Mastodawn

EDIT: Wow, thank you all for the many amazing and helpful suggestions! These are great, thank you! We do have almond meal, buckwheat and rice flours (we've got gluten intolerants/coeliacs in our household too) so we'll be able to try some of these recipes and ideas out over the next week or so. I'll update with the results :)

Kid2 is making a cake for her gluten-free friend and the friend has requested carrot cake. So far we've had two test cakes (it's for a special occasion so Kid2 wants it to be very good) and neither has been amazing. Edible? Yes. But not special occasion-worthy.

Does anyone have a failsafe gluten free carrot cake recipe? Boosts very much appreciated

#baking #cake #GlutenFree

Robotistry Mar 15

@teadrinker Gluten free baked goods are much better when eaten before they cool. Is there a way to deliver it still warm?

@robotistry Unfortunately not... it's for a party so the cake will have to be done and delivered a few hours beforehand. I agree, though – warm cake is the best cake, especially when it's gluten free!

Phil Dennis-Jordan Mar 15

@teadrinker @robotistry In my experience, it’s mainly the corn flour that makes it go hard on cooling. (Microwave to soften!) Replacing corn with combinations of buckwheat, rice, chickpea, soy,… flours tends to largely solve that particular problem.
The different flours all have their own characteristics, so finding the right combo for each type of bake can be tricky. Being more specific about the way it goes wrong may help with getting better suggestions here. Keep at it!

Sini Tuulia Mar 15

@teadrinker No specific recipe in mind (my baking is always extremely and even problematically seat of the pants) but as a general tip: One single flour mix for one single recipe will never be the optimal one! Almost certainly I'd mix full grain rice flour, corn starch, buckwheat flour, gluten free oat flour AND fine starch-heavy baking mix with xanthan gum and/or psyllium in it... Sort of according to what the batter wants to be like. 😄

Additional small amounts of salt into even sweet batters, a margarine or butter instead of vegetable oil, and milk free or milk containing yoghurt or quark instead of just milk will also be beneficial. And instead of plain white sugar, carrot benefits from dark molasses or dark cane sugar. Perhaps not that helpful, but that's my wisdom!

@sinituulia On the contrary, so very helpful! Thank you!

Sini Tuulia Mar 15

@teadrinker In that case you're very welcome!
If a bit of baking keeps failing even when it feels like it shouldn't (the batter or dough felt "good") and then it's gummy or congealed once baked? Too many additives in a flour mix! The extra fibre, thickeners etc. will often mess with the feel of the dough, and it can get a while to get used to. To get around this, only use very little. 😄 Those baby food fruit and vegetable purees will also often improve the taste and mouth feel of cakes and breads even when you don't think they would, as they have fibre and pectin etc. And also taste nice.

Angela Miller Mar 15

@teadrinker
This is my Spelt Flour recipe, and the spelt Flour can be replaced with GF Flour. I hope that's helpful.

https://crowhousekitchen.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/spelt-carrot-cake-with-cinnamon-buttercream-icing/

Spelt Carrot Cake with cinnamon buttercream Icing

From time to time I crave the sweet, moist texture of Carrot Cake, so I turn to this recipe which uses Spelt flour instead of Plain flour because of my wheat intolerance. The real secret to the m…

Crow House Kitchen

Jules she/her Mar 15

@teadrinker in what way did it fail? Was it too dry or too crumbly? This tastes good but doesn't hold together very well, but is also vegan. If you find a recipe with eggs it would probably hold together better.

Dry ingredients:
150g gluten free four (I used Doves Farm plain white)
150g ground almonds
75g brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or your preferred spice mix)

Wet ingredients
60ml sunflower oil (or other flavourless oil)
200ml soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
300g grated carrot

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line the tin with greaseproof paper.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Mix the carrot in last so you can be sure you got all the lumps out of the batter before you put new, different lumps in on purpose.
Bake for 45 minutes or till a knife comes out clean.

Jules she/her Mar 15

@teadrinker also I recommend this website for free from baking https://theloopywhisk.com/

The Loopy Whisk - Feel Good Recipes for All Dietary Requirements

Here, you'll find allergy friendly recipes that are basically indistinguishable from their “regular” equivalents: from gluten free to vegan!

The Loopy Whisk

Jules she/her Mar 15

@teadrinker but you can't just do a straight swap of gluten full flour for gluten free flour, gluten free flour needs more water to work so if you just put the same ratio of flour to water in your cake will be dry. You can compensate for this by using proportionally more liquid or less flour, but it takes a bit of practice and experimentation because this can affect the structure of the cake by changing the ratio of flour or liquid to the other ingredients, so rather than trying to adapt a gluten flour recipe I'd start with one that's designed to be gluten free

Jules she/her Mar 15

@teadrinker gluten also acts as a binder holding things together, so if the cake was too crumbly it'll need more of a different type of binder - egg, xanthan gum or psyllium husk. I use Doves Farm gluten free flour blend because it already has xanthan gum added, most ready made gluten free mixed flours will but it's always worth checking. But if you just use something like rice or millet flour straight you're going to need some sort of extra binder to hold it together

die_christine Mar 15

@teadrinker Carrotcake can be made with almond.

I only got a recipe in german. But it is not doo complicated to understand:

die_christine Mar 15

@teadrinker 300g Möhren
5 Eier
200g Zucker
1 El Vanillezucker
300g gemahlene Mandeln
1 Tl Zimtpulver
etwas gemahlene Nelken
etwas geriebene Muskatnuß

* die Möhren putzen fein raspeln
* die Eier trennen
* die Eigelbe mit dem Zucker und dem Vanillezucker schaumig schlagen
* die Eiweiße zu Eischnee schlagen
* die Möhren, Mandeln, Gewürze unter die Eigelbmasse mischen
* Eischnee unterheben
* in einer Springform im Backofen bei 200° (Umluft 180°) ca. 50 Minuten backen

Katzentratschen Mar 15

@die_christine @teadrinker Without oil or fat? My recipe is similar (with walnuts and flour), but there's also 250 ml oil in the batter.

die_christine Mar 15

@katzentratschen @teadrinker No oil or fat added. I think the almonds contain enough.

