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Reviews / Treats

Paleo Carrot Cake + Healthy Desserts App Review

03/14/2013

Paleo Carrot Cake (grain-free, dairy-free, fruit-sweetened) | Fresh Planet FlavorGreen Kitchen Stories is an utterly gorgeous blog. Its food philosophy is technically vegetarian, which may seem like an odd fit given my (avidly) omnivorous preferences, but the creators David and Luise have crafted a site full of unusual recipes highlighted by beautifully-composed images full of visual drama. Some of my favorites posts include the Green Breakfast Bowl, Warm Autumn Tart and Borscht Beetroot Soup. But let’s be honest, here: my favorites are always the desserts! So I was excited to see the release of an app by the Green Kitchen Stories team devoted entirely to the sweet side of life.

Called Healthy Desserts, the app is available for iOS and features stunning and user-friendly layouts. It looks fantastic on my phone… I can only imagine how wonderful it would be on an iPad. The recipes (48 total) come in categories like Cookies and Nibbles, Cakes, Muffins and Cupcakes, Fruit & Berries, Brownies & Bars for quick browsing. Or you can simply access the grid of deliciousness on the homepage and see where inspiration takes you. On my list to try is the No-Flour Chocolate Cake, Flower Power Cake (a definite favorite from when it appeared on the Green Kitchen Stories site!) and the Swedish Saffron Buns. Although grains and beans do surface in some of the recipes, many others use almond flour or other grain-free substitutes.

Chocolate_Cake_1 Chocolate_Cake_2

Images courtesy of Green Kitchen Stories

If the team ever releases Healthy Desserts 2.0, however, a sort function would be very useful. The individual recipes are already tagged with raw, gluten-free, vegan, etc. but I’d love to know at a glance which recipes require less modification due to being gluten-free, or which will take me on less of a blood-sugar roller-coaster due to being naturally sweetened.

One that note, let me present a paleo carrot cake. It’s a version of one of the earliest recipes to catch my eye after downloading the app: A Healthier Carrot Cake. I took David & Luise’s brilliant concept of a naturally-sweetened cake packed with carrots, fruit and spices and riffed on it with a grain-free flour combination and subtle other tweaks of my choice. I kept the simple, striking styling from the Green Kitchen Stories but added a dash of cinnamon for good measure.

Paleo Carrot Cake (grain-free, dairy-free, fruit-sweetened) | GrokGrub.comThis paleo carrot cake is packed with nutritious ingredients, so if there was ever a cake that made you feel virtuous eating it, it’s this one. Please keep in mind, however, that because it’s made without flour, sugar or dairy, this cake tastes very different than a conventional store-bought carrot cake. Delicious, but different. Deliciously different. Thick, moist, rich, fruity and dense!

Paleo Carrot Cake (grain-free, dairy-free, fruit-sweetened) | GrokGrub.comNOTE: This recipe has been reworked (for the better, in my opinion) on June 8th, 2015. However, if you were a fan of the recipe in its previous incarnation it can be found here. 

This Paleo Carrot Cake is grain-free, dairy-free, fruit-sweetened... healthy and tasty. :) Fresh Planet Flavor
Paleo Carrot Cake
 
