Carrot cake has been around in one form or another for centuries, but some things remain constant with it. Carrots (obviously), spices (usually cinnamon, sometimes allspice or nutmeg), raisins (not my favorite), cream cheese frosting (it’s a winning combo and I wouldn’t mess with tradition), and nuts (sometimes on the inside, sometimes on the outside).
I like my carrot cakes to have some spices, but not as much as I thought (as I discovered with failed effort #2 in making a carrot cake recipe). So I kept the cinnamon, greatly reduced the allspice and cut out the nutmeg. Now the flavor of the carrots and the spices shine through.
The egg replacer for this recipe was harder than I expected. Initially, I went with just applesauce. I figured it has good binding and plenty of moisture. It’s a can’t miss! Except it missed. BAD. As the cake cooled, it sunk until it was pretty much flat on top. When I cut into it (thankfully before I made any frosting), it was dense, gummy and too moist. I guess you can have too much of a good thing. So I went with flax eggs.
The crucial thing with this recipe is thoroughly mixing the oil and sugar before adding the flax eggs. You want the sugar to be completely dissolved and the combination to start to lighten in color before mixing in the “eggs,” otherwise you risk the liquids not being fully combined.
As for the frosting, I went with a cream cheese frosting that still uses a non-dairy butter. I just like the flavor more than a frosting that’s only powdered sugar and non-dairy cream cheese. You want the butter soft, the cream cheese also soft (although that’s less important and also easier said than done with most non-dairy cream cheeses), and the two pretty well blended before adding the sugar. If they are not, you can end up with pockets of just butter or just cream cheese in the frosting. So be patient and get them together before adding the sugar.
As for raisins, nuts, pineapple, etc., that’s your call. I like chopped and toasted walnuts along the outside of the cake. I don’t mind them on the inside. I’m indifferent to raisins in my carrot cake, and don’t care for pineapple in it. If you want to add any of these to the batter, I would start with about 1/2 a cup of each, but didn’t test this recipe out with any of those. So don’t quote me on that.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup +1 tsp oat flour 63 grams
- 1/4 cup +2 tsp white rice flour 47 grams
- 1/3 cup +1 tbsp tapioca starch 47 grams
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup grated carrots
Wet Ingredients
- 6 tbsp oil
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax plus 12 tbsp water)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 tbsp non-dairy butter, softened
- 6 tbsp non-dairy cream cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients except carrots, Whisk together. Add carrots and toss until they are coated in flour.
- Whisk together the sugar and oil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the vanilla and flax egg and beat together.
- Add wet mixture to dry and mix until fully combined. Pour into a greased pan with parchment on the bottom. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Dry crumbs are okay, you just don’t want it to look wet. Let cake cool before depanning.
- For frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer or in with the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer, scraping as needed. Once the butter and cream cheese are combined, add powdered sugar and beat 4-5 minutes on a medium speed. Add vanilla and beat until frosting is fluffy.
