Gluten-free, sugar-free Carrot cake

Deb September 30, 2005

No added sugar in this recipe. Thanks to Katja for this recipe.

Mix together in a big bowl:

  • ¾ cup ground almonds, or ground up crispy almonds
  • ¾ cup fine dessicated coconut, ground up more finely in a food processor
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup of raisins

Beat together in a blender or food processor:

  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup (4oz) melted butter or coconut oil
  • ½ cup applesauce (made from just apples, with no sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Pour into the big bowl along with:

  • 1 ½ cups grated carrots
  • ½ cup of blueberries

Mix it all up. It should be a quite thick batter. If it seems too thin, add some more ground almonds. Don’t worry too much though, if it’s not quite thick enough the cake will come out more like a pudding, but will still be delicious. Pour into a greased and floured, or lined, cake tin. (I like a ring tin, as it seems to cook more evenly). Bake at 175C (350F) for 45-60 minutes till an inserted skewer is clean, or the mixture has stopped sizzling.

Variations:

If you need a bit more sweetness to start off with:

  • Add a little honey or rapadura, and a little more ground nuts to bring it back to cake batter consistency
  • Replace the blueberries with drained crushed pineapple, packed in water

Top with cream cheese icing. Beat together till smooth:

  • 1 cup cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • ½ tsp vanilla essence
  • ¼ cup honey

NZ flour doesn’t seem to work very well in the soaked flour NT recipes. Thanks to the two Karen’s in Dannevirke for developing these two recipes which work with the wholemeal flour that’s available in NZ supermarkets. Stoneground wholemeal flour would need further adjustments. Only for those who can eat wheat.