My youngest wanted to help me make carrot cake, so we decided to change it up a bit and make little individual carrot cakes. This was so fun to do, in addition to helping our cake last a bit longer since serving sizes were smaller than slicing the regular carrot cake. They were so moist and delicious! A new favorite way to make and serve carrot cake. Enjoy!
Cooled and frosted mini carrot cakes - ready to eat!
Individual-sized Carrot Cakes!
Makes 24 mini carrot cakes
Carrot Cake Batter:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour (use GF flour mix OR brown or white rice flour) 24 muffin-sized square tins. I have some square pans I found years ago that work perfectly for this recipe. You can also make these in buttered and floured muffin tins for individual muffin-shaped cakes.
The square tins we buttered and floured - you can easily make these in muffin tins.
In a large bowl, mix together:
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Add and mix in until thoroughly combined:
3 cups grated carrot
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
Divide batter into prepared pans. They should fill each tin about halfway. Bake at 350 F for about 15-18 minutes, until baked through, but not dried out. These are a nice, moist cake but shouldn't be wet in the middle.
Let rest 5 minutes in the pans, then remove to a cooling rack to fully cool.
After resting and then removing onto cooling racks. The buttering and GF flouring helped them pop right out of the pans.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large bowl or measuring cup, mix together the following until nice and smooth:
2-3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
Once the frosting is nice and smooth, transfer into a medium-sized freezer ziploc. Snip the corner and use to pipe zig-zags of frosting on top of your cooled carrot cakes. *Note: If you want fluffier frosting, don't melt the butter, just soften. Beat all ingredients in a mixer until light and fluffy. Spread on or pipe on cooled cakes, as desired.
Easy Glaze:
Need something dairy-free? Just mix together a bit of powdered sugar and water to desired consistency (aim for a thin, running glaze). Spread over top the cooled carrot cakes. Voila! An easy dairy-free option!
These store wonderfully in the refrigerator for a few days. They've never lasted longer than that around here. Enjoy!
Ready to eat! We had lots of grated carrot, so we made a batch of a more healthy carrot muffins, too.
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