Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes for a 60th Birthday Celebration

My husband and I have a birthday pact; every year he buys me ‘flours’ for my birthday and then I make myself carrot cake to celebrate! This year is no exception. Well, except for that fact that I’m turning 60 and setting aside last year’s keto carrot cake muffins recipe in favour of this one (if only just for this special occasion).

I used to treat myself to Dufflet carrot cake each year (a Toronto mainstay) because the bakery makes a gluten free version and it's delicious! But we’ve been refined sugar free for years, so this gluten free recipe solves that problem: instead of sugar, we use a sugar substitute.

Dufflet bakery doesn’t use walnuts or raisins, but I love these additions. Leave them out if they’re not your thing. But if you do use the raisins, be sure to soak them in hot water to plump them up. Otherwise, they’ll soak up all the moisture in the cake batter and you’ll end up with hockey pucks. Canadian hockey pucks at that!

Supplies

Of all the ingredients to forget to photograph, I forgot the most important: the carrots! You'll need a pound of them.

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Equipment

Muffin tins (get one with a lid if you want to transport or store these)
Paper liners (optional if you pan is non-stick)
Piping bag with tips
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Mixing bowls
Wooden mixing spoon
Food processor or grater

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup cup neutral oil such as grape seed oil
3/4 cup cup yogurt we used 3.5% goat milk yogurt
1 cup Swerve sugar substitute
1/4 cup brown sugar substitute
4 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups gluten free flour we used Robin Hood
4 cups peeled and shredded carrots (about a one-pound bag)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese softened
6 oz unsalted butter softened
8 oz Swerve powdered sugar substitute
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp 10% cream or milk
1 pinch salt

Step 1: Spice Trick

Preheat the oven to 350°F and put 20 paper liners into 2 cupcake tins. Soak the raisins in warm water for about 15 minutes. Drain before using.

Peel the carrots and shred in a food processor (or you can grate by hand on a box grater). Set aside. Last year I grated the carrots by hand, but I much prefer a food processor. In less than 5 minutes, you’re done. The quicker the shredding, the faster I can enjoy my carrot cake!

The trick to tasty carrot cake is adding the cinnamon into the oil, instead of with the dry ingredients. It blooms the spice.

In a bowl, add the cinnamon and nutmeg into the oil, then the sugars. Cream together in a mixing bowl or with a hand mixer until well mixed. Add yogurt, then the eggs one at a time, and beat until light and well mixed.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda to combine. Add carrots (and nuts and raisins if desired). Stir until combined.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine.

Step 2: Mix and Scoop

When everything is mixed together, the batter will be pretty thick as shown in the first picture.

You can make this as a cake instead and adjust the baking time. However, for my birthday I prefer to make them as cupcakes. Speed up filling the muffin tins by using an ice cream scoop. Grease the scoop with a little of the oil so the batter doesn't stick.

If you decide to make a different form, these are the approximate baking times: 40 min. for a 9 x 13" cake pan, 30 minutes for 9" cake round pans, 70 minutes for a 10" tube pan, and 20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes.

Step 3: Bake

Bake until golden and a cake tester comes out clean (about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on your oven).

Step 4: Cream Cheese Frosting

While those are baking, I mix the cream cheese icing. The best cream cheese icing uses slightly more cream cheese to butter ratio. I only mix up a small batch, because Hubs prefers these plain like a muffin.

Combine all ingredients, starting the mixer on low to not cause a powdered sugar explosion. Gradually increase the mixer to medium-high and beat until fluffy and smooth.

I also toast some coconut to sprinkle on top. Be sure to watch the pan as you toast; it browns quickly so get it out of the pan as soon as that happens so it doesn’t over-brown.

Be sure the cupcakes are cool before icing or the frosting will melt.

Step 5: Let Cool

Let cool a bit in the muffin tins. Then turn out onto a cooling rack while still warm. Cool fully before decorating.

Step 6: Frost

Pipe or spread icing on with a knife. Add desired toppings like toasted coconut and additional chopped walnut pieces.

I actually baked these the night before my birthday so had time to 'practice' piping the cream cheese frosting. A piping bag and tip is best for this, but because I was only practicing, I scooped the frosting into a Ziploc to save cleaning the bag. The bigger the tip, the more frosting you'll end up with (of course, I used one of the largest tops in the middle!)

A sprinkle of coconut and a few extra walnuts later. Of course, I gave one to my taste tester (my husband) to try one out. He actually doesn't like carrot cake and he LOVED these. So I made a convert out of my husband!

I can’t wait until my birthday the next day to perfect my piping and taste another one!

Step 7: Store

You can store these cupcakes in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like to put them right back in this special muffin tin with a lid.

You can also freeze them for up to 4 months. I find the best way to do that is to freeze the cupcakes and frosting separately, or it can go soggy. Put the frosting into a freezer bag and squeeze all the air out before sealing. Then just decorate once defrosted. Alternatively, don't freeze the frosting at all: make it fresh when you've defrosted the cupcakes.

Step 8: The Birthday Celebration

On my birthday, after the first few ‘sacrificial’ cupcake, I get much better at piping!

Turns out I’m enjoying ‘flours’ and flowers for my birthday in the form of roses on this pretty vintage plate.

Just for today, I’m piping that cream cheese icing high! It’s not everyday I turn the big 6-0. Happy birthday to me! I get the most delicious gluten free carrot cake cupcakes AND a senior discount now! What can I say? Life is good.