This is the best Carrot Cake recipe (in my opinion) and two husbands have agreed with me. There’s one secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is?
The Best Carrot Cake (Gluten Free) is so delicious. Don calls it his “favorite vegetable!”
My Best Carrot Cake
Hi. It’s Lois in the kitchen at Recipe Idea Shop, telling you about My Best Carrot Cake recipe. I’ve managed to modify it to be gluten free with the right taste and texture, too. This truly is The Best Carrot Cake I’ve ever had. One special ingredient makes it unique and so scrumptious. Can you guess what it is? Try the recipe and see what you think.
Some people (me!) like lots of frosting on My Best Carrot Cake, but others don’t. You can frost the sides or leave them plain. It’s scrumptious either way.
A Favorite Birthday Cake
My husband, Don, loves My Best Carrot Cake and today is Don’s birthday. Happy birthday, Don! This cake has become his annual birthday cake. He calls it his “favorite vegetable.”
A special birthday cake plate is so much fun, don’t you agree?
Happy Birthday Stoneware Cake Plate. Buy it on Amazon.
Freezes Well
My Best Carrot Cake freezes well, especially if you make it as cupcakes (and you can also freeze it whole or sliced into serving size pieces if you make a whole cake). But I think cupcakes are the way to go on these. Cupcakes don’t get messy and they thaw in about 15 minutes, so you can keep some in your freezer all the time, and you don’t have to wait for a birthday to have them! The recipe makes 24 cupcakes or 12 slices of cake, so if you eat cupcakes, you will eat fewer calories.
My Best Carrot Cake cupcakes freeze well.
The Story Behind the Cake
My first husband LOVED my carrot cakes. He shouldn’t have been eating them, however, because they weren’t gluten free and he had celiac disease. Back then, I had never heard of celiac disease, and when Hubby #1 told me about it, he led me to believe that he had grown out of it.
Carrot Cake is so scrumptious with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Of course, now we know that people don’t grow out of it (and he probably knew it at the time). Hubby #1 ate tons of calories—mostly sugar—and could never gain weight. In fact, one time I bought him a case of beer; he drank it in a week and he lost 5 pounds! But that’s another story.
A Cake Worth Fighting For
When Hubby #1 and I divorced, he tried to negotiate requiring me to give him 6 carrot cakes a year until he no longer had to pay child support (he didn’t get that—one of the few things—never get a divorce from an attorney!).
Don (Hubby #2) loves My Best Carrot Cake just as much. I make it for him every year and he doesn’t have to fight for it. I now make it gluten free and I can eat it, too. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour instead of wheat flour.
I seldom make it as a layer cake. Now I make cupcakes most of the time. Don is happy no matter how I make it. The best frosting for carrot cake, of course, is Cream Cheese Frosting.
My Best Carrot Cake Recipe
My Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups salad oil (canola)
- 2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix (flour)
- 1 teaspoon Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly-ground)
- 3 cups grated carrots (about 1 lb.)
- 1 10-oz jar maraschino cherries (drained and cut in quarters)
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the baking powder and baking soda with 2 tablespoons of oil until blended.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and remaining oil until blended.
Add the spices and baking powder/baking soda mixture.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Add the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix (flour) and the Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum and mix.
- Add carrots, cherries and nuts and mix to combine.
Grease and line the bottom of 3 round cake pans with wax paper or line 2 12-cupcake pans with cupcake papers.
- Pour the cake batter into the cupcake pans or cake pans and bake at 350F degrees for 25-30 (20 minutes for cupcakes) minutes until done.
- Remove from oven and let the cakes cool 5 minutes.
- With a table knife, loosen the cakes from the sides and dump them out of the pans.
- Carefully remove the wax paper.
When completely cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Store the cake in the refrigerator or freeze in serving-size pieces.
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My Best Carrot Cake Nutrition
Carrot Cake Cupcakes Nutrition Label. Each serving is one unfrosted slice of cake that is 1/12 of a 3-layer cake. Recipe makes one 3-layer cake.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes Nutrition Label. Each serving is one unfrosted cupcake. Recipe makes 24 cupcakes.
Cream Cheese Frosting Nutrition
I have added the nutrition here because we usually eat it with Cream Cheese Frosting. Check out the recipe and enjoy (but not too often; it’s very high in calories and fat)!
Cream Cheese Frosting Nutrition Label. Each serving is 1/24 of the recipe. (Does not include cake.)
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