Moral of the story; you can have your cake and eat it too. My gluten-free, Blender Carrot Cake pratically makes itself and is packed with protein and healthy fats. I created this recipe to satiate my love for Carrot Cake, especially around Easter time. As you well know, as a reader of my website, I’m not an avid baker. Desserts have to be easy, nutrient dense and take little time to make. This Carrot Cake checks all those boxes, the caveat being you have to wait for the cake to cool before frosting. Such is life.

The idea of shredding Carrots makes me claustrophobic; I foresee hand injuries and finicky thin Carrots breaking against the sharp steel blades of my grater. If like me, you’d rather save yourself the time and effort, let the blender do the work AND enjoy some guilt free indulgence, this is the cake for you.

You’ll need a 4.5” x 8.5” loaf cake pan, a blender and a handheld electric mix to make the frosting. You could do this manually.

Organic Ingredients, for a 4.5” x 8.5” loaf cake

4 Carrots, peeled & cut into quarters
2 Cups Fine Almond Flour
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar
1 Cup Walnuts
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. heaped Ground Cinnamon Powder
1 Tsp. heaped Ground Ginger Powder
1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 Tsp. heaped Baking Soda

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 x 8oz Block Cream Cheese, room temp.
4 Tbsps. Butter, room temp.
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract, optional
1/4 Cup Raw Agave Nectar

Notes:

Cream Cheese Frosting is temperature sensitive. Cream Cheese + Butter must be at room temp. before whisking. Once it’s ready, it can sit at room temp. for two hours. Any longer than that and you should refrigerate. Remove from fridge and let sit at room temp. for an hour before frosting your cake.
The general rule of baking as I’ve come to know it is, you first mix your wet ingredients; and these you want to mix well, be it with a blender, or manual, or electric mixer. You want give your Eggs time to aerate which helps create volume in the cake. Once dry ingredients come into the mix, you don’t want to over mix, ie - mix until well incorporated but not more than that. With those principles in mind it’s important the order in which you place your ingredients into the blender and the time in which you blitz.

Method:

Throw quartered Carrots into your blender and blitz for 20 seconds or until finely chopped (see photo below). Add Eggs and Vanilla Extract and blitz for 1 minute. You want your Eggs to get the full minute to start to aerate some. Add Olive Oil and blitz for 30 seconds more. Next add all your dry ingredients except for your Walnuts. Add your Almond Flour, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg. Blitz only for 10 seconds until mixed. You may need to manually mix with a spatula before blitzing for another 5 seconds or so to make sure its all mixed, just don’t over mix here. Crush Walnuts with your hands so that they’re small but not too small. Add Crushed Walnuts into the Batter and mix with a spatula until incorporated. If you’d like to add Raisins, now would be the time.

Pour Batter into your loaf pan lined with parchment paper (see photo below). Bake in a 350f oven for 50 minutes. Test Cake is ready by inserting a toothpick or bamboo skewer through the center; if it comes out clean its cooked. Leave Cake to cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting combine room temperature Cream Cheese, Butter, Agave and Vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk with an electric mixer until smooth. Frost your Cake by applying an even layer of Frosting over the top and sides of your Cake.

Decorate how ever your heart desires. You could try a scatter of crushed Walnuts, some delicate strands of long shredded Carrot, or even a whole Carrot cut in half lengthways across the top. I’ve opted for some edible flowers I picked up at the farmers market for that Easter feeling. For best results refrigerate the Cake for 30 minutes or so before serving for a chilled and luscious Frosting.

Blender Carrot Cake

Sheet Pan Mediterranean Halibut