Moist one layer Carrot Cake Skillet Cake with a homemade vanilla glaze makes a quick and easy dessert for when you’re short on time but still need to impress.
It’s hard to believe Easter is so early this year.
Just last week was St. Patrick’s Day. Now this upcoming weekend is Easter Sunday. What happened?!
Usually by now I’d have a few new creme egg or carrot cake recipes, but I have nothing. What kind of food blogger would I be if I didn’t post at least one new Easter recipe this year?
Since we’re less than a week away, I knew whatever I made had to be quick and easy to throw together. That way you can add it to your menu, buy the ingredients, and be ready to make it for Easter Sunday.
Skillet cakes are ideal for an easy and quick dessert because you bake and eat. No need to assemble a layer cake or wait for it to cool for an hour.
Recently I bought a cast iron pan and so far have only made cake in it (maybe I’ll actually make dinner in it one of these days).
Last week I made a chocolate stout skillet cake.
This week it’s all about this Carrot Cake Skillet Cake with a simple vanilla glaze on top.
I chose carrot cake because I always think of carrot cake for Easter. Probably because bunnies eat carrots and the Easter bunny brings treats. Easter bunny = carrot cake. Close enough.
Skillet cakes are wonderful to throw together at the last minute, especially for a big holiday dinner.
One – you don’t need to worry about unmolding, stacking, and frosting. That means you don’t need to spend two days making and assembling the cake. In fact, you can have this cake ready to eat in an hour.
Two – you can eat it warm so you don’t have to factor in cooling time.
Three – it won’t leave you with a lot of leftovers if you’re only feeding 2-4 people.
Four – you can indeed make it the day before if you can’t make it the same day.
I bought all of my ingredients for this carrot cake skillet cake from ALDI.
They’re a grocery store I’ve been shopping at for at least the past 10 years as they helped make my groceries more affordable throughout college and now as an adult.
I love shopping at ALDI not only for their high quality products at low prices, I can get almost everything I need in one shopping trip. I even found chorizo the other day, an item I never would’ve guessed they’d carry.
Never shopped at ALDI before? You can read more about how they operate on my no bake mint chocolate chip pie recipe and how their Test Kitchen works on my hot chocolate fudge recipe.
Recently ALDI announced all of their exclusive products are free of certified synthetic colors, partially hydrogenated oils and added MSG.
They now also accept credit cards, which I’m excited about because I tend to buy more than the cash I have on hand.
To make this skillet cake even easier, I opted for a simple vanilla glaze on top rather than traditional cream cheese frosting. Less steps, less ingredients, and done in 2 minutes.
I’ve been making carrot cake for years and learned there are many variations as to what goes inside.
This particular recipe has crushed pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins. Feel free to adjust those ingredients to suit your taste.
Looking for a different kind of cake? Check out my 6 inch small carrot cake and Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Small Batch).
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Carrot Cake Skillet Cake
Moist one layer Carrot Cake Skillet Cake with a homemade vanilla glaze makes a quick and easy dessert for when you’re short on time but still need to impress.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
- 1/4 cup canned crushed pineapple, liquid drained
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup raisins
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Have an 8-inch cast iron pan or an 8-inch round cake pan ready.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together on medium speed the sugar, brown sugar, oil, milk, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed then add in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins (do not overbeat the batter or you may end up with a tough cake).
- Transfer the batter to the cast iron pan or cake pan and bake 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- For the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Spread over the still-warm cake. Let glaze harden before serving. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ALDI. Products available while quantities last. All products may not be available in all stores. Prices subject to change. Thank you for supporting me and the companies I work with as sponsored posts help pay for the costs of running Chocolate Moosey, including website hosting and groceries for recipe development.
Catherine says
Dear Carla, I love the sound of a skillet carrot cake! How delightful. This looks light and moist…I would love to try it. xoxo, Catherine
Carla says
Thanks, Catherine!
Bernadette says
This sounds fantastic…I was just wondering if you prepare the skillet or baking pan in any way like spraying or lightly greasing so the cake doesn’t stick
Carla says
You don’t need to spray the cast iron pan assuming it’s seasoned properly. However, I would lightly grease a baking pan and even line the bottom with parchment paper.
Karen says
This really sounds good. I am intrigued about pineapple in it, I bet that makes all the difference.
Carla says
Pineapple helps make the cake moist in addition to the flavor. I highly recommend it!