Description
No, it is not just a delivery device for cream cheese frosting. A great carrot cake should be great on its own! O' gluten free carrot cake, how I love thee. Let me count the ways:
- You are moist. Like crumb-sticking-to-my-fork-with-every-bite, moist.
- You are dense.
- You are laden with so many good things such cinnamon, carrots, walnuts, raisins and coconut.
- You make my house smell fantastic for at least a day after baking.
- You get better as you sit and also freeze beautifully.
- You play nicely with all sorts of ingredients - pecans or pine nuts instead of walnuts, cardamom along with the cinnamon, applesauce for some of the oil, crushed pineapple in addition to the carrot. Me? I am a sucker for ginger - I just love the peppery, pungent bite. So, our gluten free carrot cake contains both minced candied ginger and ground ginger. Try it, you'll see.
Ingredients
| Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 35 minutes | Total time: 55 minutes |
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 - 8" round cake pans by lining with parchment paper and greasing or spraying lightly.
Whisk together the oil, vanilla, brown sugar and eggs. Set side.
In a separate bowl, toss together the grated carrot, nuts, coconut, raisins and minced ginger. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the Cheatin' Wheat Gluten Free Flour, spices, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda until well blended.
Add the oil mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Stir in the carrot mixture.
Divide evenly among the three cake pans.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden and the top springs back when touched lightly.
Cool completely before frosting.
Notes
To make this gluten free carrot cake even more extraordinary, use our Tips for Flavorful Baking Post to get the most out of the spices, nuts and dried fruit.
Because carrot cake is so full of delicious bits, I find it difficult to slice into layers before assembling. So I don't. I just bake off thinner layers that require no work once they are out of the oven.