Carrot cake is by FAR my favorite cake – heck, i’d go as far to say it is my favorite DESSERT! So of course, I had to make my own at home, and honestly it turned out SO WELL!
This “healthier” carrot coconut cake uses wholesome and real ingredients, but doesn’t miss any of the flavor, texture or decadence of a standard bakery cake! The warm spices mixed with the soft cream cheese frosting is just the perfect pair! And to switch things up and make it “my own” i’ve included coconut in the batter. Instead of raisins and walnuts, try coconut next time, it’s the perfect flavor addition!
Cakes aren’t always the easiest thing to bake, and I usually find them pretty intimidating. but, I was determined to get this one right. It took a couple of tries, but I think i’ve nailed down a cake your entire family will enjoy!
For the cake, I kept it gluten and dairy free – typical of almost all of my recipes. To do this, I used almond flour, which I think gives the cake the perfect texture – firm and holds together well, but still light and fluffy! The cake is also refined sugar free, using my usual coconut sugar and maple syrup to sweeten it up!
Now on to the filling and frosting! The filling was honestly created on a whim, by just combining a few ingredients together that I thought may work well as a frosting. The texture just wasn’t right for frosting the entire cake though, so I decided to make it the middle layer and don’t regret it for one second! The middle layer is only 3 ingredients, is also dairy free, and has a sweet nutty flavor from the cashew butter.
The frosting on top – a classic cream cheese frosting of course! You rally can’t do anything else on carrot cake in my opinion. This frosting is just three simple ingredients as well – also dairy free if you use Dairy Free Cream Cheese.
This recipe may take a little more time and effort than some of my other recipes, but I promise it will be worth your while!
Carrot Coconut Cake
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cupcoconut sugar
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup grated carrots
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- cream from coconut milk can
- 1/3 cup cashew butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp xanthan gum(to thicken)
- 1 cup whipped cream cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
How to cook Carrot Coconut Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut oil, eggs, coconut sugar and maple syrup.
- In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
- Pour dry ingredients into wet a little at a time, constantly mixing together.
- Once combined, add in shredded carrot and coconut and mix thoroughly.
- Pour batter into a 10 in. round cake pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together and mix until incorporated.
- *For the filling you will need to let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to set up some.
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