Carrot Cake (no gluten, dairy, soy, corn)

[Caryn]

From scratch recipe for my Dad's birthday.
Everybody loved it.
http://healthy-family.org/caryn/442
Has eggs, though-- if anyone makes it without eggs please let me know how it goes.
Makes a great birthday cake IMHO.
Caryn

[ives6797]

I love carrot cake! I'll have to try it. Thanks!

What is Spectrum Palm Oil? I'll have to try to locate it somewhere. Also, (and this may be a no-no), but can I use sugar instead of cane juice, and if so how much? I don't have cane juice, but if I need to use it I could probably get some.

[Caryn]

Evaporated Cane Juice is a natural sugar crystal. Looks kind of brownish in color. It's basically unrefined cane sugar. It's not a liquid like the name implies. You could just use regular sugar, no problem. Anyone not corn-free could use fructose. Anyone watching sugars completely could use maple syrup or honey. I used sugar because, well, it was for Daddy. I wanted to make it the way he likes it.
The Spectrum Palm Oil is cool stuff. You will be able to bake like you used to again. It is like Crisco oil, only I personally think it's better. You know how Crisco makes things crispy and crumbly when you bake? Well, to me spectrum's palm oil acts more like butter. It has no taste, too. It is non-hydrogenated so it is supposedly healthier for you. And, you don't need to refrigerate it to get it to spread nicely. I have made a big batch of frosting with it and then just popped a small rubbermaid tub in the fridge for 'emergencies' like when the preschool teacher wanted the kids to decorate cookies for valentine's day. I just put it in Tigger's bag along with a frozen GF cookie and away he went.

The palm oil used to be hard to find. You had to go to a health food store or to Whole foods. But lately I have been finding in in some select local grocery stores. If you have a good local grocery that has gluten free foods you could ask about it and if they would carry it.

[ives6797]

They had Spectrum shortening... and its only ingredient was pressed palm oil. Does that sound right?

[Caryn]

Yes! That's the stuff!

[ives6797]

Thanks! ok then I will attempt this on Saturday then, to bring to Easter on Suday

Oh... stupid question, but when I make it Sat, how do I store it til Sunday? Should it be in the fridge? (i'm not doing cream cheese frosting, doing dairy-free)

[Caryn]

I refrigerated the cake after baking it. Actually left them in the pans and put them in the fridge after they cooled. The other batch I froze right away. I did not frost them until the day of.

Frost the cake when it is cold for best results. I flipped them upside down but I wonder if keeping them right side up, at least the top one, would have made it easier to frost. I did have to fight some crumbs but it wasn't too bad. You can see in the picture. You will see after you bake it. It forms a nice top. Mine was perfectly level so I had no need to cut it to make it even like you usually need to do with other mix cakes. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but do mix the batter for a bit in the mixer. For some reason GF batters need that-- the extra air whipping. It does something to the dough. Some say it needs 5 minutes. I never do it that long, one minute is good, maybe 2 at the most.
Let me know how it goes!

[Tami]

Dawn,

I am half way into making this cake.  Its cooling.  Caryn was right about blanching the carrots.  I put big carrots in boiling water for 3 minutes and tiny baby carrots for almost a minute, then plunged in ice water.  I made the flowers from the big ones, and since my daughter insisted on sprinkles, I made confetti by cutting the baby carrots into hole-punch sized confetti sprinkles.

Also, I took some of the icing, added some safe yellow dye (turmeric, I think) and packed it into an old medicine dropper so I could put a perfect little yellow center in each flower.  It was a lot easier than getting out the frosting bag and tips because so little was needed.

I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks good in its egg-free form.  I used 4 Ener-G replacer eggs and two smushed bananas.  (Caryn mentioned using extra when replacing, so I hope that covered it.)

[Tami]

I am qualified to comment now as I have made and eaten it.  It was great.  My kids loved it.  They fought over the "candy flowers" (blanched carrots with a frosting dot). 

I had to do it egg free.  Thanks to all who advised.  I used 2 tbsp Ener-G, 6 tbsp warm water, and 2 smashed bananas, which is actually about 6 eggs. 

My kids declared it their favorite cake ever!  Thank you.

Tami

[ives6797]

Thanks! I already have what I need to make it. I am going to bake today and frost tomorrow. I am excited!

I think I may also make it for the birthday party next month!

[Caryn]

Tami,
That is awesome!
Did you add the sugar per the recipe or just use the sweetness of the bananas?
How did you like the spectrum frosting?

