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    Home » Cakes » Zesty Lemon Carrot Cake

    Published: Mar 29, 2013 · Modified: May 19, 2025 by Zerrin & Yusuf

    Zesty Lemon Carrot Cake

    Jump to Recipe

    This Lemon Carrot Cake is a perfect combination of zesty, tangy and sweet flavors. It contains both the juice and zest of lemon, which makes it light and refreshing. Carrots inside make it wonderfully moist.

    Zesty #Lemon #Carrot #Cake

    Do you love carrot cake? Lemon cake? How about combining these in one cake which is so fresh with lemon flavor and so sweet with carrots? Also, I thought lemon would make it refreshing, so I added its juice and zest into this so yummy cake!

    Zesty #Lemon #Carrot #Cake

    Turkish women love to make bread kind of cakes and they almost always make a variation besides other treats when they have some guests. They can easily make a simple and basic cake when they have even unexpected guests. I can hear that you’re asking “What is that simple cake?” Mix egg, sugar, oil, yogurt(optional), flour and baking powder and bake! That’s it! Experienced moms don’t even need to measure things, they don’t use cups or kitchen scale! They start with mixing sugar and egg and add other ingredients one by one. They taste it, and add extra sugar if needed.

    Zesty #Lemon #Carrot #Cake

    They decide the amount of flour by looking at the thickness of batter, if it’s creamy and sticks to spatula, that’s fine. If they have any ingredients to enrich their cake like raisins or nuts in their pantry, they add it too. Interestingly enough, their cake always rises very well! You see how easy to make a simple cake for them! And when you happen to ask the recipe, you can guess how they will reply: “I just mixed everything, that’s it!” What a clear and easy to follow recipe! I admire their instinctive method of making cake.

    This Zesty Lemon Carrot Cake wasn’t made with the method of experienced moms, I measured the ingredients. But I can say that I didn’t follow a recipe to make it, I decide the amounts myself. I thought I got the basic idea of making fluffy and well-risen cakes, so I decided to create my own cake! Following a few important tips, it’s impossible to go wrong!

    TIPS

    • All ingredients must be at room temperature.
    • Mix sugar and eggs very well at the beginning.
    • After mixing all liquids, continue mixing with a spatula when you add dry ingredients.
    • Always preheat oven!

    Simple steps, aren’t they?

    You can create your own cakes too by keeping these tips about how to make fluffy cakes in your mind!

    I love to add raw lemon zest on cakes to give them extra freshness, and although this zesty lemon carrot cake contains lemon inside, I couldn’t help topping it with more zest too! It has a slightly crispy crust and is super zesty and soft inside, so I will be making it again, and I hope you try it too!

    Other Lemon Desserts

    • Lemon poppy seed cake sliced on a wooden stand.
      Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
    • Lemon cake mix cookies stacked on a plate.
      Lemon Crinkle Cake Mix Cookies
    • Homemade lemon jam in a jar accompanied by flowers
      Homemade Lemon Jam
    • This Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe is a great way to sneak in zucchini. No different from a good lemon bread. Lemon juice and zest make it wonderfully lemony. Plus, kefir makes it super moist.
      Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread

    As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

    Sign up for the FREE GiveRecipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox! And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.

    📖 Recipe

    Zesty Lemon Carrot Cake
    5 from 1 vote

    Zesty Lemon Carrot Cake

    By Zerrin & Yusuf
    Carrot cake flavored with lemon
    Yields: 8
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    PREP 15 minutes mins
    COOK 45 minutes mins
    TOTAL 1 hour hr

    INGREDIENTS
      

    • 1 cup sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • ½ cup oil
    • 1½ cup carrots grated
    • 1 teaspoon lemon zest grated
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 cup flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda

    Optional topping:

    • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
    • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

    INSTRUCTIONS
     

    • Preheat oven to 320F/ 180C. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
    • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until creamy.
    • Add in oil and mix well.
    • Add in the grated carrots lemon zest and lemon juice.
    • Sift the flour and baking soda into the bowl. Mix just until everything combines. Don't over-mix.
    • Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.
    • Let it cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
    • Remove and let it cool completely.
    • Sift powder sugar on it and garnish with lemon zest.

