Food can be so Personal

Think for just a minute. Do you have a particular food that you associate with a specific person? So when you smell or see this food, it immediately floods your mind with memories. Do you have a picture of that food in your head right now? Well for me, that food is carrot cake. You may be asking, “Why carrot cake?” Well, let me explain. You see, carrot cake has a very personal story behind it for me.

A Tough First Year

In my very first year of marriage, my father-in-law was diagnosed with brain cancer. My mother-in-law quit her job to become his full-time caregiver. He had chemotherapy treatments, radiation treatments, and 2 intense brain surgeries to remove a tumor causing cancer, but the tumor had been there too long. As a result of cancer invading his brain, he lived for only about 14 months after the initial diagnosis. My sweet Father-in-law passed away on Christmas Eve, 2001.

Welcome Blessings

During the 14 months, while my father-in-law was sick, my husband and I were blessed to spend almost every Sunday with him. We would just sit and visit and take care of him while allowing my mother-in-law some much-needed time to herself. Sometimes I would just sit with my father-in-law while my husband helped my mother-in-law. Although it was often sad and overwhelming, I really cherished this time with him.

Connecting Over Carrot Cake

Also during this time, many of my in-laws’ friends would drop off meals, and help out in other ways. One of my father-in-law’s favorites was a homemade carrot cake. A sweet, dear friend made him this carrot cake every week, per his request. He raved about it often. He always asked me to share it with him. This became our special time, to sit, chat and eat carrot cake together on Sunday afternoons. Luckily, carrot cake has always been one of my favorites too. Now, every time I eat it, I am flooded with those special memories of my father-in-law.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Years later, when I was diagnosed with food allergies I didn’t eat a lot of foods I had in the past, and carrot cake was one of them. It took me a long time to learn how to cook gluten-free and allergy-friendly. Once I did, carrot cake was at the top of my list. So I made this gluten-free carrot cake in honor of my father-in-law, Gary. I still picture our Sundays together whenever I eat this cake.

I sincerely hope you and your family can connect in a special way while enjoying this allergy-friendly carrot cake.

Don’t forget to leave me a message in the comments and let me know what you think of this recipe and share any foods that warm your heart with special memories.

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Delicious Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

This gluten-free carrot cake is a great dessert to share and make many family memories.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword carrot cake, dairy-free, gluten-free, homemade

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 10

Calories 326kcal

Equipment

• Stand mixer
• Food processor for shredding the carrots
• mixing bowls
• Meauring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Spatula
• Wire whisk
• Wire rack
• 2 round 9 inch cake pans
• Parchment paper

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar packed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups gluten-free flour blend See notes
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend already contains this
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups freshly grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans) omit if allergic to nuts
• cooking spray

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place a small piece of parchment paper on the bottom of each 9-inch pan.
• Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray. Set pans aside.
• Cream the sugars and eggs in a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer.
• Add in the oil and vanilla and beat just until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, add gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum (if needed), baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
• Whisk dry ingredients together to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until blended.
• Stir in the carrots and nuts (if using).
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
• Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
• Once cooled, carefully flip each pan over to remove the cake.
• Once cake is cool, frost. (See my recipe for dairy-free cream cheese frosting in link below).

Notes

Calories are approximate and based on 1 small slice of cake with the frosting.

See my recipe for the dairy-free cream cheese frosting.

Here’s a link to my recipe for gluten-free flour blend.  Laura’s gluten-free flour blend

I don’t use nuts in this cake due to nut allergies in my family. 

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My hope is you will come to enjoy cooking. Here are some of my favorite tools that will make your time in the kitchen more fun (paid Amazon links).

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