Good Luck Dawn,
Let us know how it goes!
Caryn

[Tami]

Caryn,

I reduced the brown sugar.  I only had a 1/4 cup, so that's all I used.  I did not use the spectrum frosting.  I used the other.  I think my only significant contribution to your recipe was the tiny yellow frosting dot in the center of the carrot flowers.  It fooled a 7 year old into thinking they were candy  .  I intend to use the spectrum on Easter cookies.  I'll get back to you on that. 

[ives6797]

It was fabulous!

Hubby said it was great too, and that he wouldn't have guessed it was GF. All 3 of the kids liked it too!

Anthony ended up getting sick (caught the virus the other 2 kids had) and we had to leave early, so I left hubby's family some peices of it. I don't know what they thought of it. Not sure if I can ask at this point, because after the fact, they could just say it was great regardless of what they really think. I would've been able to tell better if we had stayed there longer. Ah well.

[Caryn]

That's great Dawn that the cake turned out! I hope your son feels better soon. It is awful to be sick, especially on a holiday.
My family couldn't tell if the cake was GF either. I really think the way to go with GF is to use fruits or veggies in the cake. I have a zucchini bread recipe that turned out good, too. I can't stand dense white cake or crumbly chocolate cake. Seems healthier when there is real food in it too.
My next experiment will have to be a banana cake..... Tami got me thinking about it....
I would love to update the orginal post to include Tami's magic recipe for egg free. (Tami you will have to let me know your exact measurements and techniques and I will post it at the bottom.) Egg free cakes are almost impossible to make, so this is a fantastic result! Thanks Tami!
We ate the frozen and defrosted one. It was still good but I preferred the fresh one straight from the fridge that we had for dad's birthday. It cut nicely and held together well but was a tad bit drier than the original.
Caryn

[ives6797]

mmmmm banana! yummmmmmy!

[Caryn]

Hey,
Made it again for another birthday party. All the non-gluten free eaters helped polish it off in no time. 

Just wanted to update that I made it with the 365 brand mix I recently discovered at Whole Foods (made with guar gum instead of xanthan gum.)
Turned out just as great as with my homemade flour mixes. I also made it with honey and brown sugar rather than white sugar. I just used 1/4 cup less in the mix. Cake was much moister with the honey. I actually liked it better.... Either way it is good though.
Just an FYI for anyone looking for a quick shortcut.
I'm thinking this is going to be 'THE' cake for birthdays and holidays as it is starting to get regular requests. LOL. Hubby especially likes it.

[ives6797]

I want to be sure I know what you mean.... so use the same amount of brown sugar, and use honey in place of cane juice/sugar at 1/2c instead of 3/4c...?

[Caryn]

Dawn,
I looked up substitutions of honey for granulated sugar and the ratio is 3/4 cup honey per 1 cup sugar. The tip is to reduce by 1/4 cup whenever you add honey where the recipe calls for sugar. So in this case I kept the brown sugar amount intact and added 1/4 less honey than the recipe called for in 'sugar'.
The 365 mix was just as good as my own blend, in my opinion and beats having to go through all the extra steps.
Caryn

[mtn.mama]

Cake is in the oven... I used egg replacer and applesauce and bananas and honey.  I have cane juice milling right now for the dairy frosting.  How exciting!  We're leaving to go fishing/camping for a five day trip during which my nephew turns 12 and my daughter turns 1... so the cake is going on an adventure!  I'll let you know how everyone liked it when we get back...

[mtn.mama]

Wow!  My family LOVED this recipe... my husband keeps telling me its the best carrot cake he's ever had- that its even better than "normal" carrot cake, meaning wheat... to which I respond "honey, this is our new normal".  I went a step beyond the carrot flowers and cut a bunch of carrot fish!  The kids couldn't believe it was "good for you"...  Thanks for the awesome recipe!

[Caryn]

Thanks!
I'm really glad your family enjoyed it. I have tried other cake varieties since then but so far this one is tops on my family's list, too.

[mtn.mama]

I can't believe another year has floated by.  We've enjoyed your carrot cake time and time again.  Recently we have switched to grain and dairy free, though we have eggs now... so I'm putting together a cake today with some major subs.  We'll be taking it on our annual 5 day fishing trip to celebrate our daughter's 2nd birthday.  Wish me luck... I'll be back to share the recipe if it turns out.