This tiny but mighty mini tahini carrot cake is sweet and nutty with a super soft, velvety crumb. Topped with a simple dusting of cinnamon powdered sugar, this small tower of a carrot cake is perfect for brunch, snacking, or dessert!
If you're looking for carrot cake without cream cheese frosting or a carrot cake without nuts, your search ends here. You certainly can choose to add those yourself, but this recipe comes without both by default.
If you don't love carrot cake, I have great news for you! I don't either! And yet, I love this mini tahini carrot cake so dang much. Basically, I set out to make a carrot cake that carrot cake lovers will love, but that even carrot cake haters would enjoy.
Served for breakfast, this super tender and nutty carrot cake would be great with with a mug of hot cold brew coffee. Or, try serving it for dessert with a scoop of cinnamon crumb cake ice cream!
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🍰 Why You Should Try This Tahini Carrot Cake
The tahini adds a great nutty flavor without adding chunky nuts in the middle of the cake. It also functions as a fat, which adds to the tenderness of the cake texture.
The carrot cake crumb itself is super duper soft and velvety and so, so tender. The finely grated carrots add sweetness and an earthiness without any stringiness or in-your-face raw carrot flavor.
The carrot is here, it's present, but it's subtle. It's the shy kid in class who quietly gets straight A's but never raises their hand.
And the cinnamon (a late addition in my recipe testing) is the perfect bridge between the nutty tahini and sweet carrots. Cinnamon can sometimes make baked goods read like holiday-season-only treats, but not here. Again, it's a subtle addition, but so necessary, imo.
Using less than a cup of flour and just one egg, this is a great small batch cake recipe! Perfect for when you feel like baking but don't want to use up all your ingredients.
It doesn't take long to make a tahini carrot cake, either. Just 15-20 minutes to mix everything together, then into the oven for 40-45 minutes. Do you have one hour? You can make this tahini carrot cake. (And you should!)
🥕 Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Here's what you'll need to make this mini tahini carrot cake! Most of these ingredients are very easy to find at your local grocery store.
I've linked options for where to order any harder to find ingredients online, just in case. I've also listed substitutions where applicable. See recipe card for quantities.
- Carrots - Large carrots, peeled, or baby carrots. You need to grate the carrots by hand or with a grater of some sort. You can't use pre-shredded matchstick carrots from a bag, they're too tough and won't break down in the cake the way you want.
- Sugar - Plain granulated sugar. I've been using Domino Golden Sugar in a lot of my bakes recently, just for fun, which is why the sugar in the photo above looks kind of yellow in color. You could also use brown sugar here, if you wanted to.
- Egg - This is a small batch carrot cake and only needs one egg. Bring the egg to room temperature quickly by submerging it in hot water for 5-10 minutes while you grate the carrots. This makes it much easier to mix with the sugar.
- Flour - Regular all purpose flour. This small batch carrot cake recipe requires less than a cup of flour, perfect if you don't have a lot to work with! Gluten free one-for-one flours should also work here.
- Whole Milk - Whole milk gives this tahini carrot cake a super tender, soft texture. You can use a different type of milk, but the cake might end up a little drier as a result.
- Tahini - Tahini is a sesame seed paste. You can usually find it in the peanut butter or International/Kosher section of your grocery store. If your grocery store doesn't carry it, you can order it online from Soom (also available on Amazon), Seed + Mill, Target, or SoCo. Tahini has a tendency to "settle" — give the container a vigorous shake before you open it, and then stir it well before pouring.
- Olive Oil - I like to use a light tasting Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this tahini carrot cake so that the olive oil flavor doesn't compete with the tahini and carrots. If you don't have a light tasting olive oil, sub in a neutral oil like canola oil.
- Vinegar - A very small amount of vinegar helps tenderize the cake and give it a super soft, velvety crumb. You can use apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar. Either one is fine. Lemon juice will also work!
- Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt in all of my baking. It is half as salty as other brands of salt, including other brands of kosher salt. If you're using a different type of salt, cut the amount of salt in the recipe in half.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda - The chemical leaveners that give this tahini carrot cake its lift. You won't get the towering 2 inch height without them. Baking Powder has a relatively short shelf life (6 months to 1 year) so make sure your baking powder isn't expired before proceeding.
- Cinnamon - I'm a big fan of the intense sweet/spicy flavor you get from Burlap & Barrel's Vietnamese Royal Cinnamon, but any ground cinnamon you have is fine.
- Powdered Sugar - For dusting on top!
🍽 Mise en place (aka "the setup")
Mise en place is a French culinary term which literally translates to "putting in place."
It basically means: Measure all your ingredients and make sure you have all the right tools and equipment ready to go when you need them before you start working.
This can make a huge difference in a) how enjoyable you find the baking and cooking process and b) the success of your recipe!
Here's the mise en place you'll need for this recipe:
- Bring the egg to room temperature by submerging it in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Grate the carrots and set them aside.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk well, or sift them together.
- Combine the tahini, whole milk, and olive oil in a measuring cup with a spout.
