HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake
This carrot cake recipe will convert ANYONE into a carrot cake fan! It’s that delicious. It’s also nutritious – packed with grated carrot, pear (or apple), dried fruit, walnuts and spices – it’s Sugar-Free and can be made with almond flour. Topped with a lemony cream cheese frosting, it really is HEAVENLY.
This is the second recipe I’m sharing from my eCookbook GOOD AND SWEET – it’s packed with 40 Sugar-Free recipes for the health conscious baker, with gluten-free and dairy-free options. Check it out here.
Give this carrot cake recipe a try – if you love it then you’re sure to love all 40 recipes in my cookbook!
I know it’s only the beginning of the post, but, let’s re-cap on this HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake:
- Packed with the goodness of fruit and veg
- Sugar-Free
- Can be made Gluten-Free (by using almond flour)
- Can be made Dairy-Free (by using coconut cream for the frosting)
- UTTERLY SCRUMPTIOUS
- The moistest carrot cake on planet earth
Big claim. But I’m sticking by it.
HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake will not disappoint.
This recipe serves up a melt-in-your-mouth crumb with nuggets of crunchy walnut and pops of succulent dried fruit.
It’s just the right amount of sweet, counter-balanced by the slight tartness of the lemony cream cheese icing.
It’s a sandwich cake, or a layer cake, but you can really do your own thing with it!
A friend of mine used this recipe and made two loaf cakes and then frosted them – they looked amazing and she says they barely lasted a day in their household!
This HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake is so darn easy to make, it’s impossible to mess it up.
How fancy does it look though?!
Totally fancy McFancy Pants.
Here’s how you make HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake:
- All you do is place the fruit in a bowl with some hot water and set aside to plump and soften, then stir in eggs, coconut oil and vanilla
- In another bowl, you’ll mix the dry ingredients together
- Fold flour mixture gradually into wet ingredients, divide batter between two cake tins (or one large sheet pan – see my kids birthday party ideas below!)
- Bake for 35 minutes
- Allow to cool before turning out, cool completely before frosting
It’s ridiculously easy I promise!
Give it a try soon and you’ll see what I mean.
Sugar-Free HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake is perfect for birthday parties, brunches, Easter weekend and everything in-between!
Because it’s naturally sweetened and full of good-for-you ingredients I think this cake would be great for kids birthday parties – you could just decorate the top with something more fun (my nephew loves tractors) and voila!
For kids I’d probably make this cake as a sheet cake – so just pour the batter into your favourite sheet pan and alter the timing accordingly – it might take a few extra minutes to cook through to the middle.
Frost and top with sugar-free sprinkles or fresh berries.
This way the cake can be cut into small squares which are far more kid-friendly.
It’s also wonderful to make this cake in a sheet pan or in two loaf pans if you’re feeding a crowd, it goes a lot further and the smaller portions are probably more appropriate after a big meal.
That being said – I ADORE making HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake as a layer cake – it looks so lovely and is just perfect if you’re needing something a little fancy.
What do you think? Would you make this cake as a layer cake, a sheet cake or loaf cakes?
Let me know in the comments, and if you do try this recipe (which I hope you will) let me know what you think of it!
Thanks for stopping by, check back soon for more healthy recipes, hopefully (crossing fingers!) some new travel posts, and some new instalments to my House Update series.
Until then, stay nourished!
Sugar-Free HEAVENLY Walnut Pear Carrot Cake is packed with grated carrot, pear (or apple), dried fruit, walnuts and spices. Can be made Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free.
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrot
- 1 cup grated pear or apple (skin on)
- 1/2 cup mixed raisins
- 1 cup pitted dates , chopped small
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 3/4 cups wholewheat flour , or almond flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- Pinch Himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 cup walnuts , chopped small
- 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 230 g plain cream cheese (medium or full-fat is best)
- 1/4 cup butter , softened
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 1/2 tbsp raw honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
-
TO MAKE THE CAKE:
-
Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F), grease and flour two 8 inch round cake tins, or two loaf tins, or one sheet pan.
-
In a bowl, place carrot, pear, raisins, dates, baking soda and boiling water, stir and set aside for 20 minutes until dates are soft. Stir once or twice.
-
In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, coconut sugar, salt and walnuts together.
-
Once carrot mixture has cooled, stir in coconut oil, eggs and vanilla.
-
With a metal spoon, fold flour mixture gradually (about 4 tablespoons at a time) into carrot mixture until all the flour is combined. Divide mixture evenly between cake tins (about 8 heaped tablespoons per cake tin) and level out.
-
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in tins before turning out and cooling the undersides completely before frosting.
-
TO MAKE THE FROSTING:
-
With an electric beater, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth, beat in lemon juice, honey and vanilla. With a metal spoon, stir in lemon zest.
-
Place one cake on a serving platter or cake-stand. Spread on a layer of frosting (using about 1/3), top with second cake and spread with remaining 2/3 frosting. Decorate with lemon zest, chopped walnuts and berries if desired, slice and serve!
If making dairy-free frosting, replace cream cheese and butter with coconut cream and follow above instructions.
If making a sheet cake, allow to cool completely in sheet pan, frost, slice and serve.
You can check out my eCookbook GOOD AND SWEET by clicking the image below:
