knife beside them.
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Carrot Cake Loaf (Quick Bread)

All the flavor of classic carrot cake, no layering required. This carrot cake loaf (or carrot cake bread) bakes up moist and tender with a mountain of finely grated carrots and warm spice, then gets topped with a tangy sour cream frosting. Simple to make, sliceable, and seriously good.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: brunch, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot, carrot bread, frosted, quick bread
Servings: 10 slices
Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

  • 1 cup vegetable oil 198 grams
  • 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar 250 grams
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 180 grams
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 to 4 large carrots 2 ½ cups grated; 270 grams

Sour Cream Frosting

  • 3 ounces white chocolate 85 grams; or ½ cup chopped
  • 6 tablespoons butter softened, 85 grams
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar 120–240 grams
  • ⅓ cup sour cream (full fat) 76 grams
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the Cake

  • Prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy removal.
  • Mix the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth and fully combined.
    Whisking eggs and sugar with oil.
  • Add the dry ingredients. Place a fine-mesh sifter directly over the bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold the batter gently until no dry pockets remain.
    Sifting the dry ingredients into the carrot cake batter.
  • Add the carrots. Fold in the grated carrots until evenly distributed.
    Stirring shredded carrots into cake batter.
  • Bake. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes.
    Carrot cake batter in a loaf pan.
  • Cool. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out using the parchment and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
    Cooling a carrot loaf cake on a wire rack.

Make the Sour Cream Frosting

  • Melt the white chocolate. Place the finely chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with about 1 inch of barely simmering water. Stir gently until just melted and smooth.
Remove from heat and let cool until slightly warm but no longer hot to the touch.
    Melting white chocolate for frosting.
  • Beat the butter. Use an electric mixer to beat the softened butter and salt on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
    Beating the butter with a mixer.
  • Incorporate the melted white chocolate. With the mixer on low speed, add the melted white chocolate and mix until fully combined and smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.
    If the white chocolate is still slightly warm and softens the butter more than expected, that’s fine, the frosting will firm up as it sits. It’s better to add it while still fluid than to wait too long and risk it setting into hardened bits instead of blending smoothly.
    Adding melted white chocolate to buttercream.
  • Add the powdered sugar. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, mixing on low speed until incorporated.
    Beating powdered sugar into the frosting.
  • Mix in the sour cream. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.
    Beating sour cream into frosting.
  • Adjust the frosting. If the frosting seems too soft, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes; it will thicken slightly as it rests. For a sweeter frosting, beat in the remaining powdered sugar a little at a time until it reaches your preferred sweetness. If the frosting is thicker than you’d like, beat in additional sour cream, 1 to 2 teaspoons at a time, until smooth and spreadable.
    Adding extra sour cream to the frosting.
  • Frost the cake. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled loaf cake. This frosting recipe makes more than you’ll need for a single loaf, so frost to your preference and reserve the rest for another use.
    Spreading frosting on top of carrot cake bread.

Notes

If you use an 8 × 4-inch loaf pan: Fill the pan about ¾ full and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. You’ll have enough extra batter for about 6 to 9 muffins.
Leftover frosting: Cover and refrigerate extra frosting for up to 5 days. Let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then re-beat briefly before using.
Cool the cake: Make sure the loaf cake is completely cool before frosting. It it is still warm, the frosting will melt.
White chocolate: For the smoothest frosting, use real white chocolate made with cocoa butter. White chocolate chips can work, but some brands don’t melt smoothly, and results may vary.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 556kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 397mg | Potassium: 138mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 3390IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg
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