- Grease and line a 6-inch by 3-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
🥣 Instructions
I tried a few different mixing methods for this tahini carrot cake. The one that worked best for a super moist, tender cake is an egg foam mixing method for an olive oil based cake.
This means that instead of creaming butter and sugar together to incorporate air to help the cake rise, we're whisking egg and sugar together at high speeds to incorporate air to leaven the cake.
The first step is to combine the egg and sugar. Start by putting just the egg in the bowl of your mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk it on medium speed for about 30 seconds. We want the egg yolk and egg white to combine before we add the sugar.
Once the egg is all mixed up, add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and leave it alone for 3-5 minutes. What you're looking for is for the egg and sugar to reach a stage called "ribboning." It will be very pale and thick.
When you pick the whisk up out of the bowl, a stream of the egg mixture will drip from the whisk. You should see that "ribbon" hold its shape on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for about 3 seconds before sinking in.
As soon as you start mixing the eggs and sugar, add the vinegar to the wet ingredients (tahini, olive oil, and whole milk). You don't want the vinegar to hang out in there too long or the milk will curdle, so 3-5 minutes is perfect.
Once the eggs have ribboned, reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly stream in the tahini mixture. It should take you about 1-2 minutes to pour it in. You're asking the eggs and sugar to take in quite a lot of fat here, so definitely go slowly or the mixture might split!
When the wet ingredients are incorporated, switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure there's no sneaky sugar or egg clumps that haven't gotten mixed in.
Then add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until the flour is almost entirely incorporated.
Add the carrots and continue mixing on low speed until everything is incorporated.
Do not over mix. Stop mixing as soon as everything looks cohesive.
Pour the tahini carrot cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Gently but firmly tap or drop the cake pan on the counter to send any trapped air bubbles to the surface.
Bake in a 350°F oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you're using an instant read thermometer, you want it to read at least 190°F.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a cake round or plate. It will be upside down. Invert it back onto a cooling rack so that it's right side up again.
Leave the parchment paper on the bottom of the cake to prevent it from sinking into the cooling rack.
Once the cake is completely cool, dust it with the cinnamon powdered sugar blend.
Note: Wait to do dust with powdered sugar until right before serving. The cake is quite moist and the powdered sugar will absorb into the cake over time.
🔪 Equipment notes
Here's what tools you'll need to make this tahini carrot cake. Items marked with an *asterisk are helpful, but optional.
- Box grater, microplane, or other fine shredding/grating device - I like using the small holes on my OXO box grater to get really fine, delicate shreds of carrot without making a mess. You could also use a handheld Microplane zester. If you have arthritis or can't grate carrots by hand, the fine grating/zesting disc on a food processor or other grating device will work just fine.
- Electric mixer - I used a 5-quart tilt-head KitchenAid mixer to make this cake. It's a very small batch cake recipe, so a bigger mixer bowl might have trouble ribboning the egg and sugar. You could also use a handheld mixer to make this cake.
- 6x3" round cake pan - At just six inches in diameter, this mini carrot tahini cake is small, but it does need enough room to grow in height. It's a two inch tall cake, which means it needs a 3 inch tall pan to avoid spilling over in the oven.
- Parchment paper* - Whether you use pre-cut 6" parchment rounds or cut a circle out of a sheet of parchment paper, lining just the bottom of the pan will help prevent the cake from sticking. This will make it easier to turn the cake out of the pan when it's done!
- Instant read thermometer* - An instant read thermometer works great as a cake tester (cake is done when it comes out clean!). To truly know when the cake is done, you can check its internal temperature. When it hits 190°F, it's done.
- Small mesh strainer or powdered sugar duster* - To get an even layer of powdered sugar on top of your tahini carrot cake. Powdered sugar is very fine and has a tendency to clump — it's hard to get an even layer without one.
👩🏻🍳 Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
Need a little more advice? Here's my best tips for success!
- Submerge the egg in hot water while you grate the carrots. By the time you finish grating, the egg will be at room temperature and ready to use!
- If your egg is cold, ribboning can take 2-3x as long! It's worth getting it to room temperature before you start.
- To cut a parchment circle to fit the bottom of the cake pan, trace the bottom of the pan and then cut about an eighth of an inch inside the circle you drew. This will account for the thickness of the pan walls and give you a circle that fits neatly inside the pan.
- Let the cake cool completely before dusting it with powdered sugar or adding any sort of glaze or topping. If the cake is still warm, the powdered sugar will melt right into the cake and disappear!
- Have the carrots ready to go before you start mixing anything. Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, the baking soda and baking powder will start to activate. You don't want to leave them hanging around while you grate the carrots!
- If you haven't mise en placed (measured out) all your remaining ingredients before mixing the egg and sugar together, you can do so while the egg and sugar are mixing. But if you still have more to prep but the eggs have ribboned, reduce the mixer speed to low to keep the egg and sugar incorporated while you finish prepping.
💭 Recipe FAQ
If you don't have a 6x3" round cake pan, you can use a rectangular 8x4" (1 pound) loaf pan. The bake time may be slightly different. Start checking it every 3-5 minutes after it's been in the oven for 30 minutes.
