If you're partial to carrot cake, there is something to be said for getting your ingredient ratios correct. Typically made with carrots, flour, eggs, and oil, carrot cake can be made with a variety of additional ingredients depending on the recipe at hand; when deciding what ingredients to use or skip, be sure to flavor your carrot cake batter with enough warming spices.

In theory, carrot cake is essentially spice cake with the addition of bright orange root vegetables. Carrot cake tends to typically include warming spices, such as nutmeg and cinnamon, but one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not adding enough spice, so feel free to get creative and add spices within the same flavor profile like cardamom or freshly grated ginger.

Of course, some people might prefer going easy on the spice to let the shredded carrots shine. If spice isn't your biggest concern, there are other factors to keep in mind when making homemade carrot cake, such as ensuring the carrots are evenly shredded and not too large — just be sure to add enough warming spices to give your cake a delightful flavor profile.