Juffo-Wup Mar 15

@die_christine @teadrinker

Almond based cakes are delicious!

kattekrab Mar 15

@teadrinker @futzle try this one - https://www.nigella.com/recipes/venetian-carrot-cake

Venetian Carrot Cake

I long thought that carrot cake was an American invention, until I found out that an early version was made by Venetian Jews in the original ghetto. This modest disc is very different from the gargantuan US model with its rich sweet cream-cheese filling and topping, and although — apart from a glorious goldenness — it's not much to look at, it is divine to eat. It also has the added virtue of being attractive to those with lactose and gluten allergies: it was always made dairy-free, and I decided to use ground almonds in place of flour so that the cake could be eaten by the gluten-intolerant as well, but more particularly because it tastes perfect to me like this. Those who do not need to avoid dairy should most certainly consider dollopping alongside each damply crumbling wedge of cake my Italianate nod to the American cream-cheese frosting — a soft, rum-spiked mascarpone cream. If you don't want to use the rum, add some finely grated orange zest to the mascarpone, and replace the rum in the cake with the equivalent amount of orange juice.

Nigella.com

kattekrab Mar 15

@teadrinker @futzle and this https://www.womensweeklyfood.com.au/recipe/baking/gluten-free-carrot-cake-6681/

How to make a gluten-free carrot cake recipe with frosting

Dense and delicious

Women's Weekly Food

Deb Nam-Krane Mar 15

@teadrinker Gluten-free but not vegan? Any of the gf flour mixes should work. Bob's is fine, I like the one with bean flours best.

What's missing? Flavor? Texture?

Deb Nam-Krane Mar 15

@teadrinker This looks like fun. https://www.nigella.com/recipes/venetian-carrot-cake

Venetian Carrot Cake

I long thought that carrot cake was an American invention, until I found out that an early version was made by Venetian Jews in the original ghetto. This modest disc is very different from the gargantuan US model with its rich sweet cream-cheese filling and topping, and although — apart from a glorious goldenness — it's not much to look at, it is divine to eat. It also has the added virtue of being attractive to those with lactose and gluten allergies: it was always made dairy-free, and I decided to use ground almonds in place of flour so that the cake could be eaten by the gluten-intolerant as well, but more particularly because it tastes perfect to me like this. Those who do not need to avoid dairy should most certainly consider dollopping alongside each damply crumbling wedge of cake my Italianate nod to the American cream-cheese frosting — a soft, rum-spiked mascarpone cream. If you don't want to use the rum, add some finely grated orange zest to the mascarpone, and replace the rum in the cake with the equivalent amount of orange juice.

Nigella.com

Anton 🇺🇦🇪🇺Mar 15

@teadrinker In my experience, the best gluten-free recipes are the best normal recipes that you already know, but then you replace the flour with Finax.

https://www.finax.se/sv/produkter/glutenfritt/glutenfria-mjoelmixer/mjoelmix-original/

Finax

Anton 🇺🇦🇪🇺Mar 15

@teadrinker Oh, and remember to seal the cake in something that is air tight as soon as possible. Gluten-free flour loses its moisture very fast, but not as fast if there is nowhere for the moisture to escape.

@teadrinker others already gave you the tips i had, except one: if you can find it, buckwheat flour is gf and has an amazing taste that goes very well with carrot cake

@teadrinker
Go to a heath food store like Sprouts. They may already have a GF carrot cake. If you can, smash some cash on a GF bakery. They know what's up.

@teadrinker “Gluten Free on a Shoestring” is my go-to carrot cake. Enjoy! https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-carrot-cake/

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gluten free carrot cake with fresh carrots and warm spice and extra tender texture. Plus tips for freezing, and easy dairy-free swaps.

Gluten Free on a Shoestring

@teadrinker Our formally gluten-free family often found that many 'paleo' recipies for cakes and pie crusts to be quite good. They usually gluten-free.

Be Kinder Than Necessary Mar 15

This may not be helpful to you where you are, but I've been able to use my traditional recipes successfully with off-the-shelf GF flour blend products.

Their quality varies. In the US I like King Arthur Measure for Measure. Works great for cakes. My biggest adjustment is needing a little longer bake time to get the proper result. Taste and texture are very good. I don't love some of the competitors, so you still have to experiment.

@teadrinker and not to complicate things, but I hope that gluten is the *only* allergy the recipient has. Seems like they would tell you, though. Good luck.

Arcadiagt5 Mar 15

@teadrinker Sorry I can’t help but I’m glad that the fedi came through for you. Enjoy the cake!

Ulrike Walter-Lipow 5d ago

@teadrinker Oh, only seeing this now - if it is not too late, this is your go-to recipe: https://theloopywhisk.com/2023/03/19/easy-gluten-free-carrot-cake/

I make the one that it is based on (the one in the author's book), and so far every carrot cake lover has loved it. You can make it with various gf flour mixes (I have a standard store-bought one, works like a charm, read the recipe carefully about the role of xanthan).

Easy Gluten Free Carrot Cake - The Loopy Whisk

This is THE BEST gluten free carrot cake you’ll ever make. It’s perfectly moist, soft and tender, and it’s incredibly easy to make.

The Loopy Whisk