Hello friends, hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and eagerly waiting to welcome the New Year. I'm doing great and so are the kids too. Just another month before my mother leaves to Chennai. Hopefully, I can manage the 3 kids/boys (yes 3, including the biggest kid my husband) after she leaves.
But I have to give it to my husband this time. He is helpful than ever when compared to the time we had our first son. I haven't baked anything in the past 3 months except for the sugar-free cake recipe I'm going to share with you all today.
Actually, I haven't even been cooking anything different as often as I used to do before. I'm thinking of getting back on track again from this week onwards, please wish me luck so that I can stick to my plan.
At this moment I would also like to acknowledge that we have been receiving a lot of sincere suggestions/feedback from visitors through emails. Thank you very much for showing genuine interest in the growth of this website.
We are working towards making this blog more user-friendly and interactive. You will be seeing a lot of cool and interesting features in the days to come. Again everything depends on how well I'm going to manage the 24 hours we have.
It's not just any carrot cake, but a fat-free, sugar-free, vegan carrot cake made with whole wheat flour. As I type this all I can remember is the Thanksgiving episode of Friends featuring Brad Pitt (watch the first 30 seconds of the video).
I know what must be running in your mind. "How yucky can it get?"
But wait my dear friends, you are in for a total surprise when you taste this sugar-free cake. I know I say this a lot in a lot of the recipes here, but you have to believe me when I tell this "healthy doesn't have to taste bad; it can be damn good and this cake is definitely delicious for the health conscious people and the rest of us."
The specialty of this recipe is that it doesn't require any added sugar or artificial sugar substitutes like most of the sugar-free desserts call for. The cake gets its sweetness from dates and raisins. The only fat is from the walnuts, if you are using it. The credit for this wonderful sugar free cake goes to Beverly Lynn Bennett.
I just made some minor changes and the cake turned out very good. As for whole wheat flour, I used freshly milled flour and didn't find any difference at all in the taste. I'm not sure how the cake tastes with store-bought whole wheat flour.
I also increased the number of carrots and nuts to make it healthier. Bake this sugar-free cake for yourself to indulge without any guilt during this holiday season or it can also be a perfect gift especially for the special someone who cannot enjoy treats made of sugar.
Recipe
Sugar Free, Fat Free Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 and ¼ cups Water
- 1 and ¼ cups Dates Chopped
- 1 cup Raisins
- 1 teaspoon Allspice Powder
- 1 cup Carrots Shredded
- 1 cup Walnuts Chopped , optional
- ⅓ cup Carrot Juice (or any other juice)
- As Needed Water or some more juice depending upon the consistency of the batter.
Instructions
- Preheat oven for 15 minutes at 375F/190C. Lightly grease and line an 8 or 9 inch cake pan.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and powder and salt; set aside.
- In a saucepan, combine together the water, dates, raisins and allspice powder. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Place the shredded carrots in a large bowl. Pour the hot liquid mixture on top of it and let it cool completely.
- Once it is cool add the chopped walnuts and carrot juice; combine it well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well together.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Mine was done in about 40 minutes itself.
- If you have lined the cake pan with parchment paper you will be able to remove the cake just after 20 minutes. On the other hand if you have just greased the pan, it might take a couple of hours before you could remove the cake from the pan without breaking.
- This sugar free cake tasted absolutely delicious without frosting, but if you choose to frost wait for the cake to cool completely and frost it with your favorite frosting.
My Notes
- The original recipe calls for ½ cup each of shredded carrots and walnuts, but I have increased it to 1 cup each. I also used allspice powder instead a mix of various other spices because I didn't have them in hand.
- Also frozen orange juice concentrate has been used in the recipe, which I have substituted with carrot juice I had, which was not sweetened with added sugar. You may want to add about a tablespoon or 2 of water/juice to adjust the consistency of the batter.
Nutrition
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Christine Edwards says
What a great cake, easy to follow recipe. Lots of taste. Hubby loves it. Would definitely recommend trying it. Made it twice and turned out well. Will definitely be making it again. Thank you.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Christine.
