Gluten Free Carrot Cake

Gluten free carrot layer cake on a wooden cake stand with a white background.

5 from 1 vote

Moist and soft Gluten free carrot cake. Easy to make and tastes dreamy topped with beautiful smooth cream cheese frosting. It's nut free and easily made dairy free.

The only recipe for gluten free carrot cake that you will need!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Course: Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: Servings

Calories: 641kcal

Author: Amanda

Equipment

2 8 inch round baking pans
Parchment paper

Ingredients

Ingredients for Gluten free carrot cake

240 ML Oil Use a neutral flavored oil such as vegetable oil or canola oil.
200 grams Sugar
4 Large Eggs Room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
300 grams Gluten free all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon Xanthan Gum Omit if the flour blend already contains xanthan gum.
2 teaspoons Baking powder Check that the baking powder is gluten free as some brands contain gluten.
½ teaspoon Baking soda
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Ground All spice
½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon Salt
200 grams Grated Carrots
1 Fresh Orange (For 2 tablespoons of zest and 4 tablespoons of juice)

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting

280 grams Full-fat cream cheese I used Philidelphia as it is my preferred brand.
300 grams Powdered sugar
280 grams Heavy cream AKA Double cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Orange and Green food coloring (Optional)

Instructions

How to make gluten free carrot cake

Preheat the Oven to 170°c/325°F/Gas mark 3. Line the sides and bottom of the baking pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until fully combined.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and salt into the wet mixture and stir together until no streaks appear.
Add the orange zest, juice, and grated carrots and fold in until evenly distributed.
Divide the carrot cake mixture evenly between two cake pans and spread out evenly within the pans.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Check with a skewer in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean the cake is ready. Place on cooling rack and leave in pans until completely cool.

How to make cream cheese frosting

With electric beaters beat the cream cheese until soft.
Beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time until it is smooth and lump free.
Add in the heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until it thickens into soft peaks.

Assembling the carrot cake

Once the cakes are fully cooled remove them from the pans. Place the bottom layer top side down on the serving plate or cake stand.
Optional - If you would like to pipe on decorative carrots for decoration. Remove a few tablespoons of frosting into two small separate bowls and mix in orange and green food coloring. Transfer each colored frosting into a piping bag and pipe on small carrots on top of the frosted cake.
With a large spoon scoop ¾ of the frosting on top of the bottom layer and spread out evenly.
Carefully place the top layer top-side up and scoop on the remaining frosting and spread evenly. Decorate as desired and place the cake in the refrigerator for the frosting to slightly firm up before serving.

Notes

Recipe Tips

Tip #1: Using a scale and by weight when baking makes all the difference and makes for a more consistent and reliable outcome.

Tip #2: Always Use room temperature ingredients - This will ensure that all ingredients mix well and will be smooth and lump free.

Tip #3: Weighing the pans when dividing the cake mixture will make the cake layers more even as you can be sure both pans contain the same amount.

Tip #4: Use full-fat good quality cream cheese at room temperature. If in the US be sure to use full fat block cream cheese as the tub cream cheese has a higher water content and could result in runny frosting.

Tip #5: By placing the finished cake in the refrigerator will help the cream cheese frosting firm up slightly making it easier to slice.

Nutrition