Every holiday I love to try new recipes for 2 reasons. It’s fun to try new things and I’m guaranteed a group of people to sample the goods. You might remember that this time last year I made gluten free carrot cake cupcakes that were a huge hit. This time I tried Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Pineapple Carrot Cake. I wasn’t quite sure of the pineapple carrot combo at first, but oh wow this cake was absolutely delicious.

I have always had a love for a good carrot cake. Not to mention it’s another great way to sneak some carrots into the kids. This cake was pure perfection right down to the cream cheese frosting.

As you will come to find out, I am shifting my focus just a little in order to spend my time creating a special program I know you will find so useful. So instead of doing all this recipe testing to create all original recipes, I am going back to the original plans for this blog which is to report and critique the already great recipes out there. I usually try to take a regular recipe and adapt it to fit the needs of my family. So far, the one website/baker I have the most luck doing this with is Sally’s Baking Addiction.

I think what leaned me toward recipe creation the most, was the fact that I had to make so many adaptations, the recipe was really no longer the original recipe I began with. But summer is on the horizon and with 2 kids in toe and lots of work to do toward the ultimate goal for Stayglutenfree.com, I will share my adaptations and always link back or give you exactly where to find the original recipe so that you can find the instructions. By the way, I will always share my instructional adaptations as well. I will also try to add more pictures and continue to give you “looks over my shoulder”.

I think you will find this to be also more useful to you. You know, because when you scroll through Instagram or Facebook every single food blogger (including myself) says and thinks she makes the best of the best. So now I am going to put it to the test and you will reap the reward. I really hope you stay on board for the ride because the best is yet to come, I promise.

Below are all the ingredients I used for this cake, and really do think it was probably the best carrot cake I have ever had.

The original recipe called for walnuts, but since we are a tree nut free household, I omitted them. I briefly thought about adding in pumpkin seeds for that crunch but I decided against it because I already wasn’t sure how the carrot and pineapple would taste together. So if you can eat nuts, you might want to add them in. The original recipe calls for 1 cup.

I have also been trying to incorporate more coconut sugar and less cane or brown sugar. In this recipe you will see I used mostly coconut sugar and I was so surprised by the results. I have always been intimidated to try it, but you really could not taste the difference. I have also been successfully using avocado oil in my baking. It took me a long time to get to a point where I felt comfortable substituting with confidence. You will get there too. In the meantime, I will try to short cut the process for you.

To make the cake

Grease a 9×13 glass baking dish with shortening and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

In one bowl whisk together:

• 312g King Arthur’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 and 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg

In separate bowl whisk:

• 1 cup Avocado oil
• 182g Coconut sugar
• 68g Organic cane sugar
• 2 Bob’s Red Mill Egg replacer (Make by mixing 2 tbsp of dry mix with 4 tbsp lukewarm water)
• 1/2 cup Applesauce
• 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 2 cups Grated carrots (about 3 large carrots grated in food processor)
• 1 cup crushed pineapple (I used fresh pineapple crushed in food processor, drain and measure after crushed)

With a spatula mix wet and dry ingredients to create batter. DO NOT USE MIXER. Pour into cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Watch carefully as all ovens vary.

To make cream cheese frosting

In stand mixer bowl cream together

• 8 ounces of Dairy free cream cheese (I use Tofutti brand softened to room temperature)
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance dairy free, soy free butter sticks (equal to 1 stick)

Add

• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3 cups of organic powdered sugar (sifted if you have time)
• 1/8 tsp salt

Mix to form frosting.

Once the cake is cooled frost it, serve and enjoy.

And coincidentally I also have a make ahead tip for this cake. I actually made this cake on a Thursday, let it cool completely in the glass baking dish, popped the lid on it (it was a pyrex) and put it in the freezer. We planned to eat it on Sunday so I took it out of the freezer on Saturday night and put it in the refrigerator. On Sunday around lunch time I made the frosting and ket it sit out the remainder of the time until we ate it at about 6:00 pm. It was perfect. And this makes it even easier to make.

I hope you enjoy this delicious cake as much as we did! If you make it be sure and leave a comment about it below and/or post a picture of it in my Stay Gluten Free Community (it’s FREE to join, click here now).

Until next time!

This recipe was adapted to be allergy friendly from Sally’s Baking Addiction.