Ok, don’t rub it in – I’m sure you can tell from this gluten free carrot cake recipe that my no-sugar thing isn’t going as well as I’d hoped. I should point out, though, that I’m doing better about resisting desserts than I have in the past. I made this gorgeous cake, completely gluten free, and only had half a piece. Yup, you heard me right – I gave the rest away.
And I have to tell you, that was not an easy feat with a dessert such as this. This carrot cake recipe is divine. My husband commented that it was the best carrot cake he’d ever had, period. My friend Kris, also gluten free, was so enthralled with the cake that he didn’t talk for five minutes while he savored each and every bite. It was moist, it was tender, and it was easy.
I stopped at half a piece because I’d accomplished my goal by that point – to create something beautiful (and @^*#^$ tasty). The actual eating of the dessert, if you’ll pardon the cheesy pun, was the icing on the cake.
This recipe is compliments of Annalise G. Roberts, who wrote the phenomenal Gluten Free Baking Classics. So far every recipe I’ve tried from this book has been golden, and this carrot cake was no different. I agree with my husband – this is hands down the best carrot cake recipe I’ve ever had, glutenous or otherwise!
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe
Makes two 8-inch cake rounds.
- 3 cups gluten free flour mix (see below)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrots – about two large carrots, peeled before you grate them (photo)
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Position rack in the center of oven. Spray two 8″ round cake pans with cooking spray and place a parchment round in the bottom of each.
- Place flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Beat sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, about one minute. Add vanilla and mix well.
- Slowly pour flour mixer into the sugar and oil mixture and beat at medium-low speed for one minute. Fold in carrots, walnuts and coconut.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in the center of oven for 52 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool cake layers in the pans on a rack for ten minutes. Use a small knife to cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Invert cake layers onto a rack, peel off paper and cool completely.
- Decorate cake per directions below.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (in same bowl is fine)
- Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended.
- Beat in vanilla, lemon zest and juice until smooth.
Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe
- 2 parts brown rice flour
- 2/3 part potato starch (not potato flour! Must be starch)
- 1/3 part tapioca starch
- Which all ingredients together until well mixed. Store in a sealed jar in a cool, dry place, or in the fridge.
Decorating the Cake
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Oooooooh this looks so good
Thanks Ola!
oh no, this I cannot resist. I just had carrot cake at Stillwater in Downers Grove, IL and thought it would be months before I’d get another chance and now this…a beautiful photo and recipe that is telling me just one piece can’t hurt. Thanks!
Please report back and let me know how it goes!
This cake looks delish! I’ve already sent it to my mommy, cuz my sis is gluten-free.
Yay! I hope they like it
I’m a sucker for carrot cake and I’m just going to have to give this one a whirl, especially as my sister is on an avoid-gluten diet and I have an assortment of GF flours and xanthan gum on hand.
Oooooooh, this cake is divine. I really can’t express how good it was… please let me know what you two think once you’ve tried it!
Hi,
Have you tried your carrot cake recipe using another gluten free flour mixture, say one with sorghum one of the primary ingredient? I buy sorghum flour by the bulk (25 lb) to lower my unit cost. Lastly, do you have any tips on preventing cakes, corn and banana breads from collapsing after they come out of the oven? Too often have I tried recipes that look great coming out of the oven, but eventually caved in. It took many many reiterations to make my banana loaves and cornbreads to stand at attention. Thanks for your time.
Hi Edmond,
I just saw this comment – I’m not sure what happened, but it didn’t email me. I’m sorry! I would think that a sorghum mix would work very well, but straight sorghum flour might be too dense. Another user just tried my champagne cupcake recipe with a sorghum mix – check our her comment here (comment #21):
http://www.wasabimon.com/archive/gluten-free-champagne-cupcake
Re: collapsing, this can happen for a number of reasons – not enough moisture or not enough xanthan gum would be my top reasons. Some people think that course flours are the problem, and this particular person seemed to find that tapioca was her culprit:
http://noglutennoproblem.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-foto-chocolate-cake.html
I’m curious to see what you find in experimenting – please report back and let me know what you find out!
Beautiful!!! Truly a work of art!
Blessings-
Amanda
Thank you!!
That is one of the most beautifully tempting looking carrot cakes that I’ve ever seen! The ingredients aren’t as hard to find as some of the most unusual gluten free grains, so that’s great. Wow, I used to love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting back when I still ate gluten. I do better on a hunter- gatherer diet (no grains at all), but sometimes I’ll enjoy a true treat like this as long as it’s gluten free! Thank you for sharing this recipe and the beautiful pictures.
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