made this dream cake for my mom’s birthday and it was too good not to share, especially right now!! carrot cake is her fave, and it’s also the cake we usually have for easter. given that easter is going to be different from usual this year (our whole fam at home, separately), i had to go all out with the birthday cake. usually, i’d bake with coconut sugar or maple syrup or honey as the sweetener, to keep it less processed, but i didn’t want to F up the carrot cake, so i used organic cane sugar aka white sugar. so glad i did 😉
my mom’s carrot cake recipe is from THE NEW BASICS cookbook that has been in our house for forever. the recipe is classic, so i had to go by it. i just used the simplest substitutes to make this cake the same exact dream cake that is the result of the original version — only my new recipe/version of it is gluten free and dairy free.
get mixing !! you’ll mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and set them aside. using a hand mixer or standup baking mixer, beat the grapeseed oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl from the dry ingredients. once they are combined, add the dry ingredient mixture [which includes the sugar here] into the wet ingredient mixture. mix until combined.
then you’ll fold in the pre cooked and shredded carrots, walnuts, coconut, and crushed pineapple. use a spatula or spoon here to be more gentle, wouldn’t want your mix-ins to get crushed by the whisks in the mixer!!
once it’s all combined, pour your batter into whatever baking dish you’d like, after you’ve sprayed it with oil and/or lined with parchment! i used a bundt cake pan for the cute shape, so i just sprayed and dusted with gf flour before spooning the batter in.
the cake bakes for 50min-1hr at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean. the original recipe told me to leave my cake in the pan to cool 10 min before flipping it out, so i did just that. good call, @ THE NEW BASICS COOKBOOK.
let it cool on the counter before you frost it, for sure.
to make the frosting, use room temperature dairy free cream cheese [i used kite hill] and room temperature dairy free butter [i used miyokos vegan butter]. cream those together with the mixer until smooth. add in the organic powdered sugar in portions, until fully mixed. lastly, add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice, the magic touch.
once your cake is cooled, frost it and fridge it! it’ll stay set up in the fridge, and slice + enjoy whenver you’re ready! HAPPY SPRING
INGREDIENTS >>
cake ingredients
2 cups gluten free baking flour [i used bob’s red mill]
2 cups organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup grapeseed oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked carrots
3/4 cup canned crushed pineapple
1/2-1 cup shredded coconut
1/2-1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
frosting ingredients
4 tablespoons dairy free cream cheese [kite hill]
3 tablespoons dairy free butter [miyokos vegan butter]
1 1/2 cup organic confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
juice of 1/4 lemon
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HOW TO MAKE >>
- set oven to 350F
- mix the dry ingredients — flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon — in one bowl; set aside.
- using a mixer, beat the grapeseed oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined.
- add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture; mix until incorporated.
- fold in the pre cooked and shredded carrots, walnuts, coconut, & crushed pineapple. * use a spatula or spoon here so your mix-ins don’t get crushed in the mixer!
- pour batter into greased/oiled/lined baking pan, and bake on 350F for 50min-1hr, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- let the cake cool in the pan for 10 min before removing to cool completely. cool on the counter for at least 1 hr before frosting
- TO MAKE THE FROSTING: cream the room temp cream cheese and butter until smooth; add in the confectioners’ sugar in portions, until fully combined. add in the vanilla & lemon at the end. FROST AND STORE IT IN THE FRIDGE!
- slice + enjoy!!
rachel tiedmann 