Hands Down…This is THE BEST Carrot Cake I have ever had! Seriously!

Believe it or not this carrot cake was first I have ever made. Of course I tweaked about three different recipes and came up with my own. It is now a favorite. I made this recipe for Thanksgiving, 2016. I wanted a cake. A carrot cake, and in order for the hubs to enjoy it the cake needed to be gluten free. I was so concerned that it was not going to be good, at the last minute I made a chocolate cake just to be on the safe side in case the carrot cake was not a hit. It was a home run!

RECIPE

           The BEST Gluten Free Carrot Cake

• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 4 1/2 cups (1 pound) organic shredded carrots
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 box Gluten Free yellow cake mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup organic raisins
• 1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two parchment-lined 8″ round cake pans.
2. Beat together applesauce, eggs, carrots, and spices. 
3. Whisk the cake mix and baking soda; add to the wet ingredients.
4. Stir in raisins and nuts.
5. Spoon (or pour) the batter into pans.
6. Bake for 60 minutes.
7. Remove the cakes. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Frost when completely cool. (See below)

 Icing

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 12-ounce of the lower fat cream cheese (1 1/2 packages) Note: Fat Free will not work.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add salt and vanilla; beat in the sugar. 
3. Beat in a teaspoon of milk if the frosting is too stiff to spread or beat in more sugar if it’s too thin.

Jennie B’s Tip – Bake the cakes a few days ahead of time and freeze. This makes for easier, prettier icing and it will make your cake more moist. Store in refrigerator. Pull out about an hour before serving.