This cake is customized for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The combination of carrots with almond and coconut flours creates a delicious and decadent cake that is ideal for the Spring season. The sweet spices enhance the fresh carrot flavor and introduce a layer of complexity.
How Do You Make a Grain-Free Carrot Cake?
The key to crafting a successful grain-free cake lies in achieving the perfect blend of almond and coconut flours along with the wet ingredients. It’s crucial to strike a balance to prevent the cake from being too dry or overly moist. Dry cakes lack flavor and are challenging to enjoy, while excessive moisture results in an unappetizing soggy texture. In this recipe, I primarily utilized almond flour complemented by a small amount of coconut flour. The natural oils in the almond flour add moisture, enhanced by the juiciness of the carrots. Coconut flour plays a role in balancing the extra moisture due to its high absorbency.
What Do You need to Make Grain-Free Carrot Cake?
This cake comes together very easily. I mixed all my ingredients in a food processor because I find it helps create a lighter texture.
You may notice boiling water in this recipe. Boiling water helps combine the carrots and dates with the other ingredients and creates a smoother cake that holds together.
Grain-Free Carrot Ingredients:
- Carrots
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Eggs
- Plain SCD yogurt
- Butter
- Honey
- Vanilla
- Dates
- Boiling Water
What is the best frosting for this cake?
You can use any frosting you like. I created the Creamy Cashew Butter Frosting specifically for this cake. The combination of cashew butter, heavy cream yogurt, and lemon juice gives it a slight cream cheese frosting vibe that is delicious for this cake. I found that the frosting took on an even more cream-cheese-like texture after it had chilled for several hours.
Can I make this cake dairy-free?
Yes! This cake can easily be made dairy-fee with just a couple of substitutions, which are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Generally, coconut oil can be substituted for regular butter and nut or coconut milk can be subbed in place of yogurt. I like to add a little lemon juice when I subbing dairy-free milk for yogurt to replace the natural acid in the yogurt. In the frosting, coconut cream can be used in place of the SCD heavy cream yogurt.
Want more of my SCD Grain-Free dessert recipes? Be sure to check out my cookbook – Don’t Skip Dessert Volume 2.
Grain-Free Carrot Cake with Creamy Cashew Frosting
Equipment
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups grated carrots
- ⅓ cup boiling water
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 Medjool dates
- 1½ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- 1¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Creamy Cashew Butter Frosting
- ½ cup cashew butter
- ½ cup heavy cream yogurt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp butter (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash salt
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 °F / 180 °C
- Line 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper
- Add carrots, boiling water, eggs, yogurt, butter, honey, vanilla, and dates to food processor
- Process until smooth
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and spices to mix in food processor
- Process until just mixed
- Stir in chopped walnuts
- Pour into baking pan
- Bake 35 – 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
- Cool on wire rack in pan for 10 – 15 minutes
- Remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack before frosting
Creamy Cashew Butter Frosting
- Add all ingredients to large mixing bowl
- Beat on high speed until frosting whips up to desired consistency
Notes
- coconut oil for the regular butter
- dairy-free milk for the yogurt and add 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- coconut oil for the regular butter
- chilled coconut cream for the heavy cream yogurt
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