Anna Louise The carrot cake tray bake is the most practical version of one of Britain’s favourite cakes. All the qualities that make a great carrot cake — the moist, warmly spiced sponge packed with grated carrot.
The rich, slightly tangy cream cheese frosting — in a format that feeds 20 to 24 people, travels perfectly, requires no layering, and takes significantly less time to assemble than a round celebration cake.
Mary Berry’s carrot cake tray bake uses the same reliable recipe as her classic carrot cake — oil rather than butter for extra moisture, fresh grated carrot, warming spices, and the cream cheese frosting that is the defining detail — simply baked in a traybake tin for a more casual, more generous, more crowd-friendly result.
This is the bake for school events, office parties, family gatherings, and any occasion where you need to feed a lot of people something genuinely wonderful.
Why Oil Instead of Butter
Every carrot cake recipe on this site uses oil rather than butter in the sponge. The reason is moisture.
Butter solidifies when cold. A carrot cake made with butter tastes wonderful fresh from the oven but becomes noticeably denser and drier as it cools and reaches room temperature.
Oil remains liquid at room temperature and keeps the sponge noticeably more moist throughout its life — which is why a carrot cake made with oil is as good on day three as it was on day one.
Use a neutral oil — sunflower or vegetable — that does not add its own flavour.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Carrot Cake Tray Bake
For the Carrot Sponge
- 300ml sunflower oil
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 300g soft light brown sugar
- 300g self-raising flour, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 300g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
- 100g walnuts, roughly chopped (optional but recommended)
- Zest of 1 unwaxed orange
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 300g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 150g unsalted butter, softened
- 400g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of ½ unwaxed orange (optional)
To Decorate
- Walnut halves
- A dusting of ground cinnamon
- Finely grated orange zest
How to Make Mary Berry Carrot Cake Tray Bake — Step by Step
Step 1 — Preheat and Prepare
Preheat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4. Grease a 33x23cm traybake tin and line with baking parchment, leaving overhang at the sides for easy lifting.
Step 2 — Make the Batter
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sunflower oil, beaten eggs, and soft light brown sugar until well combined and slightly thickened — about two minutes with an electric hand whisk or three minutes by hand.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, and salt. Fold gently with a large spatula until just combined.
Add the grated carrot, chopped walnuts if using, and orange zest. Fold through until evenly distributed. The batter will be quite wet — this is correct.
Step 3 — Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 to 35 minutes until risen, deep golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin completely before frosting — at least one hour. A warm sponge melts cream cheese frosting immediately.
Step 4 — Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat the room-temperature cream cheese and softened butter together until completely smooth — two minutes with an electric hand whisk. Add the sifted icing sugar in two batches, beating well after each. Add the vanilla extract and orange zest if using. Beat for a further two minutes until smooth, light, and spreadable.
Do not overbeat — cream cheese frosting can become runny if overworked.
Step 5 — Frost and Decorate
Lift the cooled sponge from the tin using the parchment overhang. Place on a board.
Spread the cream cheese frosting generously and evenly over the entire surface with a palette knife. It should be thick — this is not the moment for a thin scraping. Use all of it.
Place walnut halves in rows across the surface — one per portion. Dust lightly with ground cinnamon. Scatter finely grated orange zest.
Step 6 — Chill and Cut
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set slightly before cutting. Cut into 20 to 24 squares with a sharp knife. Serve at room temperature.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Carrot Cake Tray Bake
Coarsely grate the carrots. Finely grated carrots dissolve almost completely into the sponge. Coarsely grated carrots give visible threads of carrot, a more interesting texture, and a slightly higher moisture content. Always coarse.
Use oil not butter. The moistness of this tray bake depends on oil. Substituting butter gives a denser, less moist result.
Cool completely before frosting. One hour minimum. Cream cheese frosting melts on contact with a warm sponge and becomes runny. The sponge must be completely cold.
Do not overbeat the cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting becomes increasingly runny the longer it is beaten. Two minutes after all the icing sugar is in — no more. If it becomes too runny, refrigerate for 20 minutes and it will firm up slightly.
Refrigerate before cutting. Thirty minutes in the fridge after frosting firms the cream cheese slightly, making the tray bake significantly easier to cut into neat squares.
Decorate with walnut halves in a grid pattern. One walnut per portion, arranged in rows across the surface, serves two purposes — it looks beautiful and tells you exactly where to cut.
Serving Suggestions
Cut into squares and served at room temperature at any kind of gathering — this is the most universally loved bake at any event. At a birthday where a showstopping individual cake is not needed. At a school bake sale — it sells extremely well. At a family gathering where you need to feed twenty people something magnificent.
How to Store Mary Berry Carrot Cake Tray Bake
In the fridge: Store covered for up to 4 days. The cream cheese frosting requires refrigeration. Bring to room temperature for 20 minutes before serving — cold frosting is less pleasant than room temperature.
In the freezer: Freeze unfrosted squares for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and frost fresh.
Mary Berry Carrot Cake Tray Bake Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4. Grease and line a 33x23cm traybake tin.
- Whisk oil, eggs, and brown sugar together 2 minutes. Sift in flour, baking powder, and spices — fold gently. Add carrots, walnuts, and orange zest — fold through.
- Pour into tin. Spread evenly. Bake 30–35 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in tin — at least 1 hour.
- Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add icing sugar in 2 batches. Add vanilla and orange zest. Beat 2 minutes — do not overbeat.
- Lift sponge from tin. Spread frosting generously over the surface. Place walnut halves in a grid. Dust with cinnamon and scatter orange zest.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes. Cut into 20–24 squares. Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add sultanas?
Yes — 100g of sultanas folded in with the carrot adds sweetness and chewiness that many people associate with carrot cake. Add them at the same stage as the carrot and walnuts.
Can I make this nut-free?
Yes — simply omit the walnuts. The sponge is equally good without them. Use walnut-free decoration too.
Why is my carrot cake tray bake sinking in the middle?
Either the oven door was opened too early, the oven was too hot, or there was too much raising agent. Check the oven temperature, do not open the door before 28 minutes, and measure the baking powder accurately.
Can I make a round carrot cake with this recipe?
Yes — divide the batter between two deep 20cm round tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Fill and top with the full quantity of cream cheese frosting.
Can I use cream cheese frosting from a tub?
Shop-bought cream cheese frosting is very sweet and quite dense — it is a reasonable shortcut but the homemade version is noticeably better. If using shop-bought, taste before using and add a squeeze of lemon juice to balance the sweetness.
Leave a Reply