Sugar-Free Carrot Cake

keto & grain-free (basically a salad)

Contrary to what you might think, this recipe does not suck at all. Quite the contrary, in fact. This may be the best carrot cake you’ve ever had, or will ever have. Make it for your family over the holidays, and nobody will know it’s healthy (money back guarantee).

Adapted from Bon Appetit’s "Gluten-Free Carrot Cake”, this version is gluten-free, grain-free, and sugar-free. To make it dairy-free, sub the cream cheese and butter for dairy-free versions (like cashew-based Miyoko’s, Monty’s, and I’ve heard Wild Brine plant-based butter is good for frosting).

The best thing about Carrot Cake is that the addition of carrots adds moisture, enabling you to play around a little with the sweeteners and flours. This recipe uses almond flour, and in place of brown sugar and powdered sugar, I use two types of sugar-free sweetener.

On Sugar Substitutes…

When it comes to baking with alternative sweeteners, a simple 1:1 swap for sugar in any recipe may not necessarily yield the same results.

I’ve tested this recipe with these a few specific sweeteners: a “granulated” one from Wholesome Yum for the cake, and a powdered one from Wholesum Yum or Lakanto for the frosting. I can’t promise that other alternative sweeteners will perform the same. If you have trouble finding these particular products or are in a time crunch, let me know and I can help troubleshoot.

For baking, simple using a 100% monk fruit for example will not work. I recommend a granulated monk fruit-allulose blend first, or a granulated monk fruit-erythritol blend.

Morale of the story: dessert doesn’t have to be disastrous.

TOOLS:

• two 8” round cake pans, or square baking dishes (like Pyrex) of similar size

• stand mixer or hand mixer