Gluten-Free Carrot Cake w/ Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Holá from Brasil!
Okay so it’s been a minute. I miss y’all. How’s it hanging?
The last few months have been a whirlwind for my partner and me. Our friends have been on standby to hear which country we plan on moving to, which changes just about every few days. Getting a visa in 2025, as two people in the food industry, is not easy! Finally, it appears we have a good plan (one I won’t divulge here–you can’t digitally knock on wood).
This is all to say: I’ve been absent from the newsletter for a little while but I’m thrilled to see that people continue subscribing and interacting with these recipes. If this is the first newsletter you’ve received since subscribing, then I wish you a warm welcome. The next few months look unpredictable, but I intend on continuing to provide you with recipes despite the limitations.
In the meantime, my partner and I are staying with his family in Cabo Frio, Brasil. We went from a descent into winter in London, to a push into summer here in Brasil. It’s hot. I’m getting a real tan for the first time since I was a child. His family has been incredibly lovely and welcoming and his mother has taught me some wonderful (gluten-free!) Brazilian baked goods that I’ll share with you soon. Speaking of which, it’s pretty easy being gluten-free here: every food package either says ‘Contém glúten’ or ‘Não contém glutén’, so you can tell if it’s safe at a glance.
Today, I made my signature carrot cake for the family. This is the first time I’ve made it gluten-free, and in addition to this change, I also am using different flour blends, baking powder, sugars, and eggs; And buttermilk doesn’t exist in Brasil so I combined UHT milk (fresh is nearly impossible to find) and lemon to approximate the acidity and tang. I also don’t have all my usual equipment, so this was a genuinely fun challenge. It was a good reminder to let loose when baking and trust my instincts. Even with substitutes and changes with technique to accommodate different equipment etc., all that matters in the end is that it tastes damn good. Lopsided or homely or a bit dark, most things still go down easy and bring joy.
Overview
First we’ll toast pecans, then grate the carrot and ginger and combine those with the buttermilk and vanilla (you can this this a few hours ahead). Then we’ll crush some pecans and finely ground the rest, then mix all the dries. Then we’ll beat the sugar and eggs until ribbon-stage, stream in the oil, then combine everything together and bake. In the meantime, we’ll brown the butter for the frosting and later we’ll beat everything together and top our cake.
You can bake this as rounds for a frosted cake or, as I did today, bake in a 9x13 or any rectangular pan for a simple cake to have with coffee.
Over on HausMates, I’m sharing something I put on the backburner and didn’t publish before I left London: creamy, custardy coconut buns. Coincidently, these buns are very Brazilian as well, especially if you add some cheese into the mix. Brazilians eat lots of sweets with cheese which I first found strange but now I LOVE.
What’s HausMates? It’s the elevated version of this newsletter/archive, where you’ll find double the recipes, join in the conversation, and receive one-on-one advice and guidance from me. Free posts become paywalled after some time, so joining HausMates means indefinite access to the full archive of gluten-free recipes. Subscribing is easy and costs £5 (~$6.75) per month or £50 (~$67) per year. This financial support means I can focus on recipe development and consistently providing you all with high-quality newsletters. Come on in!
Recipe
Makes one, triple layer 8-inch cake (baked in three separate pans) OR one large rectangular cake
Ingredients:
150g pecans, walnuts, and/or hazelnuts
450g carrots
240g buttermilk, room temp (or milk, adding 1 tbsp of lemon juice and let rest for a few hours OR mix 1/3 yogurt and 2/3 milk)
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp vanilla extract
325g gluten-free flour blend with xantham gum (or, if using one without, add 2/3 tsp [2g] xanthan gum)
2.5 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp (8g) baking powder
6g salt
1 tsp (6g) baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground clove or allspice
4 large eggs (200g), room temp
150g white sugar
150g dark brown sugar (I used muscovado sugar today and it worked well)
225g neutral oil
Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F) and toast nuts until deep golden. Peel and grate the carrots into a medium bowl and combine with the buttermilk, fresh ginger, and vanilla. You can do this a couple of hours before because the buttermilk will tenderise the carrots with time.
Put about two-thirds of the nuts in a plastic bag and lightly crush, then transfer into a small bowl. Put the rest of the nuts in the bag and mash until mealy, then transfer to medium bowl. You can do this in a food processor instead. To the bowl with the finely ground nuts, add flour blend, xanthan gum if needed, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and clove/allspice. Whisk.
Beat the eggs and both sugars in a stand mixer until ribbon stage. You can use a handheld beater instead though it will take longer to get to ribbon stage. You want the egg foam to sit on top of the surface of the mix, for a couple seconds, when you lift the beater out. This means enough air is incorporated. Stream in oil very slowly, while beating, until emulsified. Switch to paddle attachment (or do this by hand with a rubber spatula) and add one-third of dry mix, then half of wet, and alternate, ending with last third dry plus the lightly ground nuts that were put aside. Scrape sides and fold.
Grease and line cake tins or rectangular pan. If you don’t have paper as I didn’t today, grease and flour your tin. Pour in batter and ensure it’s flat and pushed into corners. Bake, rotating after 20 min, until the center springs back and an inserted skewer comes out clean but damp.
Cool to room temperature, then remove from tin and frost as desired.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
225g butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
450g cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia (Tip 1)
Salt, to taste
375g sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract OR paste OR bean
Brown butter, then pour into a stand mixer bowl and allow to cool until hardened. It’s very important the butter is solid before continuing. I’ve skipped this in a hurry and it turns into soup. Feel free to brown the butter the day before to give it time to totally harden.
If you haven’t browned butter before: use a stainless steel pot if you have one (it’s easier to see your progress this way) and melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, moving constantly with a rubber spatula and scraping the bottom, until the butter becomes very quiet. This means the water has evaporated. Turn the heat down and try to see past the foam on the surface for browned bits floating in the butter. Your nose will tell you when it’s ready: it will be intensely nutty. Immediately remove from heat and scrape every last browned bit into the bowl. Some chefs push their browned butter way past this stage until the bits are black, but I find this flavour unappealing and stop once it’s just caramelised.
Add the cream cheese and beat on medium-high until smooth (you can use handheld beaters instead). Sift the powdered sugar, then add this to the bowl. Cover with a towel and pulse until sugar is combined, then remove towel and beat until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Taste and evaluate salt: if using salted butter, you’ll need less or possibly none. Otherwise, add a generous pinch, mix and taste. The salt should be present enough to balance the sweetness, but not taste ‘salty’.
It’s likely too loose at this point, so check if it will hold a peak. If not, put it in the fridge for 20 min and then fold with a spatula and check again. It should be slightly cool to the touch.
You can simply spread this all over your rectangular cake or assemble your carrot cake layers into tiers and spread this frosting between and outside. I have served this with candied carrot pieces, candied ginger and pecans sprinkled around. The frosting pipes well so you can make designs, though not intricate.
Storage: Unfrosted cake will keep at room temperature, in a sealed container, for about 3 days. Once frosted, keep the cake in the fridge and consume within 3 days. Frosting made ahead will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
Tip 1: Really, you can make this frosting with any cream cheese, but Philadelphia is quite low in moisture and anything else may need adjustments, such as more butter to compensate for the moisture. But even if the frosting is looser because of a different cream cheese, it will still be usable and delicious, just not as stable.
I hope you try this cake and that you enjoy it as much as we did. Remember, there are almost always ways to change recipes to suit your own ingredients and equipment! If you ever have doubts about what is possible in your kitchen, leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to advise you.
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Next week I will share some recipes from my partner’s mother, including cassava cake.
Now here are some pics from Brazil:
