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A slice of coconut carrot cake plated on a blue plate, a fork slightly hidden resting beside it with a white plate containing the remainder of the cake in the top left corner and a vivid yellow sunflower in the top right corner
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Dairy Free Coconut Carrot Cake

A dairy free, healthy carrot cake with a secret ingredient!
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 slices
Author: Nicole

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 c Trim Healthy Mama baking blend
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/2 c Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet
  • 2 c shredded carrot I used about 3 med carrots
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 c coconut oil melted
  • 8 oz tomato sauce yes, you read that correctly
  • 1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans optional

For the icing:

  • 1 can coconut cream cream only
  • 1 1/3 c salted cashew pieces
  • 2 tbsp Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Start by putting the entire unopened can of coconut cream in the refrigerator. It needs to chill while we work.
  • In a food processor (or by hand, but this is a pain) grate the carrots. Rinse the food processor bowl and blade well and set aside – you’ll need them again for the icing.
  • Combine the baking blend, carrots, gentle sweet, cinnamon and xanthan gum in a medium to large bowl. Stir in the baking soda, and then add the eggs, tomato sauce and coconut oil. Stir until just combined.
  • Mix in the nuts, if using.
  • Pour the batter into two greased 8 in round cake pans. Keep in mind that the pans will only be about half full. Smooth the top and bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, it’s time to make the icing.

  • In the food processor we used and rinsed earlier, grind the cashews until they are as smooth as you can get them. Open the can of coconut cream and carefully scoop out the hardened cream – leaving the liquid behind. We won’t be using the liquid in this recipe. Process the cashews and cream until well combined and smooth. Add the vanilla and gentle sweet, and process again for a few seconds or until just combined.
  • Refrigerate the icing until the cake is out of the oven and entirely cooled.
  • Once the cake has cooled, carefully remove it from the pan to a platter or plate. Gently add a thin layer of icing to what will be the middle of the cake, and top with the second cake layer. Add the remaining icing to the top of the cake.
  • If desired, sprinkle with remaining walnuts or pecans and a little bit of cinnamon.

Notes

The cake is good fresh, but even better chilled the next day. Keep refrigerated.
The carbs in this recipe go slightly over S limits, but not enough to consider it an XO. Stick with the serving size and you should be fine to enjoy a slice occasionally.
Make sure your tomato sauce doesn’t have any added sugar.
If you have unsalted cashews, add salt to the icing to taste.
I did not soak my cashews, because after some research it did not seem necessary. This is entirely up to you – just keep in mind I did not try this recipe with soaked cashews and cannot vouch for the result.
I use Trim Healthy Mama ingredients (baking blend and sweeteners) because I find it frustrating when finding a new recipe online and wanting to try it, only to find that the recipe author uses their own baking mix. I don’t need five different baking mixes lying around, and you probably don’t either – so I try to stick with Trim Healthy Mama as a standard for what I generally use.