This delicous and healthy carrot cake recipe is refined sugar-free and naturally sweet. It is also a gluten-free and dairy-free take on the classic carrot cake.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your baking pan with extra coconut oil.
Add dry ingredients (GF flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg) to a mixing bowl. Mix well to combine and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, vanilla, sugar, molasses and applesauce. Mix on high until creamy. While the mixer is running slowly pour in the melted coconut oil.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet slowly. Mix until the batter well combined and there are no big lumps.
Gently fold in grated carrots, nuts, and fruit by hand.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Coconut Cream Maple Frosting
Pour the entire can into a mixing bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Be patient it takes a minute. Whip in maple syrup and vanilla.
Ice cake quickly. If the frosting gets too warm place in fridge to chill for 15 minutes and start again.
Maple Buttercream
In a mixing, add butter and maple syrup and whip together until smooth. Gradually, add powdered sugar (½ cup at a time), while continuing to mix until frosting is thick and creamy.
Notes
Hand grate the carrots, using a food processor makes them too moist.
If you use gluten-free flour it needs to contain xanthan gum. Otherwise add 1/ teaspoon xanthan gum to the dry ingredients. It doesn't seem like much but is required for all GF baked goods.
Sub 1 cup granulated sugar or ½ c granulated sugar + ½ c brown sugar for the coconut sugar and molasses.
You can use either frosting recipe. The coconut cream will be more like whip cream while the buttercream will be stiffer but less healthy.