Almond Flour Carrot Cake (Gluten Free!)

This almond flour carrot cake is gluten free, dairy free, and really easy to make!

• Almond flour makes the carrot cake moist and delicious, with a lightly nutty flavor.
• The cake is dairy free! Olive oil provides richness and moisture in place of butter or other dairy products.
• Simple to make with just a couple of bowls and a hand mixer. (NO stand mixer needed!)
• Made in one layer in a springform pan for easy removal and no fuss serving.
• We are not icing this carrot cake (the almond flour structure makes it too delicate for that), so you don't have to be a skilled cake decorator to make it!

Ingredients you'll need

Almond flour carrot cake batter

• Almond flour: Use your favorite brand. I get mine at Trader Joe's. Bob's Red Mill is always a good choice for gluten free baking.
• Ground ginger and nutmeg: You can play around with the spices here if you like, cinnamon or cardamom would be lovely.
• Baking powder: We need 2 teaspoons of baking powder here. Because it's made of almond flour, the carrot cake will need a bit more help to rise and get fluffy and light.
• Kosher salt
• Golden raisins: I love the taste and look of golden raisins, they complement the flavor of the almond flour in this carrot cake, but you can use regular ones if that is what you have on hand.
• Rum: White or gold rum are both fine. Swap for water if you don't want to use any liquor.
• Carrots: Please use real, whole carrots for this cake! Peeling them only takes a minute and the flavor is so much better than the pre-grated or pre-peeled baby ones.
• Pistachios: You'll have some in the carrot cake batter and some on top to make it especially pretty.
• Olive oil: You don't need to use an expensive olive oil here, but use a decent one.
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Lemon juice and lemon zest: Add these last as the acid will start to activate the rise of the almond flour carrot cake batter.

Mascarpone cream (optional topping)

• Mascarpone cheese: This is a soft Italian cream cheese, very mild in flavor, lighter and creamier than the American version.
• Rum: White or gold.
• Powdered sugar

Recommended tools and equipment

• Mixing bowls: For combining almond flour, dry ingredients, and wet ingredients.
• Hand mixer: To blend the wet ingredients for the carrot cake batter.
• Whisk and silicone spatula: To stir and fold the elements of the batter together.
• 9-inch springform pan: For baking the cake.

How to make almond flour carrot cake

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's Venetian carrot cake recipe.

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prep the pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil, cut a parchment circle for the bottom and grease both sides. Set aside.

Step 2: Rehydrate the raisins, prep carrots and pistachios

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the raisins and rum to a low boil, remove from heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, drain off any remaining rum.

Use a food processor or box grater to shred the carrots. Place them on a dry dish towel and roll it up tightly to absorb the moisture. Leave the carrots wrapped up until ready to add to the cake batter.

Chop the pistachios, reserve 2 tablespoons for the top of the cake.

Step 3: Whisk dry ingredients together

Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Be sure all ingredients are completely incorporated. You want the baking powder to be evenly distributed.

Step 4: Mix wet ingredients

Combine the olive oil and sugar in a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix for 2-3 minutes until the color lightens and sugar begins to melt into the oil.

Add the eggs and whisk for another 2-3 minutes until the color turns a pale yellow and the mixture starts to get frothy on top.

Step 5: Mix in almond flour and other ingredients

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, folding gently with a silicone spatula and making sure there are no bits of dry almond flour.

Then fold in the carrots, the raisins (drained of rum) and pistachios. Last, add the lemon juice and zest and stir gently until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Step 6: Bake the carrot cake!

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and top with the reserved pistachios.

Bake for 45 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown, the center is completely set, and the edges are pulling away from the side of the pan. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the pan.

Step 7: Make the mascarpone cream (optional)

While the cake cools, make the mascarpone cream. Allow the mascarpone to soften at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine the mascarpone, rum and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth.

Almond flour carrot cake tips

• Once you put the cake in the oven, leave it alone! Don't move the oven rack around. Since the cake is made with olive oil the batter is thinner and there is a risk that it will fall. I know that 45 minutes sounds like a long time, but trust me, it needs it.
• Remember that if you use a darker colored cake pan, it can affect your baking time and the color of the outside and bottom of your carrot cake. Almond flour can take more heat than traditional flour before it burns, but this could still be a factor. King Arthur Baking has a great article about this. I prefer to use untreated aluminum cake pans (shiny or matte) to avoid this conundrum.

Substitutions

• If you prefer not to use the rum, just use water to rehydrate the raisins. Replace the rum in the mascarpone cream with ½ teaspoon of vanilla.
• If you can't find golden raisins, substitute with regular raisins.
• Pecans or walnuts can be substituted for the pistachios.
• If you're keeping all aspects of your almond flour carrot cake dairy free, omit the mascarpone cream and serve with a drizzle of powdered sugar icing made with a little lemon juice.

FAQ

When to serve almond flour carrot cake

Almond flour carrot cake is good any time of year, but I'm sure most of you might think of serving it in the spring around Easter. I also really like this cake in the fall because of the warm spices. Be sure to serve it as soon as it has cooled, or serve chilled if made ahead.

• Makes a perfect dessert for Easter or Mother's Day.
• Serve with afternoon coffee or tea.
• Choose it for a birthday when you want something that's not overly sweet.
• I love it for Thanksgiving!
• Any time you're entertaining gluten free or dairy free guests! (But everyone will also LOVE IT!!)

More gluten free baking recipes

Try these gluten free sweet treats!

• Apple Ricotta Cake is a traditional Ukranian/Eastern European recipe that's like an apple upside down cake!
• Amaretti Cookies with Cocktail Cherries are a Sicilian specialty.
• A Flourless Chocolate Torte is a French classic that's also super easy to make in a springform pan.