spicy carrot cake

spicy carrot cake

Richly flavorful and nutritious, this works equally well unadorned and cut into wedges as a snack or iced and decorated for a celebration. In my opinion, coconut flour really shines here, countering the juiciness of the shredded carrot to create the perfect moist, chewy, fluffy texture. Grating two whole cups of gently packed carrots on the small holes is challenging, but—if you (or whoever you can draft into the task) can pull it off—so worth it.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour 6 tbsp tapioca flour, plus more for dusting the pan
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 tbsp shredded coconut
  • 4 large carrots, shredded (ideally small shred) to make 2 cups of gently packed carrot*
  • 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, defrosted, drained and chopped**
  • 1 medium lemon
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar  (your choice of frosting (optional)***

Equipment:

  • Large and medium mixing bowls
  • Whisk Stirring spoon or scraper
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Grater and/or food processor
  • Knife
  • Zester
  • 9” round cake pan
  • Parchment paper
  • Toothpick or cake tester
  • Rack

How to:

Set all ingredients out so they can come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease the baking pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan, press it to the bottom inside and dust the pan lightly with tapioca flour. Tap out the excess flour and set aside.

In the large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flours, spices, salt, baking soda and sugar.

Add the shredded carrots and pineapple. Zest the whole lemon peel over that. Stir everything until thoroughly mixed.

In medium bowl (I used the same bowl I shredded the carrots in), whisk the eggs, oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar together. Pour this mixture into the large bowl and mix thoroughly. The batter will be very thick. Scrape into the prepared pan and level it. Bake for 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean. The cake will be dark golden brown.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack, peel off the parchment, and cool completely.

*An alternative to the shredding is pulsing till very fine in a food processor. The finished cake will have a somewhat different texture, but taste the same.

 

**Chop the pineapple finely with a knife or in a food processor. Alternatively, use 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained.

 

***I made a frosting of 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 cup powdered sugar, blended in the food processor, spread thinly over the top and sides, with chopped walnuts pressed in, for decoration.