Paleo Carrot Cake & Muffins
April 14, 2017
Yes, it’s one of my favorite treats, but I don’t enjoy it as much when there’s Gluten and especially when sugar is the first or 2nd ingredient on a long list of too many not-so-goods! But, it takes a bit more of an effort than other nice cakes, so I don’t make it often. However, my mom’s recent birthday prompted me to try re-making a version I loved because my parents both love carrot cake…they passed that preference to me! LOL
This is a good number of ingredients, but they are all wholesome and you can cut down even further on the fruit and the maple syrup if you want less sweetness.
- Prep: 30 mins
- Cook: 1 hr 15 mins
Ingredients
1.5 cups shredded carrots (about 7 medium to large sized)
1/4 pure maple syrup (grade B for least processed variety- use up to 1/3 cup)
2/3 cup coconut flour sifted with 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
3/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1 heaping tsp each of allspice, ground ginger, and baking soda and baking powder
8 pasture raised eggs
1/2 cup crushed pineapple (measured after squeezing out juice) (omit for strict paleo)
1/2 cup each of raisins and white mulberries (omit for strict paleo)
1 cup or so activated walnuts (I save this for the frosting for distinct texture from cake)
Coconut Rum Frosting-recipe at the end
FROSTING –INGREDIENTS:
1 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
5 teaspoons arrowroot flour
1 Tbsp rum extract
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup coconut manna or 1 cup soaked cashews to blend together
Directions
11- Prep your fruit. If you have fresh chunks of pineapple, put them in a food processor, then squeeze as much as possible out and allow the raisins and mulberries to sit in the juice. Set the pineapple fiber aside for mixing in to batter. If you don’t already have the date paste ready and softened, put your seeded dates into the food processor and make a nice paste 🙂
22- Peel and then shred carrots in food processor and let sit in maple syrup overnight, preferably, or an hour or so. Again, do what you can to squeeze as much of the carrot juice and syrup from the fiber by hand. I usually press it between two stainless steel bowls.
33- Sift all your dry ingredients together (coconut flour, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, baking soda and powder.)
44- Mix up wet ingredients (eggs, date paste, vanilla paste, melted coconut oil)
55- Add the dry ingredients and continue mixing.
66- Wring out your wet ingredients another time and add pineapple pulp, carrot shreds, mulberries, and raisins and stir everything together.
77- Grease cake pans of your size preference or muffin pans and fill!
88- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (smaller pans)-60 minutes (9-inch pans). Because this is sooo moist, you may need to bake longer depending on how well you squeezed out the juices.
99- Test cakes/muffins at 45 minute with a toothpick and remove if/when done.
1010- Let cool… Frost and garnish with activated walnuts. (Frosting recipe below.)
11Frosting:
121- Put all in your food processor or high-powered blender. If you need some liquid to help move along the processing (if the manna or cashews are too thick,) then use some of the pineapple juice from above.
132- Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and when it’s solid enough, yet spreadable enough, decorate your cake/muffins! I love sprinkling light coconut shreds on top along with the walnuts for a pretty touch.
NOTES: Adding pineapple and the dried fruit makes it not so Paleo, so omit if that’s a major matter for you. I added them because I love the taste. Also, if you prefer a denser cake and not the lightness of the flour mixture in this version, then sub arrowroot with more coconut flour or buckwheat flour.
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