Carrot Cake

Last week when I posted Gluten Free Grains 101, many of you asked for the recipe of the cake shown in that post. Well, this isnt it! Haha. This is a recipe for carrot cake, which several of you requested when seeing that cake. Since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about carrot cake I decided to give it a try. There is no shortage of gluten-free recipes for carrot cake out there because carrot cake translates beautifully to gluten-free. Gluten Free Gobsmacked’s exquisite carrot cake is one example, especially with Kate’s secret ingredient (*wink wink*). Since I did not have the ingredients on hand for that delectable cake, I decided to refer to a recipe in Sherry Yard’s cookbook, The Secrets of Baking. This cookbook is not for the beginning cook but is wonderful for someone trying to master the skill of baking. There were a number of things about the recipe that make it a good adaptation:

1) in the financier family (uses almond meal) 2) use of crushed pineapple 3) lots of vanilla 4) a whole teaspoon of cinnamon 5) coconut 6) melting butter until dark golden color gives cake even more flavor

Note: You can just sub your gluten-free flour mix for the one I used. I did not like sorghum flour with this one (although you might), so I used a different flour mix. The gluten free flour blend I did use was awesome and there was not a hint of gluten-free about the cake.

Additional note: Sherry Yard’s recipe called for 2 10 inch baking pans, so my original plan was to make a triple decker carrot cake with 3 nine inch pans. However, there was only enough batter for 2 9 inch cakes (no idea why). Next time, I might double the recipe to make a triple decker carrot cake and use any leftover batter for cupcakes to freeze. I just think a triple decker cake is very festive!

Here is the recipe with my gluten-free alterations:

GLUTEN FREE CARROT CAKE

2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons millet flour

2 Tablespoons sweet rice flour

1/2 cup brown or white rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup almond meal (I ground sliced almonds in my mini food processor)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup finely grated carrots or up to 1 3/4 cup

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, pulverized in food processor too

1 cup crushed pineapple, mostly drained (eyeball and add a little juice if you need it)

Cream Cheese Frosting ( 2 8 oz. bars of cream cheese, 1 stick of butter, 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 T. lemon juice, a little lemon zest, 1 tsp vanilla)

DIRECTIONS:

Get all your ingredients ready. Grind the almonds, coconut, etc. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees make sure your rack is in the center, and prepare your baking pans (2 9 inch baking pans or 3 if you are doubling the recipe) by greasing them and putting parchment paper in the bottom of each pan.

In a med. saucepan, melt the butter over med. heat until the butter is a dark golden color and the solids begin to separate. This process will probably take 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let the butter cool (not in the fridge) for about 30 minutes. Yard said the butter should be cooled to about 70 degrees. Basically, it should still be in liquid form but not hot.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, sift your almond meal, other gluten-free flours, xanthan gum, baking soda, and baking powder. Turn the paddle on and make sure it is mixed well.

In a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon together. Add the powdered sugar and then blend in the brown sugar.

In yet another bowl (you may have quite a mess to clean up), whisk the eggs and add vanilla. Stir into the sugar mixture and whisk until incorporated.

At this point, turn your mixer on and pour the sugar/egg mixture in the bowl until combined. Then slowly add your cooled melted butter (including any brown bits). Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl and combine well. This will probably take 3-4 minutes.

The next step is to mix in the pineapple, shredded coconut (ground a little in food processor first) and carrots with a balloon whisk. You can also add nuts but my husband isn’t a big fan, so I omitted them entirely. I did put sliced almonds on the sides of the cake once I had frosted it.

Pour into the baking pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean- it took my cakes approximately 35 minutes to bake. Yard’s original recipe calls for a 45 minute baking time.

Once the cake has cooled, frost the cake with the most decadent cream cheese frosting you can find. This cake is extremely fat and sugar-filled, so those on a diet should not eat this cake. Looking at this cake might even make you gain a pound…

This cake is best made the night before and chilled in the refrigerator before serving. It will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days.

If you are looking for a gluten-free, casein-free carrot cake, try Cindalou’s Carrot Cake.

I made this especially for Jude because it is his “Happy Day” today.

Happy Birthday, Jude!

And this is my 100th post.

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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: Cake Recipes

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