We’ve just celebrated my dad’s 92nd birthday this week and we baked a gluten free cupcake version of his favorite dessert, carrot cake for the occasion.

We went to his favorite seafood restaurant and they also surprised him with a piece of carrot cake! (I’m sure ours is better LOL, but ever the gracious gentleman, he politely took this piece home)

Our favorite recipe has the perfect moist texture and tender crumb and, topped with a silky cream cheese frosting, it is heavenly.

This is the first time I’ve tried baking this as cupcakes. I did it for several reasons - first, they’d be easier to transport, and easier to store leftovers (I’m sure they’d freeze well just like the banana cake cupcakes do!). And second, I needed to make a few nut-free to accommodate my sister’s recently developed allergy.

I just scooped 3 cupcakes-worth of batter out before adding the walnuts for the nut-free servings, and then adjusted the amount of walnuts down slightly for the remaining batter.

I baked them in these very cute baking cups and filled them 3/4 full. It made 20 cupcakes.

These took 45 minutes to bake before a tester came out clean - I started checking at 30 minutes expecting them to take far less time than the cake, but they are fairly deep baking cups. I suspect regular muffin tins would take closer to 35 minutes.

I made a little gourmet gift basket with some favorite treats from my local markets to take too with wine, crackers, cheeses, dips and spreads, and dried fruits and candied nuts.

I first shared this recipe almost 4 years ago during the height of relentless social distancing …time flies! Here is the rest of that post with the original recipe for this fabulous crowd-pleaser cake:

September is Birthday month here at Chez Lorusso since both of my children have September birthdays ten days apart…AND that means Birthday CAKE!

Each of my kids chooses their favorite cake for me to make for their birthday each year, and for the last 20 years running they have both chosen Banana Cake. I even shipped the layers and frosting to college one year for an assemble-your-own birthday cake!

This year (2020) was different - in many ways, obviously, but for Birthday Cake requests too! We had delivered a socially distanced birthday celebration to my Dad this spring and his favorite cake is carrot cake.

So I had made a gluten free version for him which we shared at a private backyard concert my kids (the Diva dressed as Mary Poppins!) put on in honor of their grandpa’s 88th birthday.

Fast forward to September, and my son has declared that Carrot Cake - specifically THIS recipe - is his new Birthday Cake request. Before having had this carrot cake, it was on the “fine, but not exciting” cake list, but this recipe changed all that.

It IS quite delicious and seems appropriate for fall flavors since it features cinnamon and carrots (a fall colored vegetable, after all!). And while it is not exactly low calorie, it does contain carrots, oil, walnuts, and cheese…I mean that makes it practically a salad, right??

For the Gluten Free version for my Dad, I simply substituted King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour for the All purpose flour in the recipe and it worked beautifully!

The Diva, whose birthday was 10 days ago, requested a Raspberry-Almond cake (recipe HERE) for her birthday this year…another delicious cake, that one from an old Williams-Sonoma cookbook and a staple dessert at our long running Annual Holiday Dessert Party.

But I digress! Back to the carrot cake…this recipe is from my first Silver Palate Cookbook and is FABULOUS! This is the cream cheese frosting recipe that I use for both carrot cake and banana cake and, with the addition of almond extract, for the raspberry almond cake.

For a full size cake, one recipe of frosting is a bit skimpy (that’s one recipe on the raspberry cake shown above and it really only allows a “naked cake” frosting style).

SO, I usually double it - especially if I’m doing a basketweave frosting design on the sides! And honestly, is there ever such a thing as too much frosting?

Also, any leftover cream cheese frosting freezes beautifully! Just defrost and beat it again briefly and it’s good to go. I like to have it on hand for emergency cupcakes!

Carrot Cake Recipe

from The Silver Palate

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (OR King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour)
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups corn oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup shelled walnuts, chopped
1 ½ cup shredded coconut
1 1/3 cup pureed cooked carrots
¾ cup drained crushed pineapple
Cream cheese frosting (recipe below)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans — line bottoms with circles of parchment paper, and grease bottoms and sides. If making cupcakes, line ~24 muffin tins with cupcake papers.

Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Add the oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in the walnuts, coconut, carrot puree, and pineapple.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until the edges have pulled away from the sides and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. (for cupcakes, start checking with a cake tester at 35 minutes)

Cool 10 minutes and then turn out the layers onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment and cool completely. Fill and frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting, store in fridge until ready to serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

(Frosts 1 two layer cake, just barely…I almost always 1 1/2X or double this recipe, to be safe!)

Beat together 8 oz softened cream cheese and 6 Tbsp room temperature unsalted butter. Slowly sift in 3 cups (1 lb box) of confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla extract. You may optionally add the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Decorating the Cake

I often like to frost the sides of the cake in a basket weave pattern. I am most definitely NOT a professional cake decorator, but I learned how to do this in a baking class years ago and it is quite easy and looks far more complicated than it is!

Also, you get a lot of frosting on the cake (Yummm - it should be its own food group…) and it is pretty forgiving.

The basketweave design requires two frosting tips - a plain round for the “basket staves” and a flat or striated flat tip for the woven bits. I find a cake turntable helpful when decorating.

PRO TIPS:

To smooth the frosting on the top, dip an offset spatula in hot water.

And plan ahead where the staves will fall (an even number will make it come out right when you meet the place you started).

I spaced mine quite far apart for a more casual look, but for a tighter weave you can space them closer together and the woven parts will be shorter and easier to get even without drooping.

Here is a quick video of the basketweave frosting process.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links meaning I may receive a small commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you

Basketweave Tip | Plain Tip | Couplers | Disposable Pastry Bags | Decorating Turntable | Offset Spatula

Enjoy!