It may be almost 24 years, but I still recall our wonderful wedding cake. My barometer was our guests asking for seconds. That was a big compliment as wedding cakes were pretty uninteresting at that time. Our cake came from Clay’s Bakery in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. We served a lemon-poppy seed layer and an orange layer to our guests. And, the top tier that we froze for our one year anniversary was carrot cake.
I really like carrot cake and was surprised that it’s taken me this long to make a gluten-free version. Carrot cake is a great cake to make gluten-free as there are enough other ingredients in the cake that it’s difficult to tell whether it was made with traditional all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour (my go to is Cup4Cup). You could also use the same amount of all-purpose flour.
This cake is so easy to make. It’s made in a food processor, it’s one layer and the frosting comes together in a snap.
Assuming you that have s food processor that is 11 cups or more (a standard ‘large’ food processor), the easiest way to make this cake is to chop and mix it all in the same bowl. Alternatively, you can chop carrots and pecans in a smaller food processor and mix the rest in a bowl with a stand or hand mixer. My Cuisinart is so old I had to Google the model number to see how many cups it was – it was one of my most favorite wedding presents.
One of the reasons that I like carrot cake is the traditional cream cheese frosting. I think I prefer to eat frosting that someone else has made so I don’t have to know how much powdered sugar, butter and cream cheese goes into it. I opted for a slightly less bad for you frosting (to say it’s healthier might not be entirely accurate) made with ricotta cheese and Greek yogurt and sweetened with honey. It has just the right amount of ‘tang’ from the yogurt (and lemon) which is one of the reasons I like cream cheese frosting. Not only does the frosting have a great consistency but it’s also very easy to spread.
If you’ve been too intimidated to make a fancy multi-layer carrot cake, I recommend you give this one a try. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.
| Carrot Cake with Lemon Ricotta Frosting (Gluten-Free) | Print |
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 cup whole pecans
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- 1-1/2 cups gluten-free or all-purpose flour (see Notes)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup mild olive oil or canola oil
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces whole milk ricotta
- 6 ounces non-fat plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (~1 lemon)
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9-inch round baking pan with nonstick spray.
- Place carrots and pecans in a food processor (11 cups or more – see Notes) and process until finely chopped. Add brown sugar, superfine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, oil, yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Pulse in short bursts until combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until just cooked when tested with a skewer. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool in the pan.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, whip ricotta and yogurt on medium speed until lightly smooth and fluffy.
- Add honey, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until combined.
- Place cooled cake on a serving plate. Using a rubber or offset spatula, spread frosting all over cake and partially down the sides. Frosting will set in refrigerator.
- Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bring out 30 minutes before serving.
* Assuming you have your food processor is 11 cups or more (a standard ‘large’ food processor), the easiest way to make this cake is to chop and mix it all in the same bowl. Alternatively, you can chop carrots and pecans in a smaller food processor and mix the rest in a bowl with a stand or hand mixer.
Source: Adapted from Donna Hay’s The New Easy (2015)
Nicole-
Can’t wait to try this!
Sharon – Thank you! Please let me know what you think of this yummy cake!