Here is is...
the highly anticipated, deliciousness
that is this carrot cake recipe.
Who knew healthy could taste this good?!!!
You can't imagine a better carrot cake - super moist carroty-goodness, gooey cream cheese and mascarpone frosting, pineapple bits... And, it's gluten free!!! Yum!
Recipe as follows:
For the cake:
5 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 lb (8oz or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (for the one I'm obsessed with see below*)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs pumpkin or apple pie spice (cloves, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 can crushed pineapple, liquid strained off
2 lb carrots, grated
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take all of the frosting ingredients out of the fridge, and out of their packaging, to start to warm up. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (this recipe makes 24).
In a stand mixer (KitchenAid) or hand electric mixer cream together the eggs and sugar on high, for 10 minutes, with the whisk attachment. Brown the butter in a small sauce pot on medium high heat. Once the milk solids have lightly browned, let sit for a few minutes, then pour off liquid, leaving the majority of browned bits in the pot. Let cool in the refrigerator. Measure out all of the dried ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
After the 10 minutes, the eggs should have doubled in size, become white and fluffy. Reduce the speed of the mixer to slow/medium. Slowly pour in the cooled browned butter.
Add in all of the dried ingredients in a few iterations to incorporate easier. Mix in the vanilla, then the pineapple. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and the bottom. Turn the mixer back on. Once everything is properly mixed, remove the bowl from the mixer and hand mix the carrots into the mixture with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Notes: The carrots get stuck in the whisk attachment, easier to thoroughly mix them in by hand. Also, there's no gluten, so you don't have to worry about "over-mixing" the batter.
Pour into cupcake liners, 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up. Bake at 375, ~20-27 minutes. Check them at 20 minutes with a toothpick or you can press on the top of them, if they feel firmer and press back at you they are done! Let cool and serve frosted with the Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting.
For the Frosting:
16 oz neufchatel or cream cheese
8 oz mascarpone
2 oz butter
1 tbs vanilla
dash cinnamon
1/8 c pineapple juice
2 1/2-3 c confectioners sugar, sifted
Cream together the dairy components. Once smooth add in the vanilla, cinnamon and pineapple juice. Add the sugar in gradually until desired sweetness, scraping down the sides as necessary. Frost, chill, so as to prevent the frosting from weeping, and enjoy!!!
* My absolute favorite Gluten Free Blend is Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend. It's awesome and doesn't have all of the guar gum and xanthan gum in it!
For the cake:
5 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 lb (8oz or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (for the one I'm obsessed with see below*)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs pumpkin or apple pie spice (cloves, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 can crushed pineapple, liquid strained off
2 lb carrots, grated
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take all of the frosting ingredients out of the fridge, and out of their packaging, to start to warm up. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (this recipe makes 24).
In a stand mixer (KitchenAid) or hand electric mixer cream together the eggs and sugar on high, for 10 minutes, with the whisk attachment. Brown the butter in a small sauce pot on medium high heat. Once the milk solids have lightly browned, let sit for a few minutes, then pour off liquid, leaving the majority of browned bits in the pot. Let cool in the refrigerator. Measure out all of the dried ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
After the 10 minutes, the eggs should have doubled in size, become white and fluffy. Reduce the speed of the mixer to slow/medium. Slowly pour in the cooled browned butter.
Add in all of the dried ingredients in a few iterations to incorporate easier. Mix in the vanilla, then the pineapple. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and the bottom. Turn the mixer back on. Once everything is properly mixed, remove the bowl from the mixer and hand mix the carrots into the mixture with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Notes: The carrots get stuck in the whisk attachment, easier to thoroughly mix them in by hand. Also, there's no gluten, so you don't have to worry about "over-mixing" the batter.
Pour into cupcake liners, 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up. Bake at 375, ~20-27 minutes. Check them at 20 minutes with a toothpick or you can press on the top of them, if they feel firmer and press back at you they are done! Let cool and serve frosted with the Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting.
For the Frosting:
16 oz neufchatel or cream cheese
8 oz mascarpone
2 oz butter
1 tbs vanilla
dash cinnamon
1/8 c pineapple juice
2 1/2-3 c confectioners sugar, sifted
Cream together the dairy components. Once smooth add in the vanilla, cinnamon and pineapple juice. Add the sugar in gradually until desired sweetness, scraping down the sides as necessary. Frost, chill, so as to prevent the frosting from weeping, and enjoy!!!
* My absolute favorite Gluten Free Blend is Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend. It's awesome and doesn't have all of the guar gum and xanthan gum in it!
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