Comments on: Paleo kitchen experiments: carrot and orange cake

By: Christmas Day menu

Christmas Day menu — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:33:54 +0000

[...] for those wanting to appease their sweet tooth and soak up an alcoholic drink or two. Perhaps a carrot and orange cake would go down well. Carrot and orange cake – a treat for the sweet toothChristmas Day [...]

By: elaine

elaine — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:24:06 +0000

I just put unblanched almonds into the blender and give them a spin untill they’re finely ground, and the last time I made the cake I substituted a cup of ground sesame seeds (they are less expensive than almonds here). The cake was delicious and the sesame seeds made it extra tasty (a hint of halva).

By: Ammi

Ammi — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:57:10 +0000

Ooooh, thanks for that. I find ground almonds prohibitively expensive too so this is a special treat cake in our house. I had wondered if I could make almond flour myself, having previously made almond milk, but hadn’t got as far as working out how. Thanks for the tip (and instructions)!

By: Jenni

Jenni — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:51:43 +0000

Hi, I’m new to Paleo and have been looking for new recipes like this one! So excited!

Just a little tip about the almond flour. We have a family of 8 so we can’t afford to pay $10/lb for flour so we make our own and it is awesome! Just blanche the almonds for about a minute and a half (pour boiling water over almonds in a bowl), and then drain, rinse, soak in cool water for a bit and drain again. Then you pop those suckers out of their loosened skins and let them dry for awhile. (I put them in my dehydrator for a couple hours). then blend and in your food processor and you have almond flour, just like in the store but only for the price of raw almonds

Anyway, hope this helps someone. We actually make this a weekly family activity and the kids LOVE peeling the almonds, makes them feel needed. And I love their help!

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:44:56 +0000

Just made this cake and it turned out great! I added raisins, cinnamon and vanilla, leaving out that orange zest. I did add 1 tbsp orange juice though still. Would make again for sure…it was moist unlike other cakes made without wheat that are dry. No one would ever know this was a paleo reciepe. Thanks for posting this!

By: Ammi

Ammi — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:05:54 +0000

Glad you liked it. I’ve actually turned up a tea parties with this, not told anyone it is wheat and sugar free, and found it’s gone down a treat with non-paleo people (in fact, it’s often one of the first cakes to get eaten because it’s so moist). Although I do try to remember to flag up that it has nuts for any nut allergists.

I wouldn’t worry about making non-paleo alternatives for people. I’ve found that most non-paleo people are indiscriminate about what they eat as long as it tastes good and is filling. Nobody seems to think it odd to be served up with a meal that is actually paleo if you are serving meat or fish and veg dinners with things like mashed swede and carrot on the side instead of potato and if you don’t tell them it is a particular “diet” it I’ve found that nobody seems to notice.

That said, if you tell people after the first slice of a paleo cake that it’s not got any wheat or sugar in it then they often dive in for more in the mistaken belief that being wheat and sugar free means that it is somehow better for their weight loss diets!

By: Schyler

Schyler — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:47:36 +0000

I’m newly Paleo and made this cake Sunday to take to my grandmother’s birthday dinner. As I’m the only venturing on this journey to eat primal, I also bought and made a boxed Betty Crocker carrot cake and cream cheese frosting for my non-paleo family members.

I must say I love this cake and plan to make the coconut butter-cream frosting for it next time I did however use Josh’s Idea about using cinnamon & vanilla instead of orange zest and I completely left out the juice. I will most definitely be making this cake again

By: Ammi

Ammi — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 08:01:52 +0000

That sounds absolutely marvellous! Do let me know how it works out.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 01:20:19 +0000

Last Christmas I made the carrot cake and it was enjoyed by everyone. To give it an extra-fruity taste I added a cup raisins to the carrot mix I cooked and pureed.
I am planning to make it for Christmas day this year and am going to experiment with a whipped coconut cream frosting. The final touch will be to decorate with dried fruit.

By: Ammi

Ammi — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:44:34 +0000

Thanks for those points. Really helpful. I like the idea of replacing the zest with cinnamon and vanilla to make it taste more like traditional carrot cake – I’ll definitely try that next time.