GF MOIST Carrot Cake

Oh boy do I love a good slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting! It's really too good to be true. I searched and searched online for a recipe that had ingredients I had already had; besides the fresh carrots and cream cheese, I didn't really want to shop much. And it turned out more than fabulous! The coconut isn't inside the cake, just on the outside for looks. I doubled the recipe so I could layer the cake, then was still able to make about 14 cupcakes. See below.

Cake: 
2 cups GF All Purpose Flour (I used Namaste)
3 teasp baking powder
1 3/4 teasp baking soda
1 teasp salt
1 teasp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn oil
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 tablspmayo
2 cups grated carrots (1 small bag of baby carrots worked good)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
(1) 8.5 ounce can crushed pinapple with juice

Cream Cheese Frosting: (if frosting is too thick, add drops of milk)
1/2 cup butter softened
8 ounces cream cheese softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

How to make:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt & cinnamon.
3. Add sugar, corn oil, eggs & mayo
4. Stir well.
5. Sir in the carrots, nuts & pineapple.
6. Spread the greased pan & bake for 30 minutes

Baby CakesNYC in Los Angeles, CA

Since my Jan 2010 diagnosis of Celiac Disease, I have been wanting to go to this famous bakery. Although the cupcakes are to DIE FOR, there wasn't much of a variety of selections. I did however enjoy a carrot cake, red velvet, and a chocolate topper. All of these shared with my husband of course. But I could have easily eaten them all on my own! Yay for Gluten Free bakeries!

GF Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake

You guys, these cupcakes are too good to be true. Serious. MOIST is the key word (even though most people hate reading and saying this word, I had to say it because it's the best word to describe the texture.) I've made them 3 times now and each time, I have never been anything but satisfied. I've paid a lot of money for GF cupcakes and never have felt that any amount of money was worth it. You know how sometimes living on an allergy diet will make you suddenly impulsive when it comes to things that typically are not gluten free? Ya not store-bought cupcakes. You gotta just make these and if they make more than you wanted, just stick them in your freezer and take them out when you want a treat. You'll never want to eat anyone else's cupcakes again! So beware. It's a big commitment.

SERVINGS

16 Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1 package Bob's Red Mill gluten-free chocolate cake mix

2/3 cup applesauce (you can make you own, if you wish)

1/3 cup milk (this works with soy or rice milk too)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (however, we were out, and used apple cider vinegar)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup hot water (110°)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

PREPARATIONS

1.Preparing for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°. Bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners (I don't line them just because they won't be messy to eat later.)

2. Making the batter. In the bowl of the stand mixer, start beating the butter until it is creamy. Add the cake mix, the applesauce, the milk, the lemon juice, and the eggs. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down the sides when necessary. Raise the speed to low-medium and let it run for another moment. Add the hot water and the vanilla extract. Run the mixer for one more minute, scraping down the sides.

3. Baking the cupcakes. Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the cupcakes or your oven. Allow them to cool in the cupcake tin for 10 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack and let them sit for another 20 minutes before eating.

Cream Cheese Frosting anyone? Yes please!

Ingredients: 

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick of butter, softened

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I never sift and it turns out awesome!)

1/8 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. With a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter.

2. Add salt & vanilla

3. Slowly pour in powdered sugar. Mix until the frosting is creamy; be careful not to overmix.

I got the cupcake recipe from here.