I’m excited about this. It’s the best carrot cake you’ll ever have–nutty, cinnamony, carroty–with the perfect balance of rich and moist. The “cream cheese” frosting, made from cashews and coconut, and sweetened with monk fruit, is absolutely divine. If you happen to have some edible flowers growing in a pot nearby, definitely add them too.
This recipe, a layer cake take on my classic carrot cake, was originally going to be in the book — hence the glorious photo and styling 😉 But partway into the editing process, the publisher realized I’d crammed so many recipes in the book that they couldn’t all fit! So alas, the carrot cake, with its three pages of instructions, was cut. The past three Easters, I’ve been meaning to finally share this with you guys, but keep forgetting! It’s literally been on my to-do list in April since 2019. But now, finally, I got to it, and just in time. (P.S. if you’re more of a cookie person, check out these carrot cake cookies I just made… ridiculously good.)
ENJOY!!!
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Carrot Layer Cake with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting (paleo, sugar-free)
Ingredients
Frosting
- 1/2 cup Lakanto classic monk fruit sweetener
- 2 cups raw cashews or cashew pieces
- 1 1/4 cups coconut cream, from the top of 2 chilled 13 1/2 oz cans of full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk, from the 2nd can of coconut milk
- 3/4 cup sustainable palm shortening
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
Cake
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup monk fruit maple-flavored syrup
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sustainable palm shortening, plus more for greasing
- 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (from about 3 large carrots), squeezed with a paper towel to remove excess liquid
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans, plus more for topping
- Edible flowers, for topping (optional)
Instructions
Frosting
- Place the monk fruit sweetener in a high-speed blender and blitz until the sweetener is completely powdered. Add the cashew pieces, coconut cream, coconut milk, palm shortening, lemon juice, and sea salt, then blend until smooth. Use your blender’s tamper, if you have one, to help it blend. Scoop the frosting into a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate until it has thickened, about 3 hours, or overnight.
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Grease two 6-inch cake pans with the extra palm shortening, then place a square of parchment paper in each one and press it down on the bottom and sides.
- Place the eggs, monk fruit syrup, and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl or stand mixer. Beat until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then beat the shortening into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated (it helps to use a handheld mixer for this). Add the flour-shortening mixture to the egg mixture and beat until smooth.
- Let the batter sit for 10 minutes, to thicken. Gently mix in the shredded carrots and chopped pecans. Pour your batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 38 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the pans from the oven, remove the cakes from the pans, and place them on a cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting. If you’re in a time crunch, you can place the cakes in the freezer for up to 20 minutes, to help them cool.
- When the cakes are fully cooled, place one cake on a cake stand. Top with a large dollop of frosting, spread it out evenly, then place another cake layer on top. Top the second cake with another layer of the frosting, then use more frosting to coat the sides of the cake, using an offset spatula. There may be frosting leftover. Top the cake with more chopped pecans and edible flowers, if desired.
- Immediately place the cake in the refrigerator and keep it there until serving. Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
If you’re not worried about the recipe being sugar-free, replace the monk fruit maple-flavored syrup with pure maple syrup and replace the classic monk fruit sweetener with pure maple sugar.
