Gluten-Free Carrot and Pecan Cake (serves 6-8)

April 19, 2017January 22, 2018Leave a comment

Gluten-Free Carrot and Pecan Cake made by The Fat Foodie

I recently got a copy of The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet book from the library and it has a great recipe section at the back. I’m definitely going to buy a copy of my own though because it’s an invaluable resource for following the low FODMAP diet, as is the cookbook. As I was reading, one of the recipes that caught my eye was one for a gluten-free carrot and pecan cake.

Now let me tell you, I love cake, but I hate gluten-free cakes that have that horrid granular texture and whip all of the moisture out of your mouth whilst you try to chew them. Nope. Just nope. However, I’m very pleased to tell you, friends, that this cake is not like that. It’s moist, moreish and massively tasty!

The official recipe in the book calls for a blend of cornflour, rice and tapioca flours, but who has time for that? I just used a Doves Farm Gluten-Free Plain White Flour blend (which I’m going to start buying in bulk) and it worked just fine. Dove’s Farm G/F flour is also a good option because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP ingredients. The recipe also just states that you’re to use “2 small carrots”, but I hate that sort of instruction, particularly when it comes to making things like cakes when the quantities you use can make a massive difference to the overall result of the cake. Instead, I weighed my carrots and ascertained that 250g of carrots was the optimum carrot quantity needed. You’re welcome. 😉

I must admit, I tweaked the recipe that was in the book, so this is my version of the one you’ll find in The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet book. However, I’ll justify this ‘tweakage’ by stating that I think the different flours used called for a bit more rice milk and a bit less egg. And some nutmeg because all carrot cakes should have a bit of fresh nutmeg grated into them. And a coconut milk frosting too because all good cakes deserve to be draped in yet more sugar, don’t you think? What can I say, I’m a rebel.

This makes quite a large cake, so although the book recommended baking it in a single cake tin I actually baked mine in two smaller sandwich tins. My intention was to sandwich the two cakes between a dairy-free coconut icing, but the icing let me down because it wasn’t thick enough to join the cakes together. As a result, I just drizzled the coconut frosting over the carrot and pecan cake as you would with cream and it was delicious none the less.

If you fancy a slice of a good carrot and pecan cake, regardless of whether you’re gluten-free or not, I’d really recommend using this recipe. It makes a wonderfully delicate, but moist cake that’s speckled with sweet little carrot pieces and soft, yielding, tasty fragments of pecan nut. It’s definitely one of the best gluten-free carrot and pecan cakes I’ve ever had.

Gluten-Free Carrot and Pecan Cake made by The Fat Foodie

Ingredients:

250g grated carrots

270g gluten-free flour (I use Dove’s Farm G/F flour because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP options.)

220g sugar

100g pecans

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsps of baking powder

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsps ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

130ml rice milk

2 large eggs

125ml vegetable oil

For the frosting:

1 tsp lemon juice

The coconut cream from a 400ml can of coconut milk (the solid fat that sits at the top) – Only use the solid cream, discard the rest of the coconut milk

350g icing sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 170C/150C Fan/325F/Gas mark 3.

Prepare a pair of cake tins by lining them with greaseproof paper.

Put all of your wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl and whisk together.

Add all of the other ingredients (apart from the frosting ingredients) and whisk together until it’s all fully combined.

Pour into the two cake tins making sure an equal amount of cake mix is in each tin.

Bake for around 35-40 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean.

In the meantime, make your frosting by putting all of the frosting ingredients into a jug or bowl and whisking together. Add more lemon juice if it needs loosening up or more icing sugar if it’s too liquid.

Once baked, remove from the oven and let them cool.

Once they’re cold, serve with a drizzle of coconut frosting.

Gluten-Free Carrot and Pecan Cake made by The Fat Foodie

Carrot, Courgette and Orange Bundt Cake (serves 8)

August 25, 2016August 4, 2018Leave a comment

Carrot, Courgette and Orange Bundt Cake by The Fat Foodie

I’ve wanted to make a courgette cake for ages, but I’ve been waiting for the right recipe to come along. The other day I discovered a recipe for a courgette and orange cake on the BBC Good Food website and I decided that I’d make my own version of it. I say “my own version” because I didn’t have enough courgettes on hand so I topped it up with carrots, but it worked very well regardless, producing a green and orange speckled cake which was delicately flavoured with orange oil.

This is a visually impressive cake that’s incredibly easy to make, but to be honest most of its impact is down to the bundt cake tin it’s baked in. The shape of the tin allows for what could be a very heavy cake to bake in a fairly short amount of time because the funnel allows the hot air to circulate right through the middle of the cake. This ensures the cake remains light and moist and doesn’t overbake or (heaven forbid) burn.