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Fresh Planet Flavor
Prep time: 50 mins
Cook time: 90 mins
Total time: 2 hours 20 mins
Serves: 8
This delicious, naturally-sweetened, grain-free treat is packed with carrots, fruit, nuts, coconut, and spices.
Ingredients
  • Cake (makes 1 9-inch cake)
  • 4 carrots (approximately ¾ lb)
  • 2 apples (approximately ½ lb)
  • 1 orange (approximately ¼ lb)
  • 12 dates (pitted, roughly chopped)
  • ¾ cup raisins
  • ¾ cup walnuts
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • ⅓ cup coconut oil, more for oiling pan
  • ½ cup <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006ZN538/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006ZN538&linkCode=as2&tag=grokgrcom-20″>almond flour</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=grokgrcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0006ZN538″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
  • ¼ cup <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003K8Q04O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003K8Q04O&linkCode=as2&tag=grokgrcom-20″>arrowroot flour</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=grokgrcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B003K8Q04O” width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
  • ¼ cup <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KENKZ8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000KENKZ8&linkCode=as2&tag=grokgrcom-20&linkId=A2TRL422TKVXULT6″>coconut flour</a><img src=”http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=grokgrcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000KENKZ8″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp cardamom
  • ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • <br>
  • Frosting
  • 1 cup palm shortening, room temperature
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot flour
  • 2 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • <br>
  • Garnish
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • Walnuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch round spring-form cake pan, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Roughly chop the carrots, core and roughly chop the apple. Load both into a food processor, and add the zest and juice of the orange, the chopped dates, raisins, walnuts, eggs, coconut milk and coconut oil. Puree until the vegetables and fruit are shredded and fully incorporated into the other ingredients.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, shredded coconut and salt. Stir the wet mixture from the food processor gradually into to the wet until a thick batter has formed.
  4. Spoon into the greased and lined pan, and then bake in the oven for approximately an hour. Remove when the top is brown and firm to the touch. Cool completely, then release from the spring-form pan.
  5. To make the frosting, whip the frosting ingredients until smooth.
  6. To make the garnish, combine the honey with 3 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan. Using a potato peeler or method of your choice, shred a few handfuls of carrot curls. Add to the honey mixture in the pan, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, at a simmer for 3-5 minutes until the carrot curls are softened. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to cool and drain.
  7. Using a butter knife, smooth the frosting thinly over the top and sides of the cake. Pile the cooled carrot curls and a handful of chopped walnuts on top of the cooled cake, and serve room temperature or chilled.
 
Notes
The frosting is very workable at room temperature, it firms up considerably when chilled.
3.3.3077


TAGS:cakecarrotdairy freefrostinggluten freegrain freepaleoreview
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Rachel Marion

Blogging my obsession with beautiful home decor and personal style, tasty gluten-free recipes, easy DIYs, and adventurous frontier living.

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The Comments

  • paleoinpdx
    03/14/2013

    Looks like it all turned out great! The cake is beautiful. I bet it tastes pretty darn good too 😉

    Reply
    • grokgrub
      paleoinpdx
      03/14/2013

      It tastes dangerously good! The dates really sweeten the whole thing tremendously.

      Reply
      • paleoinpdx
        grokgrub
        03/14/2013

        Yum!

        Reply
  • Naz (@CinnamonEats)
    03/15/2013

    That cake looks soooooo good!!!

    Reply
    • grokgrub
      Naz (@CinnamonEats)
      03/15/2013

      Thank you! I’ve found that Paleo cakes often suffer from structural issues, but this guy is just clean cut and solid with a nice texture. Firm enough to ice without breakage or crumbs, too.

      Reply
      • Naz (@CinnamonEats)
        grokgrub
        03/15/2013

        Definitely on my list to make 🙂

        Reply
  • Samantha
    03/18/2013

    This looks fantastic! The icing looks pretty firm, how workable was it? Paleo icing is a code I have yet to crack.

    Reply
    • grokgrub
      Samantha
      03/18/2013

      The icing is not as easy to work with as a buttercream, but it took me only half an hour to ice this cake (which I thought was reasonable, all things considered). I chilled the icing thoroughly, iced about half the cake, then popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen, stirred, and finished. You may find it workable straight from fridge, however!

      Reply
      • Samantha
        grokgrub
        03/18/2013

        That sounds great! Especially the fact that you found the need to loosen it! The few paleo icings I have tried were too runny to begin with.

        Reply
  • Recipe: Carrot Cookies | GrokGrub
    04/10/2013

    […] Friday, and I was inspired. Didn’t want the mess and effort of another carrot cake (I love my current version) but a thin, sweet carrot cookie with a chocolate stripe? Now, that I could get behind. It also […]

    Reply
  • Annette
    07/08/2013

    Yay! I love Luise & David’s blog, so thanks for Paleo-fying this recipe. Can’t wait to make it.

    Reply
  • Blog: Weekly Roundup (7.15.13) GrokGrub | Paleo Adventures in Beef Land
    07/15/2013

    […] mentioned Green Kitchen Stories when I posted a recipe for Paleo carrot cake, and it’s still one of those blogs that consistently inspires me to up my photography game. […]

    Reply
  • 11 Crave-Worthy Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Recipes | Paleo Grubs
    01/01/2014

    […] 3. Paleo Carrot Cake When you see Paleo in a recipe title you can tell that the recipe creator has gone out of their way to make sure that they haven’t violated any of the basic principles of the Paleo diet. In this recipe they’ve chosen to use only the ingredients necessary to bring about the final result, and they’ve gotten rid of anything that doesn’t serve a purpose. The best part about this recipe is how pretty the cake looks once you’re done, and this is surely a cake you could show off at any gathering whether it’s Paleo eaters or not. […]

    Reply
  • Sandra
    03/19/2014

    This looks delish!! I have an allergy to Almonds, wondering if this recipe would work with coconut flour or another gluten free, wheat free flour? Looking forward to making this!!