Nanma says
Hello...I tried this cake today...but it's been 1hr 15 min..it's still not baked..I removed it n tasted it..it wasn't sweet...plus it was semiliquid at the bottom... What must have gone wrong? The batter was not pouring consistency. Any particular whole wheat flour you recommend which I can buy online?Do help me so that next time I'm successful...
Madhuram says
I'm thinking there is something wrong in the oven temperature. Did you preheat it to the right temperature? Does your oven heat to the right temperature usually? This batter is a pretty thick batter unlike the usual cake batters. It won't be in a pouring consistency.
Jaynelouise says
Made this cake last night ..brilliant! Had a taster for breakfast love it! thank you for your recipes and your human error approach so down to earth. Just became vegan so this website is the tops!
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for the kind words Jaynelouise. 🙂
Maurice Cowley says
Have just made this cake just love it thanks.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Maurice.
Joy says
This seems yummy! I was looking for a recipe for tasty fat free and sugar free cooked carrots and found your site. I rarely have desserts or flour foods and will reserve this for a special occasion- perfect for my partners' birthday in May, just a few months from now! 🙂
Thank you!
Anita says
Hi,
I was super excited to find this recipe and gir down to it promptly. My mom's diabetic and she doesn't eat eggs either. So this was perfect.
The cake batter was very dry and floury. So I added yogurt the 1st time.
It rose a little bit and then deflated completely. It was delicious but not like a cake at all.
I made it again the next morning and added extra juice (almost 1/2 cup more) to get a batter consistency. , but result was pretty similar.
1) how is the consistency of the dates post boiling? Mine was pulpy both times.
2) I live in India and we don't have options of soft or hard wheat, I used a premium quality wheat which I had milled. It results in really soft rotis, but I don't know if it works for the cake.
3) despite the added liquid I had to spread the batter in my tin. It wasn't a pouring consistency.
Please help. I would really love to try this again. Both for my mom as well as a heathy snack option.
Madhuram says
Hi Anita, I'm sorry that I don't remember the consistency after boiling the dates because it's almost 4 years since I baked this cake, I think. I'm guessing maybe the wheat flour you are using requires lot more liquid than I have mentioned. So feel free to add more liquid and increase the baking time and see if it works.
Cinnamon Flowers says
Hi my mom's wedding is coming up in two weeks we are doing cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. But my mom is severely allergic to eggs and sugar. We dont want the bride to feel as if hers is obviously way different then her new husbands when they exchange bites.so we want to try to make her a cupcake she can have. I wanted to know will this recipe be ok in cupcake form? If so will cupcake papers be ok? I have a frosting she can have already, but thought this recipe would be a great surprise for her since she has not had desserts for as long as I have been alive:) Thank you for your information!
Madhuram says
Hi CF, this one is quite a dense cake. You can bake it as cupcakes but it will not have the texture of regular cupcakes. I think it will feel more like a muffin. All the best.
samantha says
Well I am truly pleased with this recipe, I make carrot cake for my kids lunchboxes and hit panic mode this weekend as there were no eggs in the hen house and I refuse to use shop bought eggs, I made two of these yesterday, mailed one to my 93 year old grab and the kids and hubby have devoured the other, I an now midway through making more for tomorrow. I had no dates so used mixed dried fruit and replaced allspice with equal mix of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, made fresh carrot juice, using the pulp in place of shredding to minimise waste and the flour was unintentionally strong wholmeal bread flour, I was making bread at the same time and picked up the wrong bag but the results were excellent so will keep the same method with future batches. Thank you
for a great recipe!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Samantha.
Natalie says
I absolutely love this recipe! It's a lovely big cake full of goodness and no added sugar! Thank you 🙂
Madhuram says
You're welcome Natalie.
Maitreyi says
Hi
I need to make a big cake for a special birthday. This recipe looks great because the birthday girl will only eat natural sugars (no refined sugar or sweetners) and no eggs. Do you have any tips on how to decorate? Any naturally sweetened frostings?
Is there a way to make the whole cake slightly less dense, fluffier? Would adding a bit of oil or yoghurt help in this?
