Gluten Free Mini Carrot Cake
This delicious gluten free mini carrot cake features a wee cake with an oh-so-tender crumb, warm spices, and a generous swirl of cream cheese frosting.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 583kcal
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup gluten free flour or oat flour (120 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrots finely grated
Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese (1 block of cream cheese)
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Bake the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 6-inch cake pan and line it with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the ¾ cup vegetable oil, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 2 large eggs.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 cup gluten free flour with the ¾ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, and spices. Stir this mix into the wet ingredients. Fold in the 1 ½ cups shredded carrots.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest for up to 20 minutes. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out to cool completely.
Make the frosting
- In a large bowl, cream the ½ cup unsalted butter and 8 ounces cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the 3-4 cups powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency and sweetness.
- Frost the top and sides of the cooled cake.
Notes
- Rest the batter. Resting the batter while the oven preheats allows the gluten-free flours to fully absorb the liquid in the batter and avoid any of the dreaded "grittiness" that can occur in gluten-free baked goods.
- Use room temperature ingredients. So important! Especially for the frosting—you want a really smooth and fluffy frosting, so let the butter and cream cheese sit out on the counter until they are soft. It's OK to do this for several hours if necessary.
- Sift the powdered sugar. Another way to ensure the smoothest frosting is to ALWAYS sift powdered sugar before adding it in. You should do this when you make any frosting recipe!
- Refrigerate the cake. This is a pretty soft cake. To help with frosting, place the cooled cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This will help with even frosting. Also, use a gentle hand when applying the frosting.
- Add other spices. You can add ¼ teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and cardamom to give the cake an even cozier flavor.
- Stir in nuts and raisins. I have left these out of the ingredients list, but a more traditional carrot cake contains golden raisins and nuts like walnuts. Feel free to throw these in if you wish.
- To make refined sugar-free: Use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- To make dairy-free: Substitute your favorite non-dairy butter and non-dairy cream cheese in the frosting.
- Skip the frosting. I mean, why would you ...! But you absolutely can if you wish for a simpler cake: Leave off the frosting and dust the top of the cake with sifted powdered sugar and serve a little whipped cream on the side.
Nutrition
Calories: 583kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 264mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 3848IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1mg