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Healthy Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing or Coconut Butter Icing

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I love carrot cake so much we didn’t have a wedding cake, just more carrot cakes!

Hoppy Easter! For Easter I love to make carrot cake, for my birthday I love to make carrot cake. Carrot cake is my favorite cake. That’s why you can find Raw Carrot cake and this Baked Healthy Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing or Coconut Butter Icing. Cashew Icing is also known as Vegan Cream Cheese – you can double the recipe if you love lots of icing. I increased the sweetness, cause when I make it for my husband and me, we don’t like sweet so I use 1/2 as much sweetener for the Cashew Icing (Vegan Cream Cheese).

There are a few steps to this homemade cake. The Dry ingredients that include lots of gluten free flours : Bob’s All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour, Almond Flour, Coconut flour! Then Wet Ingredients include making applesauce if you don’t have any at home, grated carrots – 3 cups, plus extra dry and wet ingredients, see below.

First making a quick homemade applesauce – simply -two peeled apples with ⅓ cup of water bring to boil then simmer then mash. Add Applesauce to to Wet Ingredients. Mix dry ingredients then combine wet and dry. Place parchment paper in your baking pans – two 9″ (23cm) or three 6″ (15cm) circle pans or rectangular 11 x 7″ (28 x 18cm). Do create a bunny for Easter cake – use two 9″ circle pans and the method I used for my raw carrot cake.

Applesauce Making!
Wet Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
Carrot Curls! in water with honey or maple syrup.
Carrot Curls baking
Baked Cakes

Carrot Curls – Candied Carrot Juliennes

Carrot Curls are not needed – but they were a fun experiment. Preheat oven at 225oF (107oC). Use a vegetable peeler to get 20 strips of carrots or more. I used 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp of honey in small sauce pan, place carrots strips in. Boil for 15 min. Take strips out and place on parchment paper and bake at 225oF (107oC) for 15 to 20 min. Watch them. Bake till dry.

Example of Bunny Cake

best carrot cake bunny resized
Bunny Cake option for a Hoppy Easter!
how to slice easter bunny
How to cut the one circle to make the Bunny Cake.
Or do a two layer cake! Add pecan, coconut flakes, and honeyed Carrot Curls.

What diet are these Healthy Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing or Coconut Butter Icing suitable for?

Vegan : replace the egg with a vegan egg

Gluten-free : Yes this is completely gluten-free

Dairy-free : Yes! completely Dairy-free.

Nut-free – NO, it has nuts! Please find another recipe like my pumpkin cookies!

This Healthy Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing or Coconut Butter Icing is :

  • gluten-free
  • dairy-free
  • can be vegan (egg replacement)
  • keto friendly
  • vegetarian
  • Healthy cake that you can even eat for breakfast (thanks to protein and good fat from the healthy flours), anytime!
  • ENJOY! This Healthy Treat!

How to store these Cakes!

5-7 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer (better to freeze without icing).

YUMMLY

Yum

Healthy Baked 🥕 Carrot Cake with Cashew Icing or Coconut Butter Icing

Lively Life
Carrot Cake that is delicious, keeps your blood sugar level with good proteins and fats in the cake and the icing selections. That means energy maintained without crushing cause there isn't sugar, white flour in this healthy dessert. ENJOY!
Cashew Icing is also known as Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Dessert
Servings 15 people

Ingredients
  

Preheat oven at 350F

  • 3 eggs – or flax eggs
  • 1/3 cup avocado oil or coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce -two peeled apples with ⅓ cup of water bring to boil then simmer then mash     – I would like to try this with a can of pineapple!!!
  • 3/4 – 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or other unsweetened alternative milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla

MIX then add grated carrots

  • 3 cup loosely packed grated carrot

DRY INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tsp sea salt or himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 1/2 cup Bob's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

MIX Dry Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped raw pecans

Mix Dry and Wet Ingredients together. Add pecans if you like and mix.

Place parchment paper in two 9" circle pans or three 6" circle pans or one 11" x 7" rectangle pan.

Bake at 350F for 40 to 50 min or till toothpick comes out clean.

TWO OPTIONS FOR ICING – CASHEW ICING or COCONUT BUTTER ICING – both below – choose one

Coconut Butter Icing

  • 2/3 cup coconut butter
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 – 4 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

MIX

CASHEW ICING also known as Vegan Cream Cheese – For thicker Icing increase ingredients.

  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews soaked
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk or ½ cup of soaked unsweetened shredded coconut then drain
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice or 1 tsp lemon zest – I used 2 ½ tsp of orange zest
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla

MIX – Apply Icing.

Use extra pecans, coconut flakes and candied carrot Curls (thin strips) to decorate. Or make a Hoppy Easter Bunny, see link above.

Candied Carrot Curls (Juliennes)

  • 1-2 carrot

Use a vegetable peeler to get 20 strips of carrots or more. I used 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp of honey in small sauce pan, place carrots strips in. Boil for 15 min. Take strips out and place on parchment paper and bake at 225oF (107oC) for 15 to 20 min. Watch them. Bake till dry.

Keyword carrot cake, dessert, gluten-free, healthy, icing, vegan