If you double the recipe, it should fit in an 9" cake pan. Whatever size pan you use, the oven temperature will remain the same. Fill the pan no more than ⅔ of the way up the sides. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Check it after 30 minutes, then every 3-5 minutes until it's done.
Absolutely! Freeze it before frosting it. It's a very soft cake.
Yes! I actually tested this with a tahini glaze but ultimately felt it was too sweet for my tastes. If you want a tahini glaze for your cake, here's how to make it: Start with ¼ cup powdered sugar and add 1 tablespoon tahini. Whisk together well. Whisk in additional tahini 1 teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Thin it out by adding ¼ teaspoon milk if needed. Wait until the cake is cool, then pour the glaze overtop.
📖 Recipe
Mini Tahini Carrot Cake
Equipment
- 6x3" round cake pan (if you use a shorter pan, it may bubble over)
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment (or hand mixer)
Ingredients
- 150 grams finely grated carrots (about 2-3 large carrots)
- 100 grams sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 70 grams whole milk (room temperature)
- 60 grams tahini (well stirred)
- 50 grams olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 100 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Topping
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (aka confectioner's sugar or icing sugar)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 6x3" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (don't worry about the sides).
- Mise en place: Peel and grate the carrots on the small holes of a box grater or microplane. You want very fine, delicate ribbons of carrots. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together milk, tahini, and oil. Note: Wait to stir the vinegar into the wet ingredients until right after you add the sugar to the eggs in the next step (you don't want it to sit too long in the milk or it will curdle). Set aside.
- Ribbon the eggs. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk room temperature egg on medium speed for 60 seconds. Then add sugar and whisk 3-4 minutes more on high speed, until very thick and pale in color. When you lift the whisk up, there should be a "ribbon" of egg and sugar that drips from the end and sits on the surface of the mixture for a few seconds before sinking in.
- Add the liquids. With the mixer running on medium speed, slowly stream the milk/oil/tahini/vinegar mixture into the eggs. It should take about a minute or a minute and a half to add it all. Once it's all in, scrape down the sides and beat for another minute on high speed.
- Add the dries. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed until almost completely combined.
- Add the carrots. When there are just a few streaks of flour left in the bowl, add the carrots and stir on low speed just until combined. The flour will continue mixing in as the carrots do.
- Remove air bubbles. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to send any trapped air bubbles to the top.
- Bake the cake. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If using an instant read thermometer, you're looking for an internal doneness temperature of 190F.
- Cool. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove to a sheet pan to cool completely.
- Finish. Once the cake is completely cool, whisk powdered sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Dust overtop the cake before serving.
RECIPE NOTES
- Submerge the egg in hot water while you grate the carrots. By the time you finish grating, the egg will be at room temperature and ready to use!
- To cut a parchment circle to fit the bottom of the cake pan, trace the bottom of the pan and then cut about an eighth of an inch inside the circle you drew. This will account for the thickness of the pan walls and give you a circle that fits neatly inside the pan.
- Have the carrots ready to go before you start mixing anything. Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, the baking soda and baking powder will start to activate. You don't want to leave them hanging around while you grate the carrots!
- If you haven't (measured out) all your remaining ingredients before mixing the egg and sugar together, do so while the egg and sugar are mixing. But if you still have more to prep but the eggs have ribboned, reduce the mixer speed to low to keep the egg and sugar incorporated while you finish prepping.
- Recipe inspiration borrowed from: The Carrot & Pecan Cake in Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person, the Sesame Cake from Yossi Arefi's Snacking Cakes, and a carrot cake muffin I made in pastry school.
YOUR NOTES
Food safety
- Cook cake to an internal temperature of 190F minimum.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
nicole
made this today and its soooo so good. we used a loaf pan because we didnt have the correct size round, and i didnt have whole milk so i did a mix of 2% and heavy cream to try and get something close to it. it was easy to put together and tastes delicious! very tender and moist, lightly sweet before the sugar/cinnamon dusting, a nice balance between sweet and slightly savory from the tahini. the dusting takes it over the top though, just the right little pop of extra sweet. i think especially if you dont favor super sweet desserts, youre really gonna like this one. if you like it a little sweeter just add more dusting or a glaze. husband's not big on the flavor of tahini so this isnt his type of thing, but i will happily eat it all so more for me!
Rebecca
I’m so thrilled you liked it!!
Nicole
Delightful! Since my 6 inch cake pan is only 2 inches tall, I made this in a loaf pan as the recipe suggested and it turned out beautifully! I loved how quickly it came together and the mini size works perfectly for me since I live alone. Not too sweet, which definitely makes this a great contender for breakfast or snacking IMO, though I'll also happily eat it for dessert. 😀
Isabel
Hi - I would be grateful to know if you think this recipe would work in muffin cups? Thanks
Rebecca Eisenberg
I'm sure it will work but I haven't tested it so can't tell you how long they need to bake for or how many muffins it will make! You'll definitely want to use muffin liners. And this cake bakes up flat so you won't get domed muffins from it, they will be flat on top.