Healthy Carrot Cake with Almonds and Hazelnuts

A delicious and healthy cake: that is the dream of everyone with a sweet tooth! Carrot cake is one of the best classic desserts on Earth and in this healthy version with almonds and hazelnuts you can enjoy it almost guilt free!

Why is this recipe good

This recipes is perfect for the times when you want to serve a dessert without refined ingredients and sugar. Ideal for kids birthday parties or any other occasion which calls for healthier sweet treats.

This cake is made with no wheat, very little spelt flour and lots of ground nuts (hazelnuts and almonds). It also contains (obviously) carrots. As a result the layers are moist but still pretty solid.

What ingredients you need

For the layers you would need ground hazelnuts, ground almonds, whole grain spelt flour, eggs, carrots and spices. The cake is sweetened with honey, which brings additional flavour. I used coconut oil as a fat but if you don’t have it, olive oil would be a great substitution.

The frosting is very delicious, made of ricotta, mascarpone and honey. It is very similar to the one in my Honey Cake with Ricotta and Figs – for the current recipe I just changed a bit the proportions to achieve a slightly richer texture. This is one of the easiest delicious frosting with no refined sugar that I’ve tried!

You can find the full list of ingredients below the post, in the recipe card

Preparation summary

This Healthy Carrot Cake is not difficult to make. The method for the batter starts by beating the eggs with the honey and then adding gradually the rest of the liquid ingredients. The dry ingredients and the carrots should be added at the end.

You can see the detailed steps below the post, in the recipe card, where you also have the print option.

Decoration ideas

As I wanted this cake to be completely healthy, I made the decoration out of raw carrot stripes. It might not be the most beautiful decoration both you and me have seen but it works well and is great for kids.

You can decorate the cake in many different ways: ground and chopped nuts or carrots poached with honey are just two of the options.

Apart from healthy this cake is also easy to make… Yes, certainly this is your recipe for the next baking weekend 🙂

Please let me know in the comments if you made it! I am always happy to receive your feedback!

More delicious cakes using fresh vegetables:

• Raw Carrot Coconut Truffles
• Keto Zucchini Bread
• Zucchini Carrot Cake Recipe
• Sweet Potato Mousse

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Healthy Carrot Cake with Almonds and Hazelnuts

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Ingredients

For the cake base:

• ▢ 2 cups/ 200 g grated carrots
• ▢ ¾ cup/ 80 g almond meal
• ▢ ¾ cup/ 80 g ground hazelnuts
• ▢ ⅓ cup/ 120 g raw honey
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ ¼ cup/ 65 g coconut oil, melted
• ▢ ½ cup/ 100 g whole grain spelt flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ⅓ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

For the frosting:

• ▢ 1 cup/ 250 g fresh ricotta
• ▢ 1 cup/ 250 g mascarpone
• ▢ ¼ cup/ 70 g liquid honey
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions

Cake base:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Line a 18 cm (7 inch) cake pan with a circle of parchment paper. Grease well the pan on top of the paper and around the sides.
• In a bowl combine spelt flour, ground almonds, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• In a mixing bowl beat the eggs until thick and foamy. Add honey and beat until combined. Add oil and vanilla and beat again shortly, until smooth.
• Using a wooden spoon fold in the dry ingredients. Add the grated carrots and mix gently to distribute them evenly around the batter.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the cake on top if needed and then bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with almost no crumbs.
• Let the cake cool 10 minutes in the pan and then remove it after carefully running a knife around the edges. Let cool until room temperature before assembling.

Frosting:

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.

To assemble the cake:

• Using a long serrated knife cut the cake horizontally in two layers. Place one layer on a serving plate and cover with ⅓ of the frosting. Place on top the second layer. Cover the cake on top and all around with the remaining frosting.
• Decorate with almond flakes and raw carrot stripes made with potato peeler.

Notes

Store the cake covered with film or in airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

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