Madhuram says
I have seen a cashew-date based topping kind of thing in some vegan books. Check out for vegan baking books in your local library and you should be able to get a lot of ideas. Maybe you can try increasing the quantity of baking powder by another 1/4 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for getting a lighter cake.
radhabalaji says
Dear Madhuram,
It looks so delicious and I want to try today.I just want to know what is that all spice powder ?
Madhuram says
Allspice is a spice just like cinnamon, nutmeg etc. It has the flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg, mace etc. The powder of it is allspice powder and is available in the spice aisle of grocery stores.
Sharon says
Outstanding! This is just what I was looking for--a delicious, moist, spicy carrot cake that tastes every bit as good as the full egg & oil recipe--maybe better! Thanks so much.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Sharon.
vandana says
Is it ok to use date syrup instead of chopped dates? if yes, what quantity of date syrup should I use?
Madhuram says
Date syrup could be used but I'm not sure how much should be used. I'm guessing about 1.5 cups.
manjari shukla says
The recipe looks good. However can one replace the whole wheat flour with regular maida? How would the other ing. be affected? Moreover no oil has ben used here. Would one need to add oil?
Madhuram says
You can use maida and the purpose of this recipe itself is to make it fat-free and that's why no oil is added. The cooked dates and raisins is the fat substitute. I want to make it clear that this cake is not going to be light and fluffy but quite dense.
Nidhi says
Hi Madhuram,
I am planning to bake cup cakes for babyshower of my friend who has gestational diabetes. I am looking for eggless and sugar free cupcake recipe. Is this recipe good for cupcakes or should i make few changes for cupcake? Also, if you can suggest few other options.
Thank you again
Madhuram says
I don't think that this recipe is cut out for cupcakes. You just have to try it to find out if it works. My guess is that it will be more like a dense muffin than a cupcake. I found this recipe for you but it uses agave nectar though. http://weelicious.com/2009/05/18/dark-chocolate-cupcakes/
Erin says
Enchanting............
Now this is called serious thinking.....
Shruthi says
Oh..I didnt know..Thanks...next time when I prepare, I will try with extra spices...:)
Thank you once again...
-Shruthi
Shruthi says
Hi Madhuram,
I am new to baking and this is my 3rd attempt. I have been doing only recipe reading till recently on baking and today I tried this cake. I use samsung MW+convection oven and after preheating for 15 mins, I baked the cake for first 40 mins, then another 10 +10 mins as the tooth pick didnt come out clean.bFinally when it was in edible form, I felt the tase was little bland. Can I add little more salt next time I try? Since I am new to baking not sure if adding extra 1/4 tsp salt will affect anything..
Thanks,
Shruthi
Madhuram says
Shruthi, salt doesn't change anything but why don't you try increasing the spices instead.
steven says
Hello Madhu
Is it possible I double the recipe because I would like to make 2 cakes with frosting ?
I use 2x9 inch cake pan.
Thank you
Madhuram says
Yes you should be fine doubling the recipe.
srividhya says
Madhu!! Today was my third attempt at baking a cake and my first at making an eggless cakes. The previous 2 times because I made it traditionally with eggs, butter, oil and sugar I distributed it to friends and colleagues because I didn't want all that on my hips. I had had my eyes on this recipe for about 2 weeks now. Finally managed to gather all the ingredients and made it today. The result was AWESOME! My husband and I plan to hog this cake all by our self 😀 The crust is a bit hard but insides are soft and it feels good on my tummy too, very light 🙂 It reminds me of the Plum cake that we used to get in Nilgiris in Chennai during Christmas. I always made it a point to buy those. Now I cant believe I baked this all by myself. Plus, I am planning to bake this cake for my dad who is on a strict diet because he has heart problems. Cakes have been abolished from his life. But now he can have a sweet treat too.. yay!! Thanks sooo much!
Madhuram says
Thank you Srividhya for your detailed comment. I'm glad that your father can also enjoy this cake.
GV says
Thanks for your immediate reply.
While in India I have tried some recipes in the countertop oven and they turned out to be good.Right after coming to US, I tried only with Pillsbury cake mix and also puff pastry sheets(many times).They were perfect.
Need your help.....
Thanks in advance
GV says
hi madhuram,
I'm new to baking.Fascinated by your site and being a strict vegetarin,I tried your vegan carrot cake.But the cