November 18, 2015
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake!
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A delicious moist & spicy gluten-free carrot cake, smothered in delicious cream cheese frosting!
Gluten free carrot cake
Lets talk carrot cake – its yummy, its delicious…. can you tell its my favourite! As carrot cake to me is the ultimate all time flavour of heaven, why not enjoy a gluten free version. There is not reason why gluten free bakes cant be as yummy as normal bakes. For this cake, you will not tell the difference. Its still moist and yummy and everything a carrot cake should be.
I would seriously recommend this recipe to those who know gluten-free people, or have gluten free people in the family – you can all enjoy it. It’s a simple yet delicious bake and I adore it. My other go to gluten free recipes would have to be my gluten free brownies or my gluten and dairy free chocolate cake, for the same reasons that they are just absolutely scrumptious.
Gluten free flour
I just used any standard gluten-free self raising flour that I found in my local supermarket and it worked so much better than I thought. I do prefer the doves farm brand above anything else, as I find because it has xantham gum added in, it’s perfect.
If you are using a normal gluten free self raising flour then you may want to add in 1/2tsp of xantham gum to help bind the ingredients – carrot cake is a naturally softer sponge anyway, so this does help it.
Usually with gluten free bakes, I try and simply swap the ingredients for the gluten free version. However, please do double check the other ingredients you are using as brands/supermarket own products can all differ – and you don’t want any cross contamination.
Carrots, raisins and nuts
The carrot in the cake brings out so much moisture and deliciousness that you can’t tell the difference between this cake and a regular carrot cake. Genuinely, carrot cake is my favourite cake that is out there as it’s hard to get it wrong, and I just adore it so much for that.
I did decide to only use the carrot & raisins in this cake, as in my other carrot cake recipe I used nuts – and both combinations are DELICIOUS! You can of course add nuts in if you wanted – I’d add 100-200g of a chopped nut of choice, my preference being walnuts because they are a classic addition to a cake like this.
Cream cheese frosting
For the frosting, I decided to do cream cheese frosting as it’s delicious with a carrot cake related bake like this beauty. I have a post all about cream cheese frosting on my blog as it is notoriously tricky, but honestly?! Mine is pretty amazing.
- Butter – For this frosting you MUST use block butter. Margarine/spreads do not work with cream cheese frosting as they are too soft.
- Sugar – as always, icing sugar guys.
- Cream Cheese – I often use Philadelphia to make my cream cheese frosting, you just need to make sure whatever soft cheese you use is full-fat.
- Flavours – I like to add for flavour as per usual, but this is optional – I used vanilla and some ground cinnamon.
Recipe Updated February 2023
Every now and again I will update recipes to what I prefer, but the original recipe will always stay on the page and here it is:
The original recipe was: 210g unsalted butter, 300g caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 300g gluten free self raising flour , 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp baking powder, 450g grated carrots, 150g sultanas. Beat the butter and sugar together until combined, add in the eggs, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, carrots and sultanas and combine. Split between 2x 8″ tins and bake for 30-35 minutes.
The decoration was: 200g unsalted butter, 450g icing sugar, 1-3tbsp whole milk and 2tsp ground cinnamon – beat the butter on it’s own for a few minutes, then add the icing sugar and cinnamon. Add the milk 1tbsp at a time, if needed.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 225 ml sunflower oil
- 275 g light brown sugar
- 5 medium eggs
- 325 g gluten free self raising flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 300 g grated carrots
- 100 g raisins
- Zest of 1 orange
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 175 g unsalted butter room tempreture
- 175 g icing sugar
- 350 g cream cheese
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan and grease and line two 8" cake tins with parchment paper
- Add your grated carrots, eggs, sunflower oil, light brown sugar and orange zest mix until combined
- The, add your ground ginger, ground cinnamon, raisins and gluten free self raising flour and mix again
- Once the mix is combined, pour into the cake tins
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the cake is cooked - test using a cake skewer, it should come out clean
- Leave the cakes to cool in the tins.
Cream cheese frosting
- Beat the room temperature unsalted butter for a couple of minutes until it's smooth and supple
- Add in your icing sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract and beat until combined
- Add your cream cheese and beat to combine again
- Pipe the frosting onto the cakes and decorate however you wish
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe updated February 2023 - original recipe on the blog post.
- I used the doves farm gluten-free self-raising flour that I found in my local supermarket - it doesn't really matter which one you use because the carrots create so much moisture that the texture of the flour is the same as if you used regular self-raising flour! So that's always a bonus.
- This cake will last best in the fridge - for 3 days.
- I use these tins!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Do you use a mixer to combine the ingredients or do you fold them in?
I just use a bowl and a spatula and stir!
How could I scale this to a 15 cm cake tin? Thanks. Love your recipes. x
I made this cake today using regular gluten-free flour a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of GF baking powder. I switched out this sultanas for walnuts. I used half oil and half melted butter that had been brought to room temperature. I’ll post an update when it comes out of the oven!
This was a group favorite, the cake was gone in three days. I have made it thrice now
Do you think this will freeze well? Also, I would like to try it as a traybake, any idea of what size tin would work best??
Made today as cupcakes, omg they were amazing!!!
How long did you bake cupcakes?
Can I just ask quickly, has this recipe changed very recently?
I have been following this GF carrot cake recipe to make cakes the last few weeks, and came to it today, and I’m sure it’s different?
Am I able to get hold of the original / precious GF carrot cake recipe anywhere?
Thank you ☺️
Hiya – sometimes blog posts are updated, but the original recipes are always in the blog posts!! x
I made this today but it’s sunk in the middle – what did I do wrong? I’ve never had this issue with non gluten free cakes. Thanks!
Hiya! This usually means it was slightly underbred – or the oven door was opened too early! Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, I love making your carrot cake recipes so much. My friend wants me to make them a carrot cake for their birthday, do you have any ideas on a diabetic friendly carrot cake?
Hi Jane,
I made this cake last week with cream cheese cinnamon frosting and gluten free flour and it was gorgeous! Although I would like to make it again without the sultanas, but I’m unsure of how to adjust the recipe so that it stays lovely and moist but still a good structure – any ideas how I could alter it please?
Also, I have loved your recipes for years now and recently my friend wanted to practice baking in preparation to make celebration cakes for her new baby (for all the birthdays to come!) And I recommended your bakes, and now she is also hooked! Keep doing what you are doing, we really appreciate it 😀
It should be absolutely fine to just leave the sultanas out!! Good thing about carrot cake is that it’s nearly always moist. And thank you so much!!
Hi Jane,
Is it possible to make plain gluten free flour into self raising gluten free flour by adding baking power and salt? If so what quantities and what kind of salt please?
Thank you!
I’m not sure about the salt, I’ve never heard of that being required – but for regular flour you use 2 level tsps per 150g of plain flour to make self raising!
Hi, any advice to turn these in go GF cupcakes?
This would probably make 20-24 cupcakes, baked for about 20 minutes! x
Hi Jane, is it really necessary to use unsalted butter? Also can I use plant based margarine & milk instead, as I’m dairy & gluten intolerant. I drink Unsweetened Almond milk/Oat Milk (I tend to stay away from Soya, as the process it goes through to make into milk isn’t very healthy). Thanks
Hi Vikki I’d like to know the same for the frosting, will it work using Philadelphia plant based cream cheese, my sister has just been diagnosed as Coeliac and Dairy intolerant. I’d like to make her a cake to show her she hasn’t got to give up everything.🙂
I made this last weekend for a friend. Turned out lovely but she said when she cut into it it just all crumbled. Any idea why?
Because it’s gluten-free (which can be more crumbly anyway), and also carrot cake (which is notoriously soft), it can be sometimes! It shouldn’t have completely crumbled though, so maybe it was a little underbaked?!
Hi Jane, I was wondering if the butter in that recipe could be substituted with oil…?
I’m afraid I haven’t tried with this particular recipe.
I will give it a go and let you know 😊 love your recipes, they never fail! X
Hi Jane! Love your site. My sister is GF and so I am always looking for recipes for her. I have just made this one and found that my mixture was really this and dry. Quite the opposite of smooth so I added some milk. Currently in the oven! Would you have done the same? I did 1.5 of the mixture so added an extra egg too.
Umm carrot cake shouldn’t really ever be dry? Maybe a measurement was off slightly?! I’m unsure, to be honest! I’m sure it’ll still bake well with how you’ve done it!
Hi Jane,
Any idea how long the cooking time would be if you did the cake in 1 large tin (to cut afterwards)
Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Hiya. I’ve got no idea I’m afraid, but a low temperature (140c fan for example) and for a long time is best if its a deep one!
A friend introduced me to your website the other day. Can’t wait to start baking from it. Everything looks so yummy. 😉
Looking forward to trying this for my husband as he is gluten intolerant. It was new to me when i got married, but i am really enjoying experimenting with different recipes. 🙂 My husband much prefers home made GF cakes to shop bought ones!
One that i have found works well is just adding a bit of Xanthan Gum and changing the standard flour to GF in a ‘lemon drizzle cake’ recipe. The lemon juice helps to keep them moist. One of my husbands favourite.
Looking forward to seeing more GF recipes.
Hi Jane,
I love this recipe! I just wanted to check if there was any reason you didn’t use Ginger or mixed spice in this one like you did in your other carrot cake recipe? 🙂
Kaeli
Just different flavours – I make it differently each time!
[…] lovely Jane, behind Jane’s Patisserie posted a recipe for a gluten free carrot cake. Now, I’m not gluten intolerant myself, but I […]
Looks absolutely stunning! I am definitely will try it out 🙂
Hehe thank you! Please do! 🙂
Hi Jane! Can’t wait to try your carrot cake recipe, looks excellent! Just wanted to post and let you know that if you’re looking for gf bread you should try Genius Gluten Free Bread, their triple seeded variety is really good and definitely the best gf bread I’ve tried yet 🙂 I discovered that I was wheat intolerant earlier this year so I share your pain in giving up the goodies!
Aww thanks alisha! I shall try the bread out !:) X
I am so excited about this recipe! I am allergic to Gluten (as well as tons of others in my family) and I can tell you from experience that there are tons of options now-a-days. I just want to caution you on the occasional cheat. I haven’t had gluten in years and any time I accidentally have gluten, I end up feeling extremely sick for a few days. You may not be 100% allergic or intolerant, but I would be careful anyway. Can’t wait to see more of your GF recipes!
Ohh I know to be careful, but i’ve accidentally eaten a couple of my favourite biscuits the other day and i seemed fine, but I will try and be as good as possible! 🙂 I really hope you and everyone loves this recipe!! ❤️
Looks delicious!!!
Thank you!!
Oh that’s rotten news Jane. You know my dad is Coeliac and I was tested earlier this year (thank god I’m not!) so I understand how hard this is on you. The carrot cake looks gorgeous, I’ll have to make it for my dad – I’ll look forward to your future GF creations x
I can still eat it reeeeeeally, like its not 100% all evil, but I should really avoid it if I can 🙂 so its not all bad! and thank you so much!! You’re lucky you aren’t! x
Oh, that looks amazingly good! We can’t buy self raising GF flour here – do you think you could use plain and just a bit more baking powder?!
Thank you! Yeah Im sure that will still work perfectly fine! 🙂 x
Finally a carrot cake I can enjoy without my tummy being naughty! Thank you Jane ? x
Hehe thanks Lauren – Gutted I’m officially gluten intolerant – can’t quite just ignore it any more! 😛 x
Poor thing! I think I’d have a crisis if that happened to me! X
I think I am having a crisis ? Just had to stop myself from eating my favourite biscuits! xx
I tried gluten free biscuits for a while, the one I’d avoid are the custard creams – they just didn’t taste right at all! But others were yummy and homemade would be fab I’m sure! 🙂 xx
Im glad you told me this as I almost bought some of the Custard Cream ones today but forgot my purse and would’ve bought them tomorrow!! And yes, I am determined to bake delicious homemade ones!! xx
Can’t wait for more of your gluten free recipes! ? they’ll help me to be healthier too! Xx
Delighted to know you will be posting more gf recipes as my mum is gluten intolerant. I have made your no bake rolo cheesecake so many times and it is a favourite among my extended family however unfortunately my mum can’t have it!!!!!
I will definitely try this for her
Thanks Anne Marie
Sent from my iPad
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Oh no! Try making it one day with some gluten free biscuits on the bottom 🙂 May be a little crumbly, but then at least she can enjoy it too! x
Hey Jane will you be posting more Gfree recipes? I know you’ve posted a few more but more big cakes!? I absolutely love your recipes have made loads but found out same as you recently, I am gluten free now to. Least know why I have been so unwell for years after a lot of different foods! Some people have said to just change the flours round from regular recipes but I am brand new to this Gfree business so bit wary about doing that. Have you tried this or have any advice? Made Gfree brownies they were delicious! Didn’t taste any different! Also recieved your book today to, love it!
Thanks
🙂
I won’t be doing too many specific bakes, as I find most of my recipes can be easily switched to gluten-free with simple switches or the addition of xantham gum for example!! x