Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Super Safe Carrot Cake (Gluten, Corn, Soy and Nut Free, Vegan)

One of the quintessential spring desserts seems to be carrot cake. Now, I'm no stranger to carrot cake - it's definitely in my top 3 favourite (non-cheesecake) cakes of all time. I also love that it's not cloyingly sweet (at least when it's homemade by me!) and is almost infinitely variable in the things you can include or not depending on your taste. I wanted to give all the girls at my hair salon a treat they could enjoy for the Easter season, and since many of them are vegan, some of them are allergic to nuts or corn and still others are gluten free it looked like I had my work cut out for me.

GF Vegan Carrot Loaf CakeThen I checked out The Gluten Free Vegan from the library and spotted this gem. I adapted it to suit my needs and pantry, but it remains a "safe" dessert to serve (or eat yourself) to mixed company, especially if you don't want the fuss and bother of a fancy cake! My version uses juicer pulp in place of grated carrots since I had it in my freezer, but I'm sure finely shredded carrots, squeezed dry, would work too!

Shared with Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Wellness Weekends, Gluten Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Friday.

Super Safe Carrot Cake
Serves 12
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 tbsp maple syrup
"Super Safe" Carrot Cake
1/4 tsp stevia extract powder
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tbsp tapioca starch
2 tsp baking powder (corn free)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp guar gum
1/4 cup diced figs
1/3 cup diced dates
1 cup carrot juicer pulp (dry)
1/2 cup well drained crushed pineapple
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5" loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together oil, agave, maple syrup, stevia and applesauce until well combined.
  3. Whisk together the flaxseed and warm water and beat into the oil mixture.
  4. Beat in the flours, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and guar gum.
  5. Stir in the figs, carrot pulp and crushed pineapple.
  6. Spread into the prepared pan.
  7. Bake 50 minutes, until tests done.
  8. Glaze with powdered sugar if desired.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 187.1
Total Fat: 5.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 10.2 mg
Total Carbs: 33.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g
Protein: 2.5 g

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