Mirza Mustafagić from Sarajevo's Backyard shared a carrot cake recipe
Sonja KneževićJanuary 4, 2026
Food
Anyone who knows me well knows that I rarely turn down an invitation for coffee or matcha at a new spot, and if they also serve a dessert, you can bet I’m already packing my bag and heading out the door. Sarajevo isn’t a city where new cafés pop up constantly, so almost every new opening is a little treat. Just before the Sarajevo Film Festival this year, Backyard opened right in the heart of the city, a unique café that immediately caught my attention. Not only does it offer a great selection of drinks, several types of excellent matcha and coffee, and a variety of desserts, none of which I’ve tried so far have disappointed me (though the double chocolate cookie holds a special place in my heart), but it’s also a truly welcoming, open space where you can’t help but feel at home.
This cold season, I’m on the lookout for healthier, cozier recipes, ones I plan to impress my family and friends with, but also to make just for myself as a sweet treat during a movie marathon. That’s why I turned to Mirza Mustafagić, the well-known content creator and owner of Backyard. I asked him for a recipe for a cake I don’t usually eat, but that had wowed me at his café. Swedish carrot cake has been appearing on my feeds for a while now, as well as healthy carrot and orange cake, both of which spark my curiosity. But it was only when I tried the carrot and cream cheese cake topped with walnuts at Backyard that I realized it was a true treat, even though it sounds too healthy to be this delicious.
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It turns out that the carrot and mascarpone cake is Mirza’s favorite dessert, and he knew from the start that it had to be part of the menu. “This is actually a recipe from my good friend Almase Lazović, who brought it to one of our many gatherings, and I immediately knew I wanted it on sale at Backyard. It’s the perfect balance of sweetness, softness, and the flavor of the carrots. Many people think that if they try it, they’ll basically just be eating carrots, but no, on the contrary, they enjoy a perfect blend of flavors. Everyone who tries it is thrilled. My joy comes from seeing how well people respond to it, and it’s one of our bestsellers,” Mirza told me.
Below is the recipe for the carrot and walnut cake with cream cheese frosting, Backyard’s signature version.
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Carrot cake, Backyard recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups finely grated carrots
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting
- 3 cups sugar
- 225 g cream cheese
- 1 stick butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups walnuts (chopped, optional)
Preparation:
- Grease and flour a baking pan and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs and oil. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture becomes light and frothy. Then add the vanilla extract.
- Fold the grated carrots into the egg mixture, along with half of the flour mixture, until everything is combined. Then add the remaining flour and mix the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes.
- Once the cake has completely cooled, top it with the frosting, which is made by beating all the ingredients until smooth.
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