Posted April 20, 2011 by Bill
Since the holiday weekend is upon us, we figured this was the perfect time to serve up another deliciously sweet indulgence. What better for a spring holiday dessert than carrot cake? This recipe is a grain free take on a classic, and much loved recipe.
In celebration of spring, we present, Carrot Cake.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
- 1 cup melted virgin coconut oil
- 10 omega 3 eggs
- 5 large carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1 cup pure maple syrup (reserve 1 tablespoon for date mixture)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 medjool dates
- Chopped raw walnuts for garnish
Process:
- In a food processor, using the grating blade, shred carrots.
- Place carrots in a large ziplock bag. Pour maple syrup over carrots and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 325.
- In a small mixing bowl, add sifted coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl, or Kitchen Aid mixer, blend eggs, vanilla, melted coconut oil, and *date mixture.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and blend.
- Stir in grated carrots, discarding excess maple syrup that they soaked in.
- Grease two 9 inch cake pans with coconut oil. (You can also line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper for easier removal)
- Pour batter into pans.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Test center with a tooth pick-if the tooth pick comes out clean, then the cakes are done.
- Remove cakes from oven and cool.
- Frost cake, garnish with walnuts, and serve!
*Date Mixture:
- Remove pits from dates and place in a microwave safe bowl.
- Add one tablespoon water to the dates and microwave for 30 seconds.
- Mash with a fork, add 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, and mash with a fork again.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
- 16 oz full fat cream cheese
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger root
Process:
- Bring cream cheese up to room temperature.
- Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid Mixer.
- Use right away, or refrigerate.
Happy spring and as always, enjoy!
« Previous post
Next post »
Get new recipes delivered to your inbox
Latest recipes
Share a recipe
Upload
Upload your own recipes to Primal Palate, and help others find great food on our site,, meal planner and app!
Latest blog posts
Our NEW Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour is HERE!
by Bill
Everything you need to know about Cinnamon
by Bill
Are Organic Spices Better?
by Bill
Primal Palate Cooking Channel
COMMENTS
Add a comment »
April 21, 2011
Looks delish! Sounds really sweet though, with all that syrup. How is it on the sweetness scale? Super sweet? or just nice and mildly sweet? thanks! 🙂
April 21, 2011
This looks yummy, but do you have a dairy free frosting to use?
April 21, 2011
This look delicious!!! My hubby is a HUGE fan of Carrot Cake! Can't wait to surprise him with this recipe!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!
April 21, 2011
any idea what the nutrition breakdown is? or the calorie count?
April 21, 2011
@Alisha- it's mildly sweet. The excess maple syrup should be discarded when adding the shredded carrots. Soaking the carrots can be optional. You can choose to just use the date mixture and add plain shredded carrots if you would like.
@Liesl Anne- we do have a vanilla frosting recipe using coconut milk, but it involves a lot of "steps" and is for an upcoming recipe. You could use our coconut buttercream frosting recipe for the time being:
http://www.primal-palate.com/2010/10/coconut-butter-blondies-with-coconut.html
@Lindsey-thanks!
April 21, 2011
@Ellen-We only provide recipes. Nutrition information and calorie counting is up to the consumer.
April 21, 2011
I love coconut flour "treats" because they're so very filling…all those eggs and all that fiber from the coconut flour. (According to Bruce Fife, who wrote all about coconut flour!) Unlike less filling sugary treats made with refined ingredients, I'm satisfied with just one serving 🙂
I'm heading to Whole Foods today (argh) and will pick up some grass-fed cream cheese!
April 21, 2011
Yay for grass-fed cream cheese! We notice also that we don't react (cravings wise) to the coconut flour baked goods, as we would with conventional. It definitely is nice.
April 22, 2011
Looks delicious! I've been looking for a good carrot cake recipe w/ coconut flour! I have dried dates in the house…do you think maybe I can somehow substitute those? Maybe grind them up and add extra maple syrup for consistency? Any suggestions?
April 22, 2011
@Leah- the medjool dates are dried as well, they just have the pits and are softer. If they are pitted dates you might have more trouble, but try the same technique to make the date mixture.
April 23, 2011
This is my first attempt at a paleo baking. I am excited but nervous about the texture. Carrots are soaking now–can't wait to try the finished product!
April 23, 2011
This cake looks amazing! 🙂 My birthday is in 2 weeks, and we're going to use it as my birthday cake…needless to say, I'm excited! 🙂
April 25, 2011
@Kerry- we can't wait to hear how it turned out!
@primalbree-happy early birthday and we hope you enjoy!
April 25, 2011
Thank you for posting this recipe. I made it for my family and it was a hit. They said it was the best Carrot Cake and could not believe it did not have white flour.
http://enjoyinghealthyfoods.blogspot.com/2011/04/carrot-cake.html
April 26, 2011
I made this recipe this weekend as it is also a kosher for Passover recipe. Could not tell you how many compliments I got on it. So delicious!
April 26, 2011
Thanks Rebecca! We are so glad you liked it. The past few weeks were crazy here, or we would have put together a passover menu as well. Hayley's mom's side of the family is Jewish, but does not really practice, so unfortunately we did not prepare correctly for passover. We are really happy that it worked out for you!
April 26, 2011
@Lindsey- Thank you! Bill's grandmother couldn't believe it didn't have flour either, and also said it was the best carrot cake she has tasted.
May 3, 2011
If I made this cake at a higher elevation, would I change anything?
June 23, 2011
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at how much this would Actually taste like carrot cake…. it was DIVINE!!! By far the Best carrot cake I have had (esp, in the diet category)!!! My husband and I are Loving it and I can't wait to make it again for all the "non-believers" out there! Keep up the Fabulous work you two and THANK YOU!!!
August 10, 2011
Mmm. Looks so yummy. :3
What kind of maple syrup would you guys recommend?
August 12, 2011
We use pure maple syrup from Trader Joes, Whole Foods, or even Sams Club. Typically the Grade B is higher in nutrients, but as long as it's pure maple syrup you should be fine. Organic is always best!
August 12, 2011
So glad you all enjoyed it!
@J.Brunett- we are not sure about the elevation issue. Try it out and let us know!
August 15, 2011
I haven't made this yet, but I wanna know: instead of discarding the maple syrup from the carrot mixture, could you just put it in the frosting? Discarding it seems like a waste.
September 25, 2011
Just made this yesterday with a few personal changes – like making it a bit less sweet and it was great, and made both the cake and a cupcake version. I have one question though, what is the purpose of the date mixture vs just chopping up and incorporating the dates in the batter. I am still working on understanding the chemistry of primal and paleo baking, it was much easier to modify recipes with traditional baking because I understand the chemistry of the ingredients
December 26, 2011
I made this for the holidays and it was absolutely YUMMY. The batter did not "pour" into the pan, but rather I had to spread it around. Just wondering if that was other peoples experience. Kids loved it which makes it a true hit. Thanks for sharing!!
January 17, 2012
Just made this tonight and totaled up the calories/macros based on myfitnesspal's database. We bought almost all of the ingredients at Trader Joe's. These numbers are for the whole cake, then per 1/9th of the cake (that's how we sliced it).
Whole cake: 5518 calories, 374g fat, 96g protein, 466g carbs.
One slice: 613 calories, 41.5g fat, 10.6g protein, 51.7g carbs.Super delicious, but definitely going to be for special occasions only! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
phillipa.lyes
July 2, 2014
How many cups or grams of carrots is that please? Carrots come in such a range of sizes….
