Recipe for Flourless, Sugarless Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

[Itsloveday]

I was asked to make a flourless & sugarless carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! Has anyone made one before or have a recipe they recommend!?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I don't mean to be rude, but why would you take an order for a product you can't make?

 

[Itsloveday]

I told her I've never made that type of cake but would look into it and try and see if I could find a recipe. Was I not supposed to at least TRY to accommodate my customer?? There's always a first time for everything, is there not?? How do you become more experienced at your craft if you don't take on new opportunities? Not very helpful but pretty judgemental on this forum I see. Thanks! Lol.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I told her I've never made that type of cake but would look into it and try and see if I could find a recipe. Was I not supposed to at least TRY to accommodate my customer?? There's always a first time for everything, is there not?? How do you become more experienced at your craft if you don't take on new opportunities? Not very helpful but pretty judgemental on this forum I see. Thanks! Lol.

When you take your car into the shop do you expect the mechanic to be able to perform the services you require? Or do you expect the mechanic to agree to service your car, then go online to ask how to service it?

When you go to the florist, do you expect the floral designer to be able to create the arrangement you want? Or do you expect the designer to take your order, then go online to ask how to make the arrangement?

An event cake is not just a cake. Event cakes reflect our culture and community. For every milestone, every significant event, every deeply meaningful moment in life, we celebrate with cake. It's not just cake. People aren't paying for a cake, they're paying for a symbol of life. The craft begins with respect for the craft. For the traditions not just in the baking, but the traditions in which the cake plays in the life for whom the cake is baked.

There's a first time for everything. But that first happens in your kitchen or in a classroom. You don't practice at the expense of your paying clients. Once the cake is bake and decorated, you can't cut a slice out of it to taste it to see if it taste good. How are you going to know the cake is successful if you haven't baked it before and tasted it?

On to your question about the cake. I've baked alternatively for 10 years. In my family those of us who are not celiacs are diabetics. So gluten free, sugarfree, and low fat are requirements. Baking gluten free/sugarfree is a major shift. You can't apply standard baking knowledge to gluten free because none of the gluten baking rules apply. Sugar free isn't that simple either.

I would advise that you seek a recipe source that bakes almost exclusively gluten free. Avoid recipes that simply states "all purpose gluten free flour." There's no such thing as all purpose gluten free flour.

Every manufacturer uses different ratios and different gluten-free flours in their blends. Some contain binders, some do not. Some have nasty bean flours that stink and taste horrible, like one of Bob's Red Mill all purpose blends. Some are so full of starch they produce a styrofoam like texture (Cup4Cup). Too much cornstarch in a blend makes for a really weird taste and mouthfeel. It's almost soapy feeling. Every brand performs differently, so you need to know the specific brand used to develop the recipe.

If the cake has to be flourless due to disease or disorder, then gum binders, such as xanthan gum, are usually problems. So you need to know if any of the commonly used gum binders have to be omitted.

You can make a flourless cake with just almond flour. It does have a distinct texture and flavor but in a carrot cake with everything else going on it would do fine. With the right ratio of liquids, eggs, and leavening, it will rise quite nicely and have good crumb. You normally don't need a bunch of other binders like xanthan gum.

If you want to use other flours like rices, sorghum, and millet you're going to need some additional binders as egg alone will not provide enough structure for a cake.

Coconut flour requires a lot more hydration. It crumbles easily. It's dense, so it won't rise as much.

Most gluten free cakes are low risers. But you can get more rise with a 70/30 starch-white flours to grain flours blend. The chiffon technique will also give you excellent rise with the right flour combinations.

But key is the binders. If you gluten replacers are inadequate, your cake will collapse right out of the oven.

In sugarfree baking, volume, dryness, browning, and aftertaste are the issues. Real sugar adds taste, volume, moisture, and aides browning. Artificial sugar replacements have no volume, isn't hygroscopic, and doesn't caramelize. I'm not a big fan of the artificial sweeteners. But if I have to choose one it's Stevia. So sugarfree baked goods frequently turn out dry, dense, and with a bad aftertaste.

Since volume is an issue, it's advisable to use an artificial sweetener labeled "bakeable." I use a brand called Pyure. Its Stevia. It's has volume, but the bakeable stevia has considerably less sweetening power. So for an average cake, you'll need about 3 cups.

Because rise and volumes are issues in both gluten free and sugarfree, you can't bake a large cake. An 8" to 9" round is about as big as it gets.

Be cautious with brown sugar replacements. Truvia and Splenda brown sugar replacements are in fact a blend of artificial sweeteners, sugar and molasses. So if the carrot cake calls for brown sugar, don't use a brown sugar replacement unless you know the client is okay with the brown sugar. I have one diabetic brother who can eat it; another who cannot.

A sugarfree cream cheese frosting is pretty simple. Whip 1:.75 of cream cheese to yogurt. Add a teaspoon or two of Stivia, depending on the size of your batch.