    NOTES

    I used whole wheat flour as always, but you can replace it with all purpose flour.

    NUTRITION

    Calories: 307kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 3gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 170mgPotassium: 112mgFiber: 1gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 4069IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg

    Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

    ADDITIONAL INFO

    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Tried this recipe? Leave a comment below!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 1 vote

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Lucinda Swartz says

      April 12, 2020 at 6:15 am

      5 stars
      My daughters and I used this recipe to make a cake for the Easter bunny. It turned out delicious and I enjoyed making a cake with healthy ingredients, such as carrots, with my daughters. They were excited about grating the carrots and lemon. Wonderful recipe!
      4/11/2020

      Reply
    2. Erin fiorini says

      December 25, 2018 at 5:03 am

      where's the recipe !?

      Reply
      • Zerrin says

        December 25, 2018 at 10:02 am

        Hi Erin! Thank you so much for asking this. It was a guest post I made for yummly blog and the recipe was supposed to be on their website only. I just checked it now and unfortunately, the page is gone. I will try to find the recipe and post it here soon.

        Reply
        • Danilo Linhares says

          February 14, 2019 at 12:42 am

          So, where's the recipe??

        • Zerrin says

          February 14, 2019 at 11:16 pm

          Will share it soon.

    3. Sadie says

      November 22, 2016 at 1:19 am

      Hi Zerrin,

      This recipe looks amazing, but l was wondering if canola could replace the Olive oil in.

      Thanks

      Reply
    4. Reeni says

      April 06, 2013 at 5:03 am

      What a beautiful cake and a taste of spring Zerrin! My great grandma used to bake the same way - I can cook like that but not bake. This turned out so good for making it up yourself!

      Reply
    5. Shelley says

      April 03, 2013 at 8:06 pm

      So very yummly!!!

      Reply
    6. Jill says

      April 03, 2013 at 12:07 am

      This looks and sounds delicious. I love lemon cake and carrot cake so this is my idea of cake heaven! Would really love to make some right now 🙂

      Reply
      • Zerrin says

        April 03, 2013 at 10:08 am

        Thank you Jill! It's so easy too, you can make it any time:)

        Reply
    7. Rosa says

      April 01, 2013 at 12:01 pm

      It looks and sounds divine! Anything citrusy gets my vote.

      Cheers,

      Rosa

      Reply
    8. sara says

      April 01, 2013 at 1:56 am

      Gorgeous! This cake is so pretty, love it. 🙂

      Reply
      • Zerrin says

        April 01, 2013 at 10:25 am

        Thank you Sara! It was scrumptious too:)

        Reply
    9. Bam's Kitchen says

      March 30, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      I love lemony lemon cake and love carrot cake and to combine the 2 is brilliant. I can tell by your photos how moist and delicious this is. I don't think I will even miss the cream cheese frosting.

      Reply
      • Zerrin says

        March 30, 2013 at 10:44 pm

        Thank you Bam! You can be sure that you will not miss any frosting when you make this cake!

        Reply
    10. TasteofBeirut says

      March 29, 2013 at 10:37 pm

      So beautiful and so original! I have seen many hundreds of versions for carrot cake , but never one like this! it is brilliant! carrot and lemon, how natural, why did we not think of it? instead we add heavy things to it to make it richer and heavier by the spoonful! I am trying this.

      Reply
      • Zerrin says

        March 30, 2013 at 10:40 pm

        Thank you Joumana! This cake is definitely lighter, and so tasty that you don't need any additions like cream. I'm sure you will love it!

        Reply

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    Zerrin & Yusuf

    Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

    More about us→

    POPULAR RECIPES

    • Chicken seasoning in a glass jar and a small spoon in it.
      Dry Rub For Chicken - Chicken Seasoning
    • Turkish bean stew in a dark colored bowl and a spoon inside it.
      Kuru Fasulye Recipe (Turkish Beans)
    • Roasted tomato soup topped with feta cheese and basil leaves in a white bowl, grilled cheese sandwich dipped into it and more grilled cheese sandwiches behind it.
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    • Turkish chicken dish with a tomato sauce served in a bowl and a fork inside it.
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