Gluten-Free Spiced Carrot Cake with Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting is filled with warming spices, sweet carrots and golden raisins. This is the perfect celebration cake for any occasion!
My husband had just two food wishes for his birthday last week — Smoky Sweet and Spicy Pork Ribs and carrot cake.
I’ve made the ribs a dozen times now, so that was easy. I also whipped up a super delicious Asian-Style Slaw that was perfect with them.
And it’s a good thing I started working on this Gluten-Free Spiced Carrot Cake a couple of days ahead of time, because I wasn’t happy with the first two versions. Since both my husband and son are gluten-free, there was no question the cake had to be also — which is definitely why it was tricky.
So yep, it took three tries for this delicious masterpiece. The first one was too dry and the second one wasn’t spiced enough.
The third one however, was just right. Is it me, or do I sound just like Goldilocks? 😉
I usually expect this when I try new baking recipes — especially gluten-free cakes. It usually takes at least three tries before I love it.
The Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting was perfect for the gluten-free Spiced Carrot Cake — it’s an inherently gluten-free recipe, and was perfect on the first try. Everyone knows that a cream cheese frosting is a classic match for carrot cakes — and I added the cardamom to make it more interesting and to carry the spices all the way through the cake.
Remember my Gluten-Free Chocolate Olive Oil Bundt Cake (below)? Same thing — I had to experiment with that recipe a few times, too.
And as you know, I won’t publish it here unless I love it.
That’s a rule I never break!
Enjoy every last morsel of this oh-so-delicious, three-times-a charm, Gluten-Free Spiced Carrot Cake with Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting!
You can use any gluten-free flour you’d like — I always use this one and have good results.
**Please note that the total prep time of 1 hour does NOT include the time it takes the cake to cool, which is a few hours. It must be cool before you frost it. Ideally, you should bake the cake the night before you want to frost and serve it.
- 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and adjust a rack to the center.
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Us a pastry brush to coat the bottom and sides of a 9 x 2-inch cake pan with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Then sprinkle the oil evenly with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining 3/4 cup of oil with the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk and blend until it's smooth.
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Add the sour cream and vanilla and again, whisk until smooth.
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In another large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix to blend.
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Use a large rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients.
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Fold in the carrots and raisins and then pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet (for easier transportation), and into the preheated 350 degree F oven.
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Bake just until it's set and no longer jiggles. The top will begin to crack a bit and become golden when it's done, about 40 minutes.
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Let it cool in the cake pan for about 10 minutes, then go along the edges with a dull knife to loosen the cake. Invert it onto a cooling rack and let it cool completely to room temperature -- this could take a few hours. (Ideally you should bake the cake the night before your frost and serve it.)
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Add the cream cheese and butter to a medium-sized mixing bowl and use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to blend on high until smooth. (If you don't have a whisk attachment, that's okay -- it might just take longer to become smooth.)
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Add the powdered sugar, about half at a time, and mix to blend. Then add the milk, vanilla and cardamom and mix one last time to blend everything together. (The frosting should be at room temperature when you're ready to use it.)
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Once the cake is 100% cooled, invert it from the cooling rack onto a serving platter. Use a large serrated knife to slice it in half horizontally. Use your largest, flat spatula to very carefully remove the top layer and place it on a large plate of sheet of parchment paper.
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Spread about 1/3 of the frosting on the bottom half of the cake, then very carefully, bring the top layer as close the the frosted layer as possible, and place it on top. (It will help to use the large, flat spatula.) Add the remaining frosting to the top and sides of the cake, using only gentle pressure. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth -- as you can see from my pictures above, I like a rustic look.
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Refrigerate the frosted cake for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Oh, how I wish Markipedia liked carrot cake. I will use have to make this for the office! Love the spice usage, especially the cardamom in the frosting.
Thanks, David. Cardamom is probably my favorite spice for baking. LOVE it! Enjoy. 🙂
I went years thinking that I didn’t like carrot cake and then I tried some again last year and fell in love with it.
This looks delicious and I want to lick the bowl with that frosting!
Thanks so much! The frosting is always my favorite part. 🙂
This looks so moist, you’d never guess you made it gluten-free! I do love a good carrot cake.
It is! thanks, Becca! 🙂
Wow this cake looks so moist and delicious!!
Thank you, Emily!
Interesting addition of the cardamom cream cheese frosting. Looks a lovely moist cake
Thank you! I love cardamom! 🙂
A good carrot cake is wonderful stuff. Gotta get the spicing right, though, which can be a bit difficult. Looks like you did a great job with that. And the frosting looks amazing! Thanks so much.
Thanks so much, John! Yes, it’s all about the spice! 🙂
that was perfect
Thank you! 😀
I made this cake and took it to work.. and it was gone in half an hour. They’ve requested I make it again, but would it be possible to use this batter for cupcakes instead? If so, do you have a recommendation for how long to bake them? Thanks so much for the awesome recipe. 🙂
Thanks so much, Kate. I’m so pleased you loved this cake, and great idea to make cupcakes with the batter. You’ll have to check them about halfway through the baking time, but I’d guess about 25 minutes, at 350 degrees F. 🙂 Enjoy!
Cupcake success! About 17 minutes at 350. Thanks, Valentina. 🙂
Hi Kate, Thank you so much for reporting back to me! I’m so happy it was a success! (And I’m happy to know the 17 minutes for future reference!) 😀
This is a perfect recipe!
I left mine in the oven for 50 minutes as it still was jiggly, but sadly the middle sunk while cooling.
Also I found the flour tasted rather gritty. Perhaps it’s not the recipe, could be me as it was my first gluten free cake, using gluten free flour.
Hi Katy, I’m so sorry this wasn’t ideal. Which GF flour did you use? I get good results with Trader Joe’s brand GF — also Bob’s Red Mill’s 1 to 1 GF flour is a really good one. Every oven is different — every now and then I re-calibrate mine, to be sure the temp is actually what it’s set to. If you give it another try, I hope it’s a better experience!