Most of the recipes I’ve looked at ask you to wring out the water from the courgettes before you add them to the cake mix, but this was a step that I completely forgot about and the cake came out fine anyway. The cake might have taken a little longer to cook as a result of the additional moisture it contained, but in terms of taste I had no complaints. Sometimes recipes can be overthought, don’t you think?

I’m really looking forward to using my bundt tin again. I’m currently formulating the creation of a victoria sponge bundt with lemon curd and sweet buttercream layers encased in a thin glazing of lemon icing and topped with chopped hazelnuts and lemon zest. I bet that’ll look cracking baked as a bundt and no-one will realise just how easy it actually was…

Ingredients:

250g courgettes (grated)

100g carrots (grated)

1 tbsp poppy seeds

200g sugar

125ml sunflower oil

3 eggs

The grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp vanilla extract

300g gluten-free self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

For the topping:

The juice of 1 orange (you won’t need it all though)

6 heaped tbsps of icing sugar

50g chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4.

Generously grease and flour a bundt tin.

With the exception of the flour and baking powder, put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir.

Then add the flour and baking powder and mix. Add a little rice milk if the mixture feels too thick. (Sometimes gluten-free flour can be very absorbent.)

Pour the mix into the prepared bundt tin and bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour. It might take slightly longer, but just check with a skewer. (The cake is cooked when a skewer pushed into the centre comes out completely clean.)

Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

To make the icing: Put the icing sugar in a bowl and add orange juice a little at a time, stirring all the while, until it’s a slightly runny consistency.

Once the cake is cold leave the cake on the cooling rack, but put a large plate underneath it and pour the icing over the cake, letting the excess drizzle onto the plate below it.

Decorate with the chopped walnuts and serve.

Carrot, Courgette and Orange Bundt Cake by The Fat Foodie

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The best (and easiest) carrot cake in the world (serves 14-16)

June 7, 2016August 4, 2018Leave a comment

The Best (and Easiest) Carrot Cake in the World by The Fat Foodie

This is an incredible recipe which creates, what is in my opinion, the best carrot cake I have ever tasted. It’s really light, well spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and can be adapted according to individual tastes.

I’ve kept the spicing of this carrot cake quite conservative because I know a lot of people only like a little bit of spice in their cake, but I like to add more nutmeg to my carrot cake when I bake it. A while ago I received a present of a box of whole nutmegs and a little grater from my stepdaughter. I didn’t use it for ages, thinking that there was no real difference between it and ready-ground nutmeg, but how wrong I was!

Freshly grating nutmeg releases all of the natural oils found in the seed, imbuing the dish with a heady, exotic spiciness that complements all of the other ingredients in the cake. Please give it a try if you haven’t used it before. It’s well worth it. It’s a really cheap spice nowadays and you can just use a standard kitchen grater to grate the seed. It’s fragrance is nothing short of magical!

I also like to soak the raisins in hot tea before I use them because it plumps the dried fruit up, making for a moister mouthful of cake. I also sometimes add walnuts into the cake batter, but the basic recipe is delicious as it is and you could easily bake this cake as individual cupcakes if you’d prefer too. The basic carrot cake is lovely without icing, with orange icing or with cream cheese frosting (use 1 tub of lactose-free cream cheese or Philadelphia and as much icing sugar as you need to suit your own taste). Enjoy!

Ingredients:

175g sugar

175ml vegetable oil

3 eggs

140g grated carrots

50g raisins (optional)

2 teabags and boiling water

The zest of 1 orange

160g gluten-free self-raising flour (I use Dove’s Farm G/F flour because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP options.)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

50g whole walnuts (to decorate)

For the icing (optional):

175g icing sugar

2 tbsp orange juice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/gas mark 4.

Boil your kettle. Put the raisins and teabags in a deep heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for at least 15 mins. Overnight would be ideal, but it’ll still plump them up if you only soak them for a short while.

Line a large rectangular baking tray with greaseproof paper/baking parchment.

Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl, adding the bicarbonate of soda last.

Drain the raisins over a sieve, picking out and discarding the teabags, and then add the raisins to the cake mix.

Use an electric whisk to mix until combined.

Pour into the baking tray and put it into the middle of the oven.

I don’t have a cooking time as such because it depends on the size of the cake tin you use, but my cake took roughly 30-35 mins. I know it’s cooked when I pierce the middle of the cake with a skewer and it comes out clean.

Leave it to cool. Add icing sugar to your orange juice to make your orange icing.

Once the cake is completely cool, top it with the icing and decorate with the walnuts.

The Best (and Easiest) Carrot Cake in the World by The Fat Foodie

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The Fat Foodie

Making Low FODMAP Food Good!

Tag: #carrotcake

Gluten-Free Carrot and Pecan Cake (serves 6-8)

Carrot, Courgette and Orange Bundt Cake (serves 8)

The best (and easiest) carrot cake in the world (serves 14-16)