Description

This nut-free carrot cake is soft, moist, and perfectly spiced, proving you don’t need almond flour and nuts to make an exceptional gluten-free carrot cake. Made with a blend of sorghum, millet, tigernut, and tapioca flour, it’s naturally gluten-free, coconut-free, and refined sugar-free, with plenty of carrots, apple, and warm spices for flavor and moisture. Bake it as a simple sheet cake for everyday baking or turn it into a beautiful layer cake for special occasions.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup tigernut flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, ground
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of ground cardamom

Wet Ingredients

4 pasture-raised eggs
4 tablespoons allulose (or another granulated natural sweetener)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup hemp milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 organic orange and 1 organic lemon (or orange and lemon extract)

Add-ins (not optional)

2 cups grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)
1 grated apple
a handful of toasted pine nuts for topping

Frosting

200 g Italian mascarpone (or organic cream cheese)
2–3 tablespoons A2 yogurt, goat yogurt, or sheep yogurt
2 tablespoons allulose or another natural sweetener, to taste
Vanilla and citrus zest or extract, to taste

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8 x 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish with parchment paper.
Toast about 70 g pine nuts. Grind 1/4 cup for the batter and reserve a handful whole for topping, if using.
In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
In another large bowl, combine the eggs, sweetener, olive oil, hemp milk, vanilla, and citrus zest or extracts.
Grate the carrots and apple.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
Fold in the grated carrots and apple.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the reserved toasted pine nuts and gently press them into the surface.
Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
To make the frosting, whip together the mascarpone, yogurt, sweetener, vanilla, and citrus until thick and creamy. Spread over the cooled cake before serving.
For the best flavor and texture, refrigerate the cake for several hours or overnight before serving.

Notes

Why this recipe works without nut flour: Sorghum, millet, tigernut, and tapioca flour create a balanced texture that’s soft, moist, and sturdy enough for both a sheet cake and a layer cake.

Are tigernuts and pine nuts actually nuts? No. Tigernuts are small root vegetables, while pine nuts are edible seeds. If you also avoid pine nuts, simply replace the ground pine nuts with additional tigernut flour.

Sweetener options: Monk fruit, allulose, or erythritol-based sweeteners all work well.

Bake it your way: This recipe can be baked as a sheet cake, loaf cake, muffins, or doubled to make a two-layer celebration cake.

Frosting: The mascarpone frosting is optional. The cake is equally delicious served plain.

Storage: Like most carrot cakes, this one tastes even better after resting in the refrigerator overnight.