Spiced Carrot Cake with Cardamom Frosting
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cardamom Frosting is nothing short of spectacular. Filled with warming spices, sweet carrots and golden raisins, this is a lovely celebration cake for any occasion.*Please note that 2½ hours of the work time is inactive.
Servings: 12
Calories: 517kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cake
- ¾ cup plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ 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
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups finely grated carrots
- 1 cup golden raisins
For the frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
Instructions
For the cake
- Set oven and prepare pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F and adjust a rack to the center.Use a pastry brush to coat the bottom and sides of 2 round (9 x 3 inch) cake pans with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Then sprinkle each oil-coated pan evenly with about ½ tablespoon of the sugar.
- Make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ¾ cup of oil with the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk and blend until it's smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and again, whisk until smooth.In another large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix to blend.Use a large rubber spatula mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold in the carrots and raisins. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
- Bake. Place the cake pans on baking sheets (for easier transportation), and into the preheated 350°F oven. Bake just until they're set and no longer jiggle. The tops will begin to crack a bit and become golden when they're done, about 45 minutes.
- Cool. Let them cool in the cake pans for about 10 minutes, then go along the edges with a dull knife to loosen the cakes. Invert each cake onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely to room temperature -- this could take a couple of hours. (Ideally you should bake the cakes the night before you frost and serve it.)
For the frosting
- 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.)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.)
To assemble the cake
- Invert. Once the cakes are 100% cooled, invert one of them from the cooling rack onto a serving platter.
- Frost the cake. Spread about ⅓ of the frosting on the top of the inverted cake, then very carefully, place the other cake 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.
- Refrigerate briefly. Refrigerate the frosted cake for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Calorie count is only an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 517kcal