Paleo Carrot Cake with Almond Flour

Moist, delicious, gluten-free, and paleo carrot cake with almond flour, a coconut "cream cheese" frosting, and walnuts.

Course Breakfast, brunch, Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Total Time 55

Servings servings

Calories 387kcal

1½ cups cashews (soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours and with the water drained off)
cream from one can of coconut cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup cup coconut sugar (or alternatively maple syrup)
grated rind of ½ an orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Make the frosting: Clean and grate the entire orange rind, setting it aside. Scoop out the thick, creamy part of the coconut cream from the can, saving the water for other uses.
Add coconut cream, drained soaked cashews, cinnamon, coconut sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to a food processor. Process until smooth. Mix in half the grated orange rind.
Transfer to an air-tight container and place in the fridge so it sets.

Grease the bottom and sides of two 18cm cake tins (7-inch cake tins) or line them with parchment paper.
Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from one half, removing all seeds.
Pre-heat the oven to 350° F / 175° C.
Whisk egg whites in a bowl until medium peaks form. Mix in almond milk, coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, coconut oil, grated carrots, half the grated orange rind, and juice of half an orange.
Gently add egg yolks and whisk on medium.
In a bowl sift together almond flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom powder, nutmeg, and the ground ginger and cinnamon.
Gently combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Fold in the chopped walnuts, reserving 2 tablespoons for the garnish.
Divide the batter evenly between two baking tins. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and let them cool on a rack before taking out of the tins.
After cooling, spread a third of the frosting on one cake layer. Place the second layer on top and use the remaining frosting to cover it.
Sprinkle the reserved walnuts on top and refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before serving.

The recipe calls for a lot of ingredients. I recommend you use all of them, it will be worth it in the end.
Start with the cashew and coconut frosting and make sure to give it enough time to set in the refrigerator, as this gives it a better structure.
Use a fine grater, but do not grate lengthwise as you will end up with a stringy cake. Rather, grate along the circumference or width.
You can replace the coconut sugar in the recipe with honey or maple syrup.
Once baked, allow the carrot cake to cool completely, before removing it from the tin.