Gluten Free Wedding Cake can taste fabulous! So fabulous in fact, that now everyone is trying to copy our Gluten Free Wedding Cake idea! I guess you read about Chelsea Clinton and her nine tier Gluten Free Wedding Cake. Well, HELLO! Where do you think she got the idea for that? Ob-vee-us-lee – from our Wedding!
Here’s the scoop (that I’ve heard from very reliable sources)…
The reason why Chelsea Clinton decided to get in the act and follow our decision to make Gluten Free Wedding Cakes is because truly delicious Gluten Free Wedding Cakes are the happiest Wedding Cakes in the world!
In fact, at our Wedding; everyone was so happy eating cake that people lined up for thirds. Did you hear that? THIRDS. Now, that never happens at weddings because no one really likes Wedding Cake. You know how it is…Wedding Cakes are generally beautiful, but tasteless, overly sweet, loaded with hydrogenated oil and usually dry. So knowing this, after dinner, the Wedding Coordinator informed the newlyweds, “No one wants cake. Let’s serve it after the dancing.”
But my son and his beautiful new bride knew that they were not serving traditional cake – they were serving something wonderful, delicious and…HAPPY! So, they insisted that we serve all the cakes, immediately. “You’ll see,” the Wedding Coordinator replied sagely, “No one wants to eat cake now. Everyone is too full; we just finished eating dinner.”
But, much to the Wedding Coordinator’s shock and amazement, there was a MOB SCENE when we served the cakes! Even with five of us ladies, cutting and plating cake, we could not cut the cakes fast enough! It was incredible! Then a line formed – people had come back and wanted seconds and thirds of BOTH kinds of cake! (They really are great cakes!)
The wedding was planned for 125 people but I had made enough cake to serve 350 people. I know, I know, how ridiculous was that? I went a bit overboard, but I always worry about not having enough food. Thank goodness I had made so much cake! We would never have had enough if I had made the standard serving amount for Wedding Cake!
Well, just in case you want to try the same Gluten Free Wedding Cake recipe (that I’m sure inspired Chelsea Clinton)…
Here is the recipe for the Happiest Carrot Cake in the World
Gorgeous photos:
Photography
You ROCK!
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Note: The Carrot Cake is both Gluten and Dairy Free, but the Cream Cheese Icing contains Dairy.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups of my GF Flour Mix (see below)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon (1 TAB. + 1 teas.)
2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/4 cups mild tasting olive oil
5 large eggs
1 TAB. Vanilla extract
1 pound grated carrots
2/3 cup crushed, DRAINED, packed pineapple
2/3 cup packed, shredded coconut (I used Bakers Angel Flake)
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Position rack in the center of oven.
- Spray two 8″ round cake pans with cooking spray and place a parchment round in the bottom of each.
- Place flour mix, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and almost fluffy, for 2 minutes. Add carrots, pineapple and coconut. Beat again, 1 minute
- Slowly add flour mixer into the carrot/oil mixture and beat at medium-low speed for one minute. Use a rubber spatula to make sure everything is evenly mixed together. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in the center of oven for approximately 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool cake layers in the pans on a rack. Use a small knife to cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Invert cake layers onto a rack, peel off paper.
Lynn’s Basic Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe
- Before you measure each dry ingredients, stir each dry ingredient. If you don’t do this, the dry ingredients can “clump together” and you’ll spoon out too much, which will make your cake heavier than it should be.
- You can double or triple this Dry Mix Recipe and keep it on hand. Just remember to always stir, then measure.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
Whisk until well mixed: Brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, coconut flour and xanthan gum.
WEDDING CAKE NOTES:
The Carrot Cake batter makes:
- Two 8-inch cake rounds or
- One 10-inch + 1-6-inch round.
- A double batch = 14-inch round.
Cream Cheese Icing
2 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature to soften
2 level tablespoons sour cream
1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pounds (8 cups) sifted powdered sugar
Beat softened cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Beat in sour cream (the sour cream will keep your frosting soft, don’t leave this out!) and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- Note: The entire cake was frosted and decorated with only this frosting. My goal was to have the entire cake taste absolutely delicious with no hydrogenated oils being used. The Icing does get very soft; as I was piping the edges, the heat from my hand would melt it! My advice to you….WORK FAST!
- Chill the entire cake in the refrigerator. If you need to transport it, be sure it is thoroughly chilled. I put it in the refrigerator the day before. Yes, we transported both three-tiered cakes, completely stacked and decorated, except for the little topper which I popped on at the Wedding. (I like to live dangerously!) Now, of course, the lower tiers had dowels and bubble tea straws to support the upper layers. However, if the cake is not completely chilled, it may start to slide when transporting it. Actually the word “may” is incorrect – the cake WILL slide if it’s not completely chilled when transporting it.
Serving the cake This is important!
- Serve the cake at room temperature.
In case you are wondering if it’s safe to leave the frosted cake out at room temperature, here’s the scoop: Cream Cheese doesn’t turn into “soup” like whipped cream does when it’s at room temperature. (However; remember that the butter in the icing will melt if the room is hot). And here’s another interesting thing about Cream Cheese: Some bakeries actually leave their Cream Cheese out at room temperature the night before to be sure that it is completely softened before making their Icing. Fascinating!
The flavor and texture of the cake is superb at ROOM TEMPERATURE. So be sure to serve it that way – room temperature! If you insist on serving your cake chilled, the texture will not be as soft and the frosting will be firmer…I know I’m a perfectionist, but I really want you to enjoy your cake at it’s best!
Oh, just in case you want the recipe for the Chocolate Tortes:
Scandinavian Chocolate Torte
Have a wonderful, HAPPY day!!! Smiles, Lynn
This came out perfect!! Thank you for this recipe. First time making things kind of cake and love love love it!
Hooray! Dawn I am so happy for you! Thank you so very much for writing!! ((HUGS!!!))
About how many recipes of cream cheese frosting would you need to frost a 6″, 10″, and a 14″ wedding cake?
What a great question, but with a very complicated answer. Here goes: The amount of frosting needed for a 6″, 10″ and 14″ wedding cake, depends entirely on the style you are using to frost and decorate your cake. Some wedding cakes are “naked.” Meaning the style is simply cake with frosting between each layer and nothing on the sides.
Another style is with extremely thin frosting around, and on top of each cake, which allows the cake to show through the frosting. This is a very simple but beautiful look, and is great for those folks that love cake, but don’t love frosting.
Another style is with the frosting completely covering the cake.
Each style will use a different amount of frosting. Another variable is this:
The cake layers. Some cakes are only 1 layer. Others are two layers, three layers, or even four layers! Now that would be a very tall cake! So to answer your question about how much frosting do you need, the answer is this: It varies.
Now, I’m sure that is not the answer you are hoping for… Eeeek! So here is what I would do… for your size of cake I would probably start with three to four batches of frosting, but depending on your style of cake – it could be 6 or 7 batches!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made it a couple of times and it was perfect! This time, the couple doesn’t want pineapple or coconut in it. If I leave it out, will that be a problem?
Hi Nancy!
I am so glad you have been enjoying this Carrot Cake recipe! Hooray!
No coconut/pineapple: Wow – this is a question, that I’m not sure I have the perfect answer for! I have not tried leaving out either the pineapple or the shredded coconut. However, after mulling this over… I think there are a couple of substitutions that might work out well for you.
Pineapple Substitution: I believe you would get good results by substituting small, diced pieces of fresh apple or fresh pear for the pineapple. Fresh apples or pears would add moistness and sweetness, just like pineapple, and would not dramatically change the flavor – so that should work. (Note: I would not substitute canned pears or apples since they would be way too moist and would turn to mush if you tried to press the excess moisture out of them.)
Shredded Coconut Substitution: (This is more challenging… but here’s my thoughts) Instead of the 2/3 cup of shredded coconut you could try substituting a scant 1/2 cup of almond flour. I believe this could work well, but – I haven’t done this myself yet so I can’t be absolutely positive.
Nancy, to be on the safe side, I would recommend that you bake a test cake with the substitutions to see how you like the results. And please, if you get a moment, let us all know how your cake turns out. It would be fascinating to hear about your results! Thanks so much for writing! I hope your cake turns out absolutely FABULOUS!
Big hugs, Ruby Lynn
Hooray! Hooray! 🙂
Thanks for your reply. I made an 8" 'test' carrot cake as per your instructions and it is superb! The cake is delicious, the texture is just like a non-GF cake, and the (soft) frosting is a perfect match. The recipe is definitely a keeper – yum!
Hi Maria!
Thanks for writing! This cake is very soft including the edges. I usually just line the bottom of the cake pan. The best way to add nuts is to toast them and sprinkle on top of the frosted cake. Yum! Plus the nuts look pretty and add a delicious crunch! Happy baking!
Thank-you for sharing this recipe. I plan to bake this for a friend's birthday and was wondering: 1/ would you also line the sides of the tin or do you not do this to ensure the sides are crisp? 2/ could you add in chopped walnuts, if so, how much? Many thanks, Marta
What a delicious carrot cake! So moist and tasty. I went back for seconds and thirds. And the frosting is the best, ever!
So this is the best wedding cake ever!!!!!!!! I still get compliments every once in a while about our cake!! Thanks Lynn!!!
This carrot cake is the best I have ever had. Gluten free or not, it can't be beat for taste, texture and just being downright delicious. I ate three pieces – (What a Hog) – Couldn't help myself. My son ate the Chocolate cake, he's 11 years old and he said he thought he was in Heaven while he was eating it.