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This Mini Carrot Cake is soft, moist, and perfectly spiced, topped with a rich cream cheese frosting for the perfect finishing touch. This cake is made with simple ingredients and is an easy single serving dessert that bakes up in no time.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft and moist – Bakes up tender with just the right amount of spice.
- Easy to make – No special equipment needed, just simple ingredients.
- Customizable – Add pecans, swap in walnuts, or stir in raisins for extra texture.
- Small but satisfying – Just enough to enjoy without leftovers.
Carrot cake has always been one of my favorite desserts, but I don’t always want to bake an entire cake just to enjoy a slice. That’s why this individual carrot cake is perfect—it has all the flavors of a classic carrot cake, from warm cinnamon to sweet carrots and crunchy pecans, all in a perfectly portioned size. Topped with a rich cream cheese frosting, it’s just enough to satisfy a craving without leftovers.
Looking for more single serving cakes? Try our White Cake, Chocolate Lava Cake, or Pound Cake.
Featured Comment
“This is the best carrot cake recipe I’ve ever made and eaten.”
– Pam
Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small carrot cake recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps keep the cake moist.
- Salted Butter: Adds richness.
- Egg Yolk: Provides structure and moisture. Using the whole egg can affect texture, so stick with just the yolk. Save the white for one of our many egg white recipes like Meringues or mini Texas Sheet Cake.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the cake’s flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: The base of the cake. Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour if needed
- Baking Powder: Helps the cake rise. Make sure it’s fresh.
- Ground Cinnamon and Salt: Cinnamon adds warmth, while salt enhances the flavors.
- Milk: Whole milk gives the best texture, but 2% works too.
- Grated Carrots: Use ¼ cup (31g). Grate them fresh or buy pre-shredded. Extra carrots? Make Carrot Soup or a Carrot Soufflé.
- Pecans (optional): Add crunch and flavor. Swap for walnuts or add raisins for variety. Use extra pecans in Crustless Pecan Pie or a small batch of Butter Pecan Granola.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Block-Style Cream Cheese: Room temperature for smooth mixing. Use leftovers in a Turkey Wrap, Cheesecake Bars, or a No-Bake Cheesecake.
- Softened Salted Butter: Should be soft to the touch but still cool.
- Powdered Sugar: Makes the frosting smooth.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
Recipe Variations
Want to change things up? Try one of these easy carrot cake variations.
- Extra Spice: Add a pinch of nutmeg or cardamom for even more warmth.
- Coconut Addition: Stir in a tablespoon of shredded coconut. For more coconut flavor, sprinkle toasted coconut on top of the frosting.
- Chocolate Chip Version: Fold in a handful of chocolate chips.
- Raisin Addition – Mix in a handful of raisins for extra texture and natural sweetness.
How To Make A Carrot Cake
These photos and instructions help you visualize how to make this single serving carrot cake recipe. See the recipe below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
Make the Batter:
- Mix wet ingredients – In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to blend sugar, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth, about 45 seconds.
- Combine dry ingredients – In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix the batter – Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, blending on medium speed until combined.
- Add milk – Pour in the milk and mix until smooth.
- Fold in carrots & pecans – Gently stir in the grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- Transfer to ramekin – Pour the batter into a lightly greased 10-ounce ramekin.
- Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting adds a rich, creamy finish, but the cake is just as good on its own. You can also dust it with powdered sugar for a lighter touch.
- Blend the base – In a bowl, mix softened cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add sweetness – Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla until fully combined.
- Frost the cake – Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting evenly over the top.
Want to make carrot cake cupcakes?
This recipe is meant for a single mini carrot cake. If you’re looking for cupcakes, check out our small batch carrot cake cupcake recipe, which makes about 5-6 cupcakes.
Expert Tips
- Butter Basics: Use melted butter for the cake and softened butter for the frosting. Let butter sit at room temp for about 30 minutes to soften.
- Advance Carrot Prep: Consider grating the carrots ahead of time and store them in the fridge until ready to use.
- Cool the Cake: Let the cake cool completely before frosting to prevent the frosting from melting.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have leftovers, cover the cake and refrigerate it for up to two days.
Yes. To make a carrot cake for two, double the ingredients and bake in a 5×5 inch baking dish or two 10-ounce ramekins.
Yes! Pineapple adds extra moisture, so use fresh or well-drained canned pineapple. Stick to about two tablespoons to keep the texture just right.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this single serving carrot cake recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve tried this small carrot cake or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
Also, if you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Mini Carrot Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter -melted
- 1 large egg yolk
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ cup grated carrots
- 1 tablespoon chopped pecans (optional)
For the Frosting
- 1 ounce cream cheese -softened
- 1 tablespoon butter -softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly butter a 10-ounce ramekin.
- In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to blend sugar, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth, about 45 seconds.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, blending on medium speed until combined.
- Pour in the milk and mix until smooth.
- Gently fold in the grated carrots and chopped pecans.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared ramekin and bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make the Frosting
- In a bowl, mix softened cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing until fully combined.
- Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting evenly over the top.
Notes
-
- Butter Basics: Use melted butter for the cake and softened butter for the frosting. Let butter sit at room temp for about 30 minutes to soften.
-
- Advance Carrot Prep: Consider grating the carrots ahead of time and store them in the fridge until ready to use.
-
- Cool the Cake: Let the cake cool completely before frosting to prevent the frosting from melting.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Very good!
Can you use BUTTERMILK. Prefer buttermilk to milk in this carrot cake??? I m not a baker pls be honest. I made the zucchini cake; great and gone!
Thank you, Sally. Yes, you can use buttermilk instead of milk in this recipe.
Instead of a cake I made 3 cupcakes and they were delicious. Unlike some carrot cakes that can be a bit dense/heavy, the crumb was moist and tender. I made them twice, tweaking the spices the second time as I found the first batch too bland. I also subbed oil for the melted butter for the second batch. A dusting of powdered sugar was all that I did for a frosting, and I actually preferred it to a cream cheese frosting. This recipe is a gem.
Can you double or triple to make a 8 X 8 cake?
Yes. Towards the bottom of the recipe page, just before the Recipe Box, we have provided a recipe to make a larger carrot cake. This cake is baked in a baking dish that holds 1.5 quarts which is a little smaller an 8×8 inch dish. You can use this recipe for your 8×8 but the cake may cook faster so watch your bake time.
Quick, easy to make, delicious. Thank you.
Do you have a cookbook if all your “Cooking for one”. I really enjoy your recipes.
Thank you. We have a cookbook called, The Ultimate Cooking For One Cookbook that you can find in our One Dish Kitchen Store (https://store.onedishkitchen.com/). It contains 175 recipes and half of those recipes are on our website. The other half are unique to the book. On our website, we have over 500 recipes, so not all of our recipes are in the cookbook.
Thanks. Made several of your recipes and loved them. Just ordered your book!
Thank you!