For Dave’s birthday, I made his favorite dessert – gluten free Carrot Cake. Can I describe this cake without sounding like an infomercial? Let’s see. This cakes tastes moist, tender, sublimely sweet, nutty, and balanced. Our Carrot Cake is also dairy free, gum free and it bakes up beautifully in the oven. I had difficulty avoiding a face-plant into the cake before I frosted it. Try keeping that a surprise…. It’s like un-stuffing the canary.
What makes this cake so special?
First of all, our recipe uses Flour Farm Organic Gluten Free Flour Blend. This flour adds a delicious flavor to all our baked goods. Second, we adapted a great recipe. The bakers at America’s Test Kitchen know their stuff. We found the original recipe in their book, “How Can it Be Gluten Free Cookbook.” I followed their advice and used two, 9 inch cake pans to layer our cake. We love how our gluten free Carrot Cake bakes up full and moist being a dairy free and gum free baked dessert. Honestly, I made very few changes to create our Flour Farm masterpiece.
Also, frosting this cake seems unnecessary, because it tastes amazing without the addition. We like to eat it for breakfast! However, there are several delicious options to choose from. We have made this cake with just whipped coconut cream and vanilla (to keep it dairy free), just whipped heavy cream and vanilla and with whipped cream cheese and heavy cream. Did we mention how much Dave loves this cake? Each option is low sugar in our house as we never put in more than a tablespoon. For the cream cheese recipe, we adapted Stella Parks Easy Cream Cheese Frosting posted at Serious Eats (we use A LOT less sugar!)
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Please reach out and leave a rating and comment for our gluten free Carrot Cake in the section provided below. Did you enjoy a dairy free and gum free version of carrot cake? We love to hear from you!
An important note: this recipe successfully uses Flour Farm Organic Gluten Free Flour Blend. Click on this link to blend a batch for yourself. If you choose to make this with another GF flour blend, please note that your results may differ.
Peace & LOVE – Teri
Photos by DuPree Productions; Recipe updated 4.20 for clarity
For Dairy Lovers: Cream Cheese Frosting!
Happy Birthday Dave – We Love You!
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 slices 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Enjoy our super moist, naturally sweet, gluten free Carrot Cake. Eat it naked or with your favorite whipped topping. Instructions for a gluten free Cream Cheese Frosting are provided in the notes section.
Ingredients
Choose Gluten Free, Non-GMO & Organic Ingredients.
Substitutions: Do you need suggestions to swap out an ingredient? Click here.
Note: If clicking the 2X or 3X scale boxes to the right, please know that weights listed in parentheses below may or may not change. Please take care to check amounts if increasing the recipe.
Dry
- 340g (12 oz) Flour Farm Organic Gluten Free Flour Blend (3 C + 2 T spoon & level)
- 1 1/4 tsp Aluminum Free, Double Acting Baking Powder (5g)
- 1 tsp Baking Soda (4.5g)
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (2.5g)
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg (1g)
- 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger (.5g)
- 1/2 tsp Extra Fine Pink Himalayan Salt (3g)
Wet
- 200g (7 oz) Cane Sugar (1 C)
- 200g (7 oz) Light Brown Sugar, (packed 1 C)
- 4 Large Pasture Raised Eggs (200g)
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (5 ml)
- 89 ml (3 fl. oz) Oil – we use Avocado Oil (1/4 C + 2 T)
- 454g (16 oz) Carrots, finely shredded (about 3 C packed)
- 112g (4 oz) Chopped Unsalted Nuts – optional (1 C)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 148 ml (5 fl oz) Heavy Cream
- 1 T Cane Sugar, or more depending on your sweetness preference (14g)
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (5 ml)
- Pinch Extra Fine Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt (optional)
- 227g (8 oz) Cream Cheese, preferably a bit soft and not directly out of the refrigerator (1 C)
Instructions
Equipment: Digital scale (preferred), Two 9″ cake pans (or 9×13″ baking pan or muffin pan with liners), Stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric mixer, Whisk, Measuring spoons & Cups, Mixing bowls (m, l), Grater, Non-Stick spray
Before You Dive In – Prep: Please read!
- Bring eggs to room temperature (preferred)
- Scrub and finely shred carrots
- Chop nuts (if using)
- Move oven rack to center
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius)
- Spray the cake pans with non-stick spray, (try our non-stick Goop,) and place parchment on the bottom if pans are not non-stick
Bake a cake!
Step 1: Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Step 2: Use a stand up mixer or electric mixer to beat together sugars, eggs and vanilla for one minute on medium. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the oil until fully emulsified. Scrape down sides of the bowl and stir.
Step 3: Add shredded carrots and nuts (if using) to the wet mix. Stir or beat on low until additions are blended in. Add the dry mix and stir or blend on low to fully incorporate. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan(s).
Step 4: Bake in the center of a preheated oven 350 F/177 C until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. If baking cupcakes, check after 18 minutes.
Step 5: Remove pans from the oven and cool on racks for several hours. Do not remove cakes from pans until fully cooled.
Step 6: Transfer cakes to a serving platter and decorate as desired. Directions to make Cream Cheese Frosting are listed in the notes section below.
Enjoy!
Notes
Cream Cheese Frosting: Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip 5 oz heavy cream with 1 T cane sugar, pinch of salt and 1 tsp vanilla until the consistency of pudding. Add in 8 oz of cream cheese (we prefer that it sat on the counter for at least an hour,) in 2 T increments. Your frosting will look like cottage cheese at first. Be patient, and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and continue to whip on medium until the frosting is smooth. Frost right away or refrigerate until ready. If frosting stiffens too much, thin with cream a teaspoon at a time until desired consistency. This recipe will frost the middle and top of a round cake or a 9×13″ cake.
For Raisin Lovers: Although we do not add raisins to our recipe, please feel free to add them to your cake if you desire. Add up to a cup of organic raisins at Step 3.
To Store: We keep our cake loosely wrapped in the refrigerator for up to two days.
The nutrition information below is for the recipe as written using avocado oil and unsalted, roasted pecans. Frosting information not included.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: cake
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 230mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
Keywords: Gluten Free Carrot Cake
For more sweet, gluten free recipes by Flour Farm, click on this link!
My husband loves this cake! Delish. Followed the recipe including the nuts. Thank you. Will happily pass this one along.
★★★★★
Hi Alessandra,
Thank you for the wonderful feedback. It makes us happy to know your husband is happy and that you are sharing the love.
Flour to the people,
Dave & Teri.