A short list of things that will forever remind me of spring….
finding toy trucks, random socks and maybe a coin or two under the melting snow (it’s a bit like lifting the sofa cushion, it’s anyone’s guess what’s lurking under there);
spring skiing and the smell of bain de soleil;
running streams breaking the long, deep silence of winter;
daffodils and tulips;
flowering peach trees (that’s a new addition);
frittata & carrot cake!
How about you… what reminds you of spring?
So this cake…. I wouldn’t say no to it any time of year but I typically make it in the spring. It’s so yummy and full of flavor — a sweet spice medley of cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg accented with a touch of citrus, it delivers warm, bright notes with every bite. And the cream cheese-yogurt frosting… oh. my. luscious and dizzyingly good (and you can choose the sweet level that works for you!). This cake was developed as a gluten-free option but that too is easily changed if you wish to use straight up flour (see Notes).
I hope you love it — get ready, your kitchen is going to smell heavenly!
Happy Spring
- For the Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all purpose gluten-free baking flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2+1/2 cups shredded carrots, lightly packed
- Juice of 1 orange
- Zest of 1 orange
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (I like Califia Farms brand)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts + more for decorating
- ⅓ cup golden raisins (or other dried fruit), optional
- For the Cream Cheese-Yogurt Frosting
- 2 x 8 oz (500 g) original cream cheese
- 7 oz (200 g) 2% unsweetened plain yogurt
- 1 cup, or to taste, powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease 2 x 9-inch round cake pans generously (I also recommend lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper - it only takes a sec and makes the cake so much easier to remove).
- Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl (gluten-free flour to nutmeg).
- In a separate large bowl, combine wet ingredients (carrots to milk) whisking to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to wet using a spatula to gently fold together just until combined (best not to overmix). Add walnuts and fruit if using - giving another stir or two.
- Divide the batter equally into the two separate cake pans and bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the surface is firm when gently touched (it should also be a nice deep golden color). Allow the cakes to cool before carefully unmolding and cool fully before frosting and serving -OR- before covering and storing in the fridge for several hours or overnight (more below).
- To make the frosting, place the cream cheese, yogurt and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the powdered sugar gradually, while beating on high with a mixer until smooth and fluffy. Taste the frosting and adjust sugar to preference (somewhere betw. 1 - 1 + ¾ cups should be about right). You can also refrigerate the frosting overnight if you wish.
- If you've refrigerated the cake, be sure to *remove it from fridge at least 2 hours before you plan on serving it* to allow it to come to room temperature. Frost and enjoy.
- To frost the cake, I used a small spatula to spread a layer over the first cake and then placed the second cake on top with another generous layer of frosting over the second cake (leaving enough to cover the sides of the cake). Once the cake is fully covered, you can decorate with another sprinkle of nuts/fruit and some leftover carrot bits or orange zest, as desired.
- Store leftovers (hah!) in an airtight container in the refrigerator - should be fine for 3 days or so.
Can I use AP flour instead of Gluten-Free? yes! you can use 2 cups of AP + ½ cup of the almond flour (leaving other measurements as is) -or- if you want to skip the almond flour too, you can go with 2+1/4 cups AP flour with 1 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp baking soda.
I don't like raisins, can I skip them? yes! you can either skip them altogether or sub something you do like - some options: currants, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried apricots (thin sliced).
Other Substitutions: butter/oil: you can use ½ cup melted butter (in place of part olive oil) or ½ cup olive oil in place of part butter, as preferred. Nuts! I cannot imagine carrot cake without walnuts, but whatever lights your torch -- sub any nut you wish. Milk: cow's milk (or any other) is perfectly fine.
Your carrot cake looks beautiful. your words for summer made me smile. I loved your research about this cake. I made it for my family. They loved it. Thank you for sharing this and making our summer happier.
This is such a lovely recipe loved it while making
Looks delicious! Curious as to why you use almond milk in the cake but dairy products in the frosting? Might you have suggestions for a dairy free frosting?
Hi Cory, thanks for your note. I like the taste of almond milk (and appreciate its sugar free nature) so it’s often my milk beverage of choice. For a dairy free carrot cake frosting, this recipe caught my attention as being both delicious sounding and sourced from quality ingredients — I hope it’s an option for you: https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-carrot-cake-macadamia-frosting/
The sound of a running stream and seeing the crocuses and daffodil greens poking out of the ground are my two favourite signs that Spring is on the way. This April has been so cold and snowy (!) but yesterday on a drive we noticed both of these signs and it was like reassurance that warmer days are coming soon!
Carrot cake is probably my most favourite cake flavour. Years ago I made up a recipe and then somehow lost the scrap paper that I wrote it out on (lesson to myself here is always use a notebook!) so seeing your post is such a treat! Your cake looks delicious. I’m 100% with you on carrot cake + nuts (a must!). Cannot wait to make this very soon! xo
love that you still use a notebook for recording; i haven’t moved on to my phone either =) wishing you fields of crocuses & daffodils, x
What a gorgeous-looking carrot cake! I’ve never made a layered one…. it looks much more festive!
It’s a tough question… what reminds me of spring… chives and fresh cheese spread? home sprouting “factory” where I grow my plants from seeds in tiny pots… and, will I spoil the magic of spring if I say “dirty windows”? (my windows suddenly, one day, start looking awful with the bright daylight and I wonder how come I didn’t see it throughout the winter, haha!).
I hope you’ve spent wonderful and delicious Easter holidays!
hah, dirty windows, what a great observation and so true! A classic. I’m trying to grow herbs from seeds this year (rather than pre-sprung ;-) fingers crossed (there’s some hope…).
What reminds me of Spring?
The smell of the earth as it thaws from the long, hard winter. Daylight a little longer after a long dark winter! Japanese Cherry Blossoms. And now, the dessert in full bloom and this carrot cake! I love it that it’s much lighter on the oil, I stopped making this beloved dessert because of the enormous amounts of oil in most recipes! I will have to give this a go soon. Happy Easter to you and your beautiful family, Kelly. XOXO
The smell of the earth… love that. My husband and son planted a Japanese cherry blossom in our backyard for Arbor day two years ago and it’s in full bloom right now – so beautiful. Happy Spring Eva!
Now that is one beautiful carrot cake! Have never made one myself, but have eaten several. I have to say that the GF one I had at Christmas was the best ever. I see that yours is GF so I’m already excited about the possibility of trying to make this. But one must understand that I’ve never made a layered cake before…a couple of sheet cakes, but never a layered cake. Your is SO tempting. What a way to welcome spring!
So what reminds me of spring? A couple of the sames ones in your list – flowering trees and bushes and blooming bulbs. A couple of others are spotted towhees and warblers, and wind. Our spring is beautiful but it comes with the wind. :) Happy Spring!
I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever made a sheet cake; maybe when the boys were younger for birthday party cakes (great for feeding a crew); anyway, you’ll have no trouble with the layered look ;-) WIND, yes!!
This is the prettiest gluten-free carrot cake I’ve ever seen! Thank you for specifying flours. I always feel a bit overwhelmed when it comes to gf baking but want to be more adventurous. This sounds straightforward and a good place to start (love that you included orange, sounds delicious.)
Hi Mindy, I’m so glad this recipe and approach appeals; a mix of fours is usually best with gluten-free baking to get the right texture. You can buy the premixed flours (such as the one this recipe calls for) to experiment and practice and then play around with your own mixes (buying the flours separately) if you wish. The advantage to buying the flours separately for certain recipes is that it allows you full control over how much of each you want to use — be it coconut flour, almond, chickpea flour, tapioca, etc. so you can achieve different results with different mixes. I hope you have fun with it!
Love your list! item #1 is spot on ;-) I’ll tell you what doesn’t remind me of spring, SNOW (and more SNOW!!!) Your cake however looks delicious and that icing is going to happen over here very soon! Send a little sunshine our way girl.
hah, spring is surely on the way! Wishing it for you… the icing is super yummy :)
Wow Yummy!
Have been looking for a good carrot recipe – looks like I just found it! Our family loves carrot cake. Can’t wait to try it. Your pics are amazing. My mouth is watering!
Thanks Lynn! Hope you enjoy it if you have a chance to give it a try.
Adore this post! adore the cake, and the decoration you chose for the top
Strangely enough, one of the things that remind me of spring is the festival of love performed by the owls outside our bedroom window middle of the night.
they are getting pretty hot and heavy, I can tell – I think it’s a bit early in the year, but who am I to criticize their modus operandi?
;-)
(except of course for the fact that it prevents me from sleeping…)
yeah, don’t know anything about the mating habits of owls but how intriguing; a festival of love can never be a bad thing, right ;o – we got around to changing our windows a couple years ago and couldn’t get over what a difference it made in terms of soundproofing (we would hear the birds etc. as though they were in the room with us at the crack of dawn every morn) it blunts the cacophony a bit in those early hours :)