Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Carrot, Date And Nut Cake

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Whether you celebrate or not, the smell of Christmas fills the air everywhere. There are cookies baking, nuts roasting and lights twinkling. Walk through any shopping mall or bakery you will find Christmas decorations, sweets, breads, cookies and cakes. Two things that I always buy around Christmas are stollen and panettone. We all love it and panettone was my breakfast and snack when I used to eat wheat. Since I cannot enjoy them anymore I thought to make a gluten free cake or loaf for myself that tastes really good and Christmassy. I opened my recipe notebook and chose to make rum flavored carrot cake which was marked  ‘good’ by me several years ago.

 

 

This cake is fun way to get started for people who have no baking experience. There is no need to cream together butter and sugar or even add eggs. Just a little bit of heating, stirring and shove the batter into the oven for 40 minutes. The resulting cake is rich in taste and has everything that you want in a carrot cake. The warmness of spices, flavor of rum and healthy dose of carrots, nuts, dates and buckwheat honey. texture wise if you want your  cake to be fine and delicate, then you probably want to pass on this one. This is entirely a different cake, substantial and rustic just as good as the conventional carrot cake but in a different way. I got this recipe from a gardening magazine and the first time I made with wheat flour, I knew this one’s a keeper. The cream cheese frosting goes very well with this cake and you will love the slight tanginess from sour cream. I also made some candied grated carrots for decoration, it wasn’t necessary but it was great use of the leftovers.  I baked the cake in two 7.5″ round cake tins but you can make it in a single 10″ round or square cake pan.

 

 

CARROT, DATE AND NUT CAKE                                                                                                                                                       

source: carrot date and nut cake from Canadian gardening

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup buck wheat honey
  • 1/2 cup orange juice and zest from one orange
  • 1/2 cup dark rum
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1.5 cups grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup raisins
  • 2/3 cup dates, pitted and chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 2/3 cup gluten free flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

ICING:

  • 250 g cream cheese,at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup icing sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter and flour in a 10′ or two 7.5″ cake tins. Combine honey, orange juice, zest, rum and water in a medium sauce pan. Place over medium heat and stir to blend. add carrots, butter,raisins, dates,cinnamon,nutmeg and cloves. Stir to combine well, then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and gently boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm.
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour with salt and baking soda; then stir nuts into dry mixture.
  3. When honey mixture has cooled, make a well in dry ingredients and pour honey mixture into the center. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate fully all of the ingredients until a batter forms.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan/ pans, smooth the surface and tap the pan once or twice on the counter to settle batter. Bake for about 40 minutes or until cake is browned, springs back when touched and a tester, inserted into the center, emerges clean.
  5. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
  6. While the cake is cooling, prepare icing: Cream together butter until well blended. Stir in vanilla extract. Next gradually add icing sugar, beating well after each addition.
  7. When cake has completely cooled spread icing over the top surface of cake and sides ( and also center layer if baking in two tins). Refrigerate cake until you are ready to serve.

 

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Carrot cake is always what I request for my birthday! Yours is beautiful with the candied carrots…and I’m so glad you’ve found a way to make it gluten free 🙂

    Reply

  9. Dear Balvinder,
    I need to thank you for letting me know about the problems in my blog. I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I am trying to solve it although I find it always difficult to find the root of the problems! IT it is always so complicated. I am sure I will get there soon 🙂
    This cake is wonderful. I have never thought of adding dates to a carrot cake. I think it goes perfectly well with the taste of the carrots.
    Take care and have a good week.

    Reply

    • No problem Alida, I am also fixing some of the things on my blog, it is complicated.
      Carrots are wonderful in cakes and muffins, they create volume without using much flour and I have also used dates, so you are good on the calorie counter with this cake.
      Have a good week!

      Reply

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