The foodie blogosphere is celebrating love these days with lots of Valentine’s day desserts and romantic dinner suggestions for two. Here’s a carrot cake from me. Carrot cake makes for a flavorful and scrumptious dessert, yet this particular carrot cake will also leave you feeling good with no gluten, no dairy and no refined sugar. It is easy to make and a great little simple treat to slice up and share.
Last week I baked a 6″ carrot cake for my family to snack on. It was made with wholesome ingredients like cooked quinoa, quinoa flour, shredded carrot, honey, olive oil and walnuts. I have made several cakes with quinoa flour in the past but never with cooked quinoa. I ‘m not exactly sure what brought it on but I found myself thinking about making a carrot quinoa cake. It came out so ethereally soft and good that I made another one after two days for you all to enjoy it!
The amazing thing is that I baked this cake in an air fryer. I simply adore my air fryer as it allows me to play more often in the kitchen and the fact that I do not have to switch the oven to bake a cake for my small family. The recipe requires one extra step of cooking quinoa if you do not already have it in the fridge. I opted out the cream cheese frosting and instead topped with a sprinkle of walnuts which gives the cake a ton of nutty flavor and toasted texture. It’s the kind of cake my family like to enjoy often.
This image was taken when I made carrot cake with quinoa, the first time
If you like this recipe I would love to hear about it in the comments below or via social media. I am on facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and twitter.
A scrumptious carrot cake with wholesome ingredients. Perfect for brunch, dessert or special occasions.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup quinoa flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup grated carrots
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts plus extra for topping
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Prepare a 2" x 6" spring form pan by greasing then lining the bottom with grease proof paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together quinoa flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl add egg, oil and honey. Beat until combined.
- Slowly mix in dry mixture, grated carrots and quinoa until no lumps remain. If the consistency of your cake batter seems a bit loose add some more flour ( I didn't add any but its fine to add an extra tbsp of flour).
- Gently mix in walnuts.
- Pour mixture in the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle some walnuts on top and place in the air fryer basket, cook for 20 minutes on 325F. Check on it after 15 min by inserting a wooden skewer in the middle. If the skewer comes out wet then cook it for a little longer.
- Remove the baking tin from the Airfyer basket and allow to cool for 5 minutes before releasing the spring form and removing it from around the cake. Run a large offset spatula between the cake and bottom of the pan and transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool .
- This cake is best the first day, but is also good for up to 2-3 days, wrapped well and stored at room temperature.
Notes
If you find your cake is cooking too fast from the top, you can cover the baking tin with some foil and poke some holes in it to prevent the top from over browning. Make sure you tuck the foil under the pan.
Bringing this airfryer carrot Quinoa cake to the linky #cookblogshare hosted by
Tarnjit Hemer
That looks so good!!! And you baked it in the air fryer?! Super idea! I’ll have to give it a go!!
I like how you said ‘the air fryer let’s you play more often.’ That’s much more fun. Thanks for the tip on browning. I’ll be sure to use aluminium foil and tuck it under. Who knew!! 🙌🏻
Balvinder
If you don’t tuck it, there’s a possibility it could fly around and stuck in the heating element of Air fryer.
angiesrecipes
That turned out lovely! I would even have it for the breakfast :-))
evi erlinda
This quinoa cake looks scrumptious!
Yum!
Juliana
I love using my air-fryer, but never thought in baking a cake in it…thank you so much for sharing this recipe Balvinder. I will have to give this a try.
Have a great week!
Laura
Brilliant cake, Balvinder! I love the use of quinoa in this. And it makes me want to get an airfryer for just such uses! Beautiful cake, too!
Monika Dabrowski
This cake has got me really excited, so healthy and delicious looking! Love using quinoa in dessert recipes. Shared:)
Emma - Bake Then Eat
Give me a carrot cake over a valentines dish any day! Really need to get me one of those air fryers.
Isabell's Kitchen
Looks absolutely delicious!
Judee
I don’t have an air fryer but my next door neighbor does. She will love this gluten free recipe. thanks
Balvinder
You can bake this in toaster oven or regular oven, too.