A super delicious and nutty Carrot Christmas cake recipe
If you’re one of those people who don’t like dried fruit so can’t stand a traditional fruit Christmas cake then I highly recommend this nutty carrot Christmas cake recipe. Plus I’ve used The Free From Fairy’s flour blend (free from rice) so it is gluten free. However you can use ordinary plain flour too. You can see even though it’s gluten free it has an impressive rise, well done to Vicki for this great flour, I am very impressed. The cake is lovely and moist and makes a tasty treat on Christmas day.
I decided to decorate it as a nearly naked cake as I’m not a huge fan of really thick icing, I find it far too sickly, and I think it looks pretty. The cake was finished off with a ribbon and some foil chocolates for speediness but you could really go to town with the decorating if you have time.
Also, at my children’s request there is not a sultana, raisin or currant in sight…they all have a hatred of them. The cake however is packed with walnuts and pecans. It also has a cheeky twist with the addition of angostura bitters in the cake mixture, and the icing, after all this is a festive cake and I do like a bit of booze in my Christmas cake! Feel free to swap the orange herbal bitters with something else or a squeeze of lemon or orange juice instead.
Carrot Christmas Cake Recipe…
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
- 350g Plain Flour (I used The Free From Fairy's gluten free plain flour blend)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp of Zanthan Gum (if using gluten free flour- if not then omit this)
- 250g grated carrot
- 227g tin of pineapple
- 75g walnuts
- 75g pecans
- 350g light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 350 ml oil (preferably sunflower)
- Several dashes of Angostura Bitters (optional) or a generous squeeze of freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice
- *Cream Cheese Icing*
- 100g soft butter
- 280g tub cream cheese
- 250g icing sugar
- Dashes of Angostura Bitters or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3
- Lightly grease and line 3 20cm/8" sandwich tins
- Mash the pineapple with a fork or if you have a blender (I used the Panasonic MK F800 blender) pulse until it looks like crushed pineapple
- Beat the eggs in a jug and add the sugar Angostura bitters or juices, and oil and mix well
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, zanthan gum (if using) and cinnamon together and make a well in the middle
- Pour the egg mixture into the flour well and fold the ingredients together
- Add the carrots, pineapple and nuts and gently stir into the mixture
- Divide the mixture equally between the three tins and level off
- Place the tins in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the cakes are cooked and firm to touch, or a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
- remove the cakes from the oven, leave in the tins for 5 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack
- This is enough cream cheese icing to fill the cake and give it a naked look. If you want a thicker coverage then the ingredients will need increasing-
- Beat the butter until it is completely smooth and free of lumps
- Add the cream cheese and beat again until well combined
- Sift in the icing sugar and beat again until smooth
- Add a few drops of the Angostura bitters (or the vanilla extract) and mix well
- Use the icing to sandwich the cake together and to decorate the cake
- Keep the cake in the fridge
- Enjoy!
I used the Panasonic MK F800 blender& food processor to make quick work of grating the carrot, and to pulse the pineapple into a crushed (but not puréed) consistency.
The Free From Fairy’s flour is a unique wholegrain, multi-purpose, rice-free gluten-free flour blend that is also great for those with sensitive tummies and IBS since it contains no high FODMAP flours and no gums, find out more and where to buy it here.
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Hi thinking of trying this for Christmas this year. How long will it keep – or can I make the cake first and put the icing on the day before?
It would need to be made at most a couple of days ahead, it’s not a dense cake like a traditional Christmas cake so won’t keep for very long, make sure you keep it in an air tight container
Looks delicious! Will have to try it next year.
Never thought of using bitters in cooking. Makes perfect sense. Love it. Elinor x