high-altitude carrot cake on a plate with fork

Carrot Cake – for most, this cake is really quite simple, even if it has a large number of ingredients: Blend the wet, add the dry, add the extras, pan and bake. But at high-altitude, carrot cake can be a nightmare. The batter is quite heavy, so using a smaller amount of leavening can keep the cake from rising properly. Pulling back on the heavier elements can make the cake boring and tasteless. And without the proper ratio of wet to dry ingredients, you can end up with a claggy, overly-dense cake that just isn’t pleasant to eat. That’s the purpose behind this High-Altitude Carrot Cake recipe.

Normally, I can look at a cake recipe and adjust the ingredients to fit what is needed at my altitude (about 6,000 feet above sea level). I’ve just done it so many times, it comes easily: Reduce the leavening, increase the liquid, reduce the sugar, increase the baking temperature and reduce the baking time. (See my post on High-Altitude Baking Adjustments here). But with a cake like this (or Hummingbird Cake), it takes more finesse to adjust all the elements to produce a lighter cake.

Balance – it’s all about the right balance.

Carrot cake is really a fruitcake made with naturally-sweet carrots in place of some of the fruit. Carrots contain quite a lot of sugar (which is probably why we like them so much.) Recipes abound – some call for raisins, coconut, nuts, sultanas, . . . probably whatever grandma had on hand. But it’s the carrots that should shine.

The problem is the excess liquid. All of those ingredients (carrots, raisins, etc.) contribute a lot of liquid to the batter, and if it’s not accounted-for, the cake can wind up “claggy” – just too dense and wet. This extra weight can also inhibit a good rise while baking – especially when you’re decreasing the baking time in a hotter oven. This recipe provides the right balance between dry and wet ingredients so you wind up with a moist but light carrot cake.

Use the Right Leavening

Those who bake at altitude know about the importance of adjusting leavening, but you also have to be careful about which leavening agent to use. Many carrot cake recipes rely on baking soda as the agent – and for good reason. Soda is a very punchy leavening agent, and lifting all those carrots takes some “oomf.” But at altitude, baking soda can be dangerous. If the cake lifts too high, too fast, the cake simply won’t be set quickly enough to hold all that batter in place – and the cake will fall flat. I found that a combination of soda and baking powder is best for a light and satisfying carrot cake.

Grating the Carrots

I find it takes one large or 2 small carrots to make a cup of grated carrot. I have a food processor, and use the finest shredder blade. But I’ve used a simple hand grater as well, and it works fine. Please don’t use those fake, baby carrots. They lend absolutely no flavor to your cake.

3 carrots, displayed to show relative size of large versus medium versus small.

As for the rest of the ingredients, you could simply skip the raisins and nuts if you don’t care for them. Skipping the pineapple is a bigger problem, as I’ve used the liquid to account for the lack of liquid in the rest of the recipe. But if you must, you could substitute another 1/2 cup of buttermilk for the pineapple.

Because of all the sugars in the fruit, this cake will absolutely stick to the bottom of the pan, so do not omit lining with parchment. I buy my parchment paper at the Dollar Store, super-cheap. And here’s an easy video to see how to prepare a cake round that fits every time.

Print Recipe

High-Altitude Carrot Cake

Tired of overly-dense, claggy carrot cake? Use this recipe for a cake that's moist but light and full of carrot-y flavor.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Carrot and fruit prep20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: High Altitude Recipes, High-Altitude Cake, high-altitude carrot cake

Servings: 16 servings

Author: Don Herman

Equipment

1 Food processor or grater

Ingredients

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Butter Softened
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar light
3 Eggs Large
1/2 Cup Buttermilk (or milk)
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Carrots shredded
1 Cup Shredded Coconut
8 oz Crushed Pineapple Drained
1 Cup Walnuts chopped to pea size

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans and line the bottom with parchment (important). Or prepare one 13"X9" pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Mix together your fruit and carrot ingredients – shredded carrots, raisins, drained pineapple, coconut and chopped nuts. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and oil until blended. Add sugars, buttermilk and vanilla and beat until blended, then add eggs one at a time and incorporate.
Add the flour mixture, 1/3 at a time until blended.
Fold in the carrot mixture just until uniform throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes. Check for doneness by tapping your finger lightly in the center of the cake. If it feels soggy and leaves a dent, add another 2-3 minutes of baking time until the cake just springs back under your finger.
Remove pans and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert on the rack and let sit until cool. The parchment will want to stick to the bottom of the cake, so remove slowly and carefully.
When completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Baking Tips

Because of the baking soda, this cake is going to want to spring up on the sides as soon as it starts warming up in the oven. To get your layers to bake more evenly, I find using moistened cake sleeves really cuts back on this problem. It keeps the sides a bit cooler, allowing the middle to heat up at about the same time, resulting in a more even cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

To make the frosting, cream together one 8 oz block of room-temperature cream cheese, 1/2 cup room-temperature butter, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add 3 to 4 cups of powdered sugar, depending on your taste, and blend well.