    Reply
    • Rachel
      Sandra
      03/19/2014

      I haven’t tried this, but doubling the coconut flour and omitting the almond flour might work. Or you could simply sub a gluten-free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill for the almond flour…might work…

      Reply
  • Paula
    05/11/2014

    Question about the carrots. Ingredient list says grated but instructions say to chop. Do you chop the grated carrots?

    Reply
    • Grok Grub
      Paula
      05/12/2014

      Ah, I see what happened. I listed them as grated and then ALSO gave instructions for grating them. Whoops!

      Reply
  • ferment4life
    02/22/2015

    I tried, but I really did not like this cake. But my husband loved it…
    It was mush after 40 minutes of baking. I kept checking and finally took it out after 1 ½ hours. I think part of the problem was that it called for zest and juice of 1 orange What size orange??? Obviously, mine was larger than the one used. Better to give measurements and say ½ cup fresh squeezed oj and 1 T orange zest. I was able to frost it, since the outside was firm enough, but when you cut into it, it crumbled.
    The frosting broke and was not smooth. I think this was due to the coconut flour, which IMO wasn’t necessary. With all the coconut oil and butter, once it was chilled it would be quite firm.
    I would not make this cake again. But I would try another from the list of Paleo carrot cakes I got it from. If all else fails I will Paleoize my favorite Silver Palette Cookbook carrot cake recipe.

    Reply
    • Grok Grub
      ferment4life
      06/11/2015

      I have reworked the recipe with a substantially longer cook time!

      Reply
  • diakui.com
    04/03/2015

    This blog article is nice and I like it, thank you 🙂

    Reply
  • insomniaku.co
    09/15/2015

    thanks for PALEO CARROT CAKE and health review.. this is very helpful.

    Reply
  • Top 10 Dairy Free Dessert Recipes
    10/25/2015

    […] via grokgrub.com […]

    Reply
  • Guilt Free Desserts: Sweet Treats to Curb your Cravings  - Wooden Window Sills
    02/15/2016

    […] Carrot Cake […]

    Reply
  • Nissan X-Trail Mobil SUV Tangguh dan Sporty Terbaik
    03/29/2016

    Yay! I love Luise & David’s blog, so thanks for Paleo-fying this recipe. Can’t wait to make it.

    Reply
  • Hurray! 10 Healthy Birthday Cakes to Celebrate in Style | The Health Sessions
    05/16/2016

    […] Paleo Carrot Cake from Grok Grub  […]

    Reply
  • 31 Paleo Carrot Cake Recipes [Includes AIP and Primal Recipes]
    06/03/2016

    […] Paleo Carrot Cake with Lemon Coconut Frosting […]

    Reply
  • Party Foods! – Our Daily Bacon
    09/06/2016

    […] Paleo Carrot Cake – So this very tasty, but quite different from regular carrot cake in texture and flavor.  You can really taste the orange peel in it, for starters, and mine came out a lot more like a torte, rather than a cake – very dense.   But all in all, I think it was pretty good. […]

    Reply
  • andrea
    12/13/2016

    hi! can i omit the walnuts?

    Reply
    • Fresh Planet Flavor
      andrea
      12/14/2016

      Best to replace with a different kind of nut, or more coconut.

      Reply
  • 30 Healthy Easter Treats to Make for the Holiday - Happy Body Formula
    04/03/2017

    […] This cake is packing heat with carrots, apples and orange in the mix! It’s like a fruitcake with a twist. Raisins, dates and walnuts bring the texture to the next level while adding natural sweetness. Seriously – the ingredients list on this one is beyond impressive, and it deserves a spot in your belly after the ham. Get the recipe from Fresh Planet Flavor. […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Rachel Marion
Hi, I’m Rachel Marion

Hi, I’m Rachel Marion

Blogging my obsession with beautiful home decor and personal style, tasty gluten-free recipes, easy DIYs, and adventurous frontier living.

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