Oy Crabby! (and any other domestic goddesses)

[Notsoskinnyminny]

Its DH's birthday next week and he's expecting carrot cake and I can't deprive him . Can I use ground almonds or anything else instead of flour? I'm going to use stevia instead of sugar and reduce the amount of icing sugar in the filling and icing. He's only getting a scaled down 8" version of the 10", 3 layer hummingbird monster I made last year but if I can reduce the carbs I'll be able to have a little bit otherwise he can take it into work.

[SteeleyeStan]

I'm sooo not a domestic goddess, and I'm sure Crabby or someone else will give better advice, but I've at least eaten some awesome paleo carrot cake. IIRC it was made with almond flour and chopped walnuts and coconut in some format - shredded? - and carrot etc of course. It was divine, although the non-dairy frosting from coconut cream tasted very coconutty indeed. (It wasn't very low carb though, I'm sure it was full of honey). You could always make some kind of cream cheese frosting instead of sugar icing, too.

[Notsoskinnyminny]

Thanks Steeleye. I've found a paleo recipe I could fool him with use but I'll have to make my cream cheese frosting otherwise its not carrot cake

[SarahBeenysBumblingApprentice]

[tummy rumbling, I love carrot cake]

Let us know how it goes.

[Notsoskinnyminny]

I've been googling and maple syrup is lower in carbs than icing sugar so I'm going to experiment and see what it tastes like - DS can be my guinea pig

[giraffeseatpineapples]

Not tried it but this might give some ideas paleomg.com/easter-weekend-double-decker-carrot-cake-cupcakes/

Chocolate and lemon cakes work well with almonds instead of flour but I haven't tried carrot cake (mainly because I am the only one who eats it!

I have a feeling I have seen a carrot cake recipe somewhere recently that was made with coconut flour but I can't find it now soz.

Hope it works out delish!

[giraffeseatpineapples]

...ooh and I hope maple syrup works out let us know!

...at least if there is cream cheese in the frosting maybe some walnuts to decorate etc it should be good for not raising blood sugar too much ...

I tend to go pretty easy on the icing sugar regardless when making frosting maybe try for slightly less than 50 % sugar but whip it for ages to make it fluffy (at least 5 mins) and poss add a bit bit more vanilla extract and/or cinnamon than usual? You can always add more sugar if needed.

I lufs carrot cake

[CrabbySpringyBottom]

Notso I'm really sorry, I didn't see this! I barely manage to keep up with the chat thread so very rarely look at other posts on the board, I just click from 'threads I'm on'.

To be honest I don't know how a cake would turn out substituting ground almonds for flour, as I haven't tried it. I've made almond sponge and used it in place of scones, which works well but it's not at all sweet so doesn't really taste totally cake-like. The other big issue is that it won't rise in the way that a flour mixture does, so you get a flat, dense sponge.

Is it too late now anyway?

[Notsoskinnyminny]

Thanks Crabby, its his birthday today so I got up extra early to make this little beauty.

I scaled down the hummingbird recipe I usually use and made a few changes:

200g butter
100g maple syrup
8tbs splenda
100g plain flour
100g ground almonds
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp ginger
200g carrots
75g chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for the icing I used:

120g icing sugar
6tbs splenda (whizzed in the coffee grinder)
1 tbs maple syrup
75g butter
250g cream cheese

I normally do 3 layers so it did rise a bit. I'll have some later to be sociable and will let you know what it tastes like.

[Notsoskinnyminny]

Forgot to include 2 eggs in the list of ingredients.

It was bloody lovely I had a small slice to be sociable and moister than the bog standard version, probably because of the maple syrup.

I made him take the rest to work and his colleagues said it was nicer than usual and the women wanted to know what I'd done differently especially the frosting. They're a fussy bunch of bitches so I take that as a compliment.

[CrabbySpringyBottom]

It looks gorgeous!!