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This gluten-free Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake is the best carrot cake you will ever taste. Full of sweet earthy goodness thanks to using both golden beetroot and carrots; complex with pecans, sultanas and apples; perfectly complimented with a not too sweet cream cheese buttercream and adorned with the delightful crunch of a salted pecan praline and candied beetroot and carrots.
This is my beloved Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake which has been on my stall for a few years now. Last year I converted the cake to be gluten-free using rice flour and oat flour and it’s better than ever. The wheat version of the cake was published on the blog a couple of years ago, but I have wanted to amend it for a while as not only is this version an improvement but the previous photos were pants.
This Saturday I’m taking my cake stall to Highgate Village Market which I haven’t traded at before. Doing a market on a Saturday is a bit of a change for me as instead of baking on Friday and Saturday for Sunday trading, I’m now having to bake on Thursday and Friday. Cole is at nursery on Thursdays and that’s the day I typically arrange all my appointments for but it’s also the day I work on the blog. We’re going to have to see how it works out.
Today was not a great example of a successful baking day. It’s quite exciting doing a new market but typically whenever I want to impress that’s when you can guarantee that I’ll eff up. I’m sure my oven is playing up (nope I’m not to blame in the slightest!) which is not ideal when my oven is supposed to be my bff but today was also heavily interrupted by my typical Thursday appointments. I had a physio appointment for my ongoing back drama and then later on I had to pick Billy Buddy up from the vet. He had his operation yesterday for tearing his cruciate ligament. Yup, it wasn’t a damaged kneecap as we first thought but instead the second cruciate in two years to go. Poor thing, as it’s now a long recovery ahead of him and a lot of crate time while he heals.
It’s a bit of a scheduling nightmare attending appointments in the middle of a baking day as you can’t start a cake if you don’t have time to make it, bake it and remove from the tin. Some of my cakes take an hour in the oven so there is a lot of precise timekeeping which has to be adhered to. Those that know me are well aware that my timekeeping is not something to be admired, today was an excellent example of that so tomorrow I’m going to have to make up for lost time.
This Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake is one of those cakes that takes a little bit of time, but every part of the recipe is so incredibly necessary that no corners can be cut. It requires a couple of extra steps that you may be tempted to ignore but don’t even think of skimping on the salted pecan praline or the candied beetroot and carrots on the top. Both toppings are easier to make than you might think and if you have a go once you’ll soon be dousing all your nuts in salted caramel and preserving all your veg in sugar.
This cake is very special to me and I’m very excited to be introducing it to Highgate Village Market. For my diary of which market I will be at and when do visit my cake stall page for all the juicy details.
These photos were taken in collaboration with Tara at Fork and Dram. She has been a huge inspiration to me lately, assisting in the direction of my blog, cake stall and photography and has been marvellous to work with.
Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake {gluten-free}
Ingredients
- 475 g light brown muscovado sugar
- Grated zest of 2 oranges
- 450 g butter melted then cooled
- 6 eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 340 g white rice flour
- 110 g oat flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1½ tablespoons mixed spice
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 275 g golden beetroot grated
- 325 g carrots grated
- 2 granny smith apples grated
- 200 g sultanas
- 150 g pecans roughly chopped
For the Cream Cheese Buttercream:
- 350 g unsalted butter
- 400 g icing sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 g cream cheese
For the Pecan Praline:
- 50 g pecans
- 100 g caster sugar
- pinch of salt
For the Candied Carrot and Beetroot:
- 2 carrots julienned
- 1 golden beetroot julienned
- 220 ml water
- 200 g caster sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C and line and grease a baking tin 32cm x 22cm x 5cm.
- Whisk the sugar with the orange zest until fragrant.
- Add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, salt and black pepper.
- Fold the flour into the wet ingredients one third at a time.
- Add the beetroot, carrot, apple, sultanas and pecans and fold until completely combined.
- Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for about 60-70 minutes. Check after about 25 minutes to see if the cake is browning too much. If so, place foil loosely over the top.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Cream the butter until soft then add the icing sugar and mix for about 10 minutes until very light and fluffy.
- Add the salt and vanilla and mix again to combine.
- Finally beat in the cream cheese until the buttercream is smooth. Pipe onto the finished cake.
Pecan Praline
- Place the pecans on a baking tray and bake at 170°C for 10 minutes, remove, roughly chop the nuts and set aside.
- Pour the sugar in an even layer into a medium sized saucepan. Place on a gentle heat and watch carefully as the sugar caramelises. Shake the saucepan every now and then to promote an even caramelisation.
- Once the sugar has completely melted and turned a golden brown, add the salt then pour in the pecans and quickly turn over into the sugar with a silicone spatula so they are all coated.
- Pour the praline immediately onto baking parchment into an even layer and leave to cool. Once cool, chop roughly then use to decorate the cake.
Candied Carrot and Beetroot
- Pour the water and sugar into a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Then turn down to a simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the carrot and beetroot and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- Strain the carrot and beetroot and pat dry.
- Place on a baking parchment lined tray and bake at 140°C for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Then use to decorate the cake.
Nutrition
I sell my cakes at local farmers’ markets in London but lucky for those who don’t live nearby I also love sharing the recipes for all the cakes I sell and if you want to receive more of my cake stall recipes then I have a FREE mini e-book of the top 3 Favourite Gluten-Free Cakes which are on my stall including Fig, Almond and Salted Honey Cake, Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes and Minted Brownies. The recipes are really special to me and if you want a copy of them then just click the button below!
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Easiest Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Gooseberry Custard Friands (gluten-free)
Hello, so lovely of you to drop by. I am Georgina. I bake a lot, eat a lot and love writing about my gluten-free kitchen adventures here. I run a gluten-free cake business but am mostly kept busy with my 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 husband, 2 gorgeous sons and twin baby girls.
I’ve made this cake twice now although I haven’t been able to source golden beetroot and so have used red beetroot. My husband has declared this is the best cake ever, anywhere! Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes
Hi Pamela, that’s lovely to hear! I love this cake too – thank you for your feedback!!