I cheated.
I lost.
I splurged.
And I’m sharing it all with you today.
Full of gluten, refined sugar, cheese and more sugar this carrot is against everything I’ve ever told you. It feels so wrong but tastes so right.
Gotchya
APRIL FOOL’S!
And now chalk that up to the worst April Fool’s prank ever and lets move on. While this cake seems like it is full of gluten, sugar, dairy and more sugar. It isn’t and that’s not a joke! I’m not kidding you when I believe the greatest dessert creation I’ve ever made lies before you…on the computer screen.
That moist, slightly dense, spiced carrot cake with the creamy frosting in four amazing layers fulfills every cake, sweet, dessert craving a girl could have. Perfectly spiced so you don’t even recognize that this beauty is free of refined sugar not to mention the four cups of veggies and one cup of fruit.
I’m not sure how it happened, other than by the grace of God. And yes, sometimes you have to chalk these amazing creations up to the Creator himself and thank him for the slice of Heaven that lies in front of you. I also must attribute some of the success to the help of the baker of the family, our middle, very spunky and stubborn daughter.
While she loves to bake, she does it just like her mamma and that is making a mess. I’m pretty certain if you could see beyond the beauty of this cake you would have thought a tornado passed through our house. The real life aspect is, when you get a two-year old in the kitchen you’re really never quite sure what is going to go down. This time around it was relatively minor, spilling an entire bottle of cinnamon, smearing tapioca starch on her pants like paint, pushing her finger through the egg shells to crack them open (which only leaves the tiniest pieces of shell ever) and throwing shreds of carrots on the floor to her little sister as if she were a dog. Minor things, right?
Or in some eyes, it was a complete disaster with a good ending. It was, in all aspects, a disastrous mess that was slightly chaotic in many aspects. That is why I choose to look beyond the mess to the beautiful end. To see my daughter fully engaged in the entire process of making this cake not even obsessing over being able to eat it but just making it for the sake of loving to cook. The mess is completely worth it knowing to her there isn’t a care in the world when she gets the joy of mixing ingredients and experimenting with her motor skills.
Warm and fuzzies all over when I get to spend some quality time in the kitchen helping to teach her to love cooking and baking and not stressing over the disaster of the process. I can say this all because we literally left all of the dishes for the hubs….thanks babe for eating your slice of Heaven and then cleaning the kitchen. Happy momma, messy kitchen, beautiful cake it’s all relative. One thing I know for sure is that no one will be complaining if you take a stab at this cake for your Easter celebrations. And I’m sure they won’t ever guess that is refined-sugar free, grain free, dairy-free, chalked full of veggies and fruits. Nope no one.
No-fail Spiced Carrot Cake is a must!
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1½ cup tapioca starch
- 2 T cinnamon
- 3 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 pinches of cloves
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butter
- 8 eggs
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups shredded carrots
- 10 ounces goat cheese
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2-4 Tbsp almond milk or coconut milk
- ¼ cup softened butter
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare four round cake pans (or cook in two batches as I did).
- In a large bowl, mix together coconut flour, tapioca starch, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, salt, cloves, and baking powder. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, add softened butter and coconut sugar. Mix with hand mixer to combine.
- Add in eggs, vanilla and applesauce. Mix again until combined.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well until no lumps can be see with hand mixer.
- Fold in carrots.
- Separate into fourths or add ¼ of batter to cake pan, repeating until you have four cakes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until springy when touched. Cool and remove from pan.
- In a bowl add goat cheese and butter. Mix with hand mixer until combined.
- Add vanilla, honey and maple syrup mixing again.
- Add milk until desired consistency. Should be light and spreadable.
- Add 1 cake to cake plate or plate. Top with just enough frosting to cover. Add another layer and repeat until you get to the top of the cake adding more frosting to the top.
- Garnish with shredded coconut flakes and crushed walnuts or pecans.
