This Banana Carrot Sheet Cake tastes just like it sounds — a moist banana cake infused with the gentle sweetness of carrots. It’s naturally sweetened, dairy-free, and finished with a silky coconut custard frosting that sets beautifully on top.
Most of the time, when I have overripe bananas, I make either banana bread or Mauritian banana pie — both longtime favourites. But banana cake has its own kind of magic. The aroma that fills the house as it bakes feels instantly warm and homey, the kind that makes you want to curl up with a cup of tea and a generous slice of cake.
With the warm weather, I often end up with overripe bananas every week, so I wanted to bake something a little different from the usual banana bread. At the same time, I’d been craving carrot cake — one of my favourite kinds of cake.
I love cakes with texture and layers of flavour to discover in every bite, and banana and carrot work surprisingly well together. Coconut flakes and raisins add natural sweetness, so the cake isn’t overly sweet — just the way I like it.
Sweetness note:
This cake is only lightly sweetened. If you prefer a sweeter cake, you can add 50–100 g (¼–½ cup) sugar to the batter when adding the oils.
And you can totally add nuts and chocolate chips too for a bit of crunch, more flavour or added sweetness.
Can this cake be baked in a different pan?
Yes. You can bake this banana carrot cake in a loaf pan or a round pan, though it may require a slightly longer baking time. A bundt pan would also work beautifully.
This cake is very easy to make and doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. I usually start by mashing the bananas and grating the carrots, then set them aside.
The dry ingredients — flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon — are mixed together first. Then the wet ingredients are added, followed by the bananas and carrots. Finally, coconut flakes and any optional add-ins are folded in before baking.
Make sure everything is well combined before pouring the batter into a 33cm x 22.9cm (13″ x 9″) oblong cake pan. I like to line my sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleaning, and this makes the pan last longer too. Else, you can also grease and flour your pan.
The pan goes into a preheated oven for the first 18 minutes at 200C/400F, then the temperature is lowered to 180C/350F, and the cake is baked for another 12-14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Then, remove from the oven and let the cake cool.
Meanwhile, make the custard frosting by mixing all the ingredients, except the coconut flakes, into a saucepan and gently heating it until it’s thick and custardy. Then, immediately pour it onto the cake, while the custard is still hot and liquidy.
Finally top with coconut flakes and let the cake cool further, or refrigerate it for about 10-15 minutes to allow the custard to set nicely before slicing. Serve and enjoy! This cake is equally nice served warm.
If you enjoy simple cakes like this one, you may also like browsing our collection of Afternoon Tea recipes — perfect for relaxed afternoons with tea and something sweet.
Banana Carrot Sheet Cake
Delicious Banana Carrot Sheet Cake that tastes just like it sounds — moist banana cake infused with carrot flavour.
Ingredients
Cake
- 160 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 120 g (3/4 cup) spelt flour, or more all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut oil, or olive oil
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) sunflower or grapeseed oil or avocado oil, or more coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cup)
- 180 g (1 cup, packed) grated carrots, about 3 small-medium carrots
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 50 g (1/2 cup) coconut flakes
- 40 g (1/4 cup) chopped nuts, chocolate chips, raisins or other dried fruit, more as desired, optional
Frosting
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch, potato starch or arrowroot powder
- 200 ml (1/2 can, 7 fl. oz.) canned coconut milk
- 200 ml (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons, 7 fl. oz.) water
- 3 - 5 tablespoons agave syrup, sugar or other sweetener, to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of turmeric, for colour
- Coconut flakes, for topping
Instructions
Preheat the oven at 200⁰C/400⁰F.
In a large mixing bowl, sift the flours together with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Make a well in the centre, add in the oils and vanilla extract. Then, add the mashed banana and grated carrots.
Swirl and gently stir together until all is well incorporated with no lumps. Do not beat the mixture.
The mixture will be very thick, do not add any more liquid. It will work well when baked.
Stir in the coconut flakes, and any optional additions like nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips...
Do not overmix or let the mixture sit around once all mixed.
Scoop the thick batter into a 33cm x 22.9cm (13" x 9") cake pan.
Bake at 200⁰C/400⁰F for the first 18 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180⁰C/350⁰F and bake for another 12-14 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let the cake cool slightly.
Meanwhile make the custard.
In a saucepan, whisk the cornstarch, coconut milk, water, vanilla extract, sweetener and turmeric together.
Place on the stove on medium heat. Continuously and gently keep stirring the mixture, to prevent the starch from settling at the bottom of the pan.
After a few minutes the mixture will start to thicken. Keep stirring vigorously to avoid lumps, until it’s thick and custardy. It will turn glossy and smooth.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately pour over the cake, while the custard is still hot and liquidy.
Top with coconut flakes and lightly press them into the custard.
Let cool or refrigerate for about 10 minutes to help the custard set. You may also enjoy this cake warm.
Notes
This cake is not very sweet. You may add about 50 - 100 g (¼ - ½ cup) of sugar as per your taste, when adding the oil, if you’d prefer this banana carrot cake to be more on the sweeter side.
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Teenuja, you mention a few different baking pans. I assume the ‘sheet pan’ you are recommending is what many of us would use for a tray bake. Can you provide the dimensions of the sheet pan please? Apologies if you’ve already provided this; I may have missed it.
Hi Tom, thank you for pointing this out. I actually forgot to add this info in the recipe. I’ve added it now. It’s a 33cm x 22.6cm (13″ x 9″) cake pan.
Hi Teenuja, Really glad you have this website, I love your recipes! I am going to make this banana carrot cake tomorrow & thought I’d point out the written directions mention adding vanilla in the frosting, but I don’t see vanilla listed with the frosting ingredients. Makes sense to have some for the frosting flavor. Can wait to make it, will surely be delicious.
Hi there, sorry about the missing vanilla extract, I’ve added it now to the ingredients. And thank you for pointing that out. How did the cake turn out? I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