I was introduced to carrot cake many years ago when I came to the US. I really liked the idea of using carrots for baking, however, every time I would give it a try, it was overwhelmingly sweet. Even when I baked my own cake and reduced sugar to a bare minimum, it still destroyed natural flavors of carrots and all the spices. Ironically, in my limited research on carrot cakes, it actually originated in Europe during medieval times when sugar was a luxury even for the nobility and people used carrots to make sweets…So I decided to get back to my origins and make sugar free carrot cake.
Moist, bursting with flavors with an extra zing from the cashew-lemon frosting. Simply delicious and guilt-free (almost)!
sugarless sweet carrot cake
Author: sculptorette
cake
- 1 orange (zest + juice)
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup flax meal
- 1/2 cup plant based milk
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup teff flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots ((packed))
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 3 pods cardamon
- 3 cloves
- dash cinnamon ((I add very little – you might like more))
- 1 inch fresh ginger (grated)
frosting
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 dates
- 1 lemon (zest + juice)
- 3 tbsp hot water
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- plant based milk (optional)
cake
- In a small bowl, zest orange and then squeeze the juice. Add raisins and let them soak for at least 10 – 15 minutes. This can be done a couple hours ahead.
- In a cup, mix flax meal and plant-based milk. Let it soak for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Pre-heat over to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, mix flours and baking powder.
- Use mortar to powder cloves and cardamon. Grate fresh ginger to your liking.
- Once flours are mixed, add rest of the ingredients: soaked raisins, soaked flax meal, carrots, walnuts and spices.
- Mix all ingredients well and transfer to a baking pan. And bake for about 40 – 50 minutes depending on your oven. Toothpick test will let you know when it is ready.
- I used 8′ square silicone pan and cut the cake in half to have two layers. After removing from the oven, place on the cooling rack for few minutes and then cover so it does not dry.
frosting
- Soak cashews in water for at least an hour.
- Zest lemon and squeeze the juice then add pitted dates. Add a couple of spoons of hot water just to barely cover the dates. Let it soak for at least 10 – 15 minutes.
- Rinse cashews and add them to a blender along with dates (with the lemon juice and zest), coconut cream and spoon of melted coconut oil. Depending on your blender, you might have to add a couple of tablespoons of plant-based milk to get the blades going.
- Blend till silky smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour before decorating the cake. Recipe picture reflects frosting consistency w/o chilling. When chilled properly, you can even show off your piping skills.
- Enjoy!
- If you do not have coconut cream, usually any canned full-fat coconut milk works well – refrigerate the can for about an hour, do not stir. When you open, scoop the separated top part.