Paleo carrot cake at your service! (Or dis-service!)
Thank you dear cavepeoples for the fantastic support with my new website! I’ve gotten lots and lots of wonderful comments and feedback and I am a happy cavewoman. (Grunt, smile) We decided to do the drawing today for the cookbook Well Fed 2 and we have a winner! It is Sarah Z! Yeah for Sarah! She just completed her first Whole 30 a few months ago and is so excited to get Well Fed 2 for her second whole 30 and regular cavey life with her little bears and hubby bear.
And speaking of whole 30s, I completed mine in glorious fashion by baking an incredible paleo carrot cake for my mother for her 79th birthday. It was delicious and the flavors were so perfect. I think that is one of my favorite things about Whole 30 is everything begins to taste so amazing! Conventional foods dull the senses and taste buds. (Try eating a corn chip then notice that anything you eat after that is tasteless)
Doing the Whole 30 sharpens the taste buds and gives energy and vitality. Not to speak of the deep sleep nights! Due to all these wonderful results, I’m back on a modified Whole 30. I will eat whole 30 during the week, with a few free foods on the weekends. The free foods will be cheese, (I love cheese) and some cream and a paleo dessert. This is sustainable for me in so many ways.
The jury is still out on alcohol. I had a drink this weekend and it didn’t go so well that night. I think I might be allergic to it. (Gasp!) Which makes sense, as I didn’t drink from the age of 19 till 36. I just was not interested. Then I got into wine and the culinary delights of it. But the other night when I had a glass of wine, I had a terrible restless night, plagued by nasty dreams.
But enough of that! Let’s get down to why you are all here. You want to know that crazy delicious (semi) paleo carrot cake recipe that was worth falling off the Whole 30 wagon for. Yes, it was worth it! Moist and rich but not too sweet. I used the basic recipe from Elana’s Pantry, which you can never go wrong with Elana. Her recipes are always well balanced and flavorful. I did add more spice and oil but it is pretty much the original recipe. I used a cream cheese frosting but if you want a dairy-less frosting try Elana’s here. Thank you Elana for your continued love of food and sharing it with us. And Happy Birthday mom! Thanks for being the best mom EVER!
Cavey carrot cake
- 3 cups of blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon of ground ginger
- 5 eggs
- ½ cup of honey
- ½ cup of light tasting olive oil
- 3 cups of grated carrots
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 cup of chopped pecans
- Get ready to rumble! Turn the cave fire onto 325 degrees and get out a nice mixing bowl. In the mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients, almond flour through ginger and whisk together till well mixed. In another bowl (I used a stand mixer) add the eggs and mix them up till they are creamy, add the honey and oil while blending till everything is well mixed. Then add in the carrots, raisins and nuts till everything is a lovely mess. Then while the mixer is going, mix in the dry ingredients in a steady stream. As soon as everything seems well combined, stop mixing.
- Pour the batter into two round cake pans that have been well oiled and lightly dusted with almond flour. Pop in the oven to bake for 25-35 minutes, turning the cakes once in the middle of the bake for even doneness. The cakes will be done when a toothpick comes out clean and/or the cakes spring back when touched in the middle. Don’t over bake as almond flour turns to sawdust when over baked. Cool on a baking rack to bring the temp down as fast as possible.
- Frost with either cream cheese frosting, (Which is what I did) or Elana’s paleo frosting above. The cream cheese frosting I made was with two bricks of cream cheese mixed till smooth, then I added maple syrup till I liked the sweetness. (It was about ½ cup of maple syrup.) Then I added a wee bit of vanilla extract and a ½ teaspoon each of cardamom and cinnamon. Delicious! Enjoy.
YUM!
Oh it was yummy! I was actually blown away at how good it was!
Yay! Lucky me!! And I am totally making this carrot cake before the next Whole 30 commences. 🙂 Thank you, Dana! XO
I know! I was so excited! Bunny hop! 🙂
Loved it, loved it. Moist and yummy.
I know, it’s amazing isn’t it?? Thanks for letting me know.:)
Could you make these into muffins instead? Would there be any changes needed in the ingredients? Thanks! :o)
I am actually going to do that tonight with them. No you do not need to change a thing except the cake pan. 😀 Have fun!
Thanks! :o)
Made this and it was perfect! Splurged with the cream cheese icing as it just seems wrong to have anything different with carrot cake. Thank you!
I have just stumbled upon your site, Dana, and I am loving all these recipes!!!!
Why thank you so much! It’s my baby! 🙂
stumbled across your site soooo!! glad I did! I love carrot cake! but haven’t had it in a long time. trying to get away from the wheat. but this recipe is definitely the one I will try. and I love your frosting!! no powdered sugar. another thing trying to get out of diet. I have been using maple syrup in several recipes instead of sugar. like banana bread or muffins,(made w/almond flour & coconut flour) I think the bananas are sweet enough that you need very little sweetener. so I just add a couple tablespoons of maple syrup &/or liquid stevia.
Oh that carrot cake is AMAZING! I’ve tasted very few carrot cakes as good as that. SO tender and moist. Thanks for the response and good luck with your new healthy way of living!
would it be possible to use coconut flour, I have diverticulitis and can’t use almond flour
Coconut flour is a very different flour all together. It is a thirsty flour and the measurements for liquid are super different. Try this recipe here, http://detoxinista.com/2014/10/coconut-flour-carrot-cake-dairy-free/ Good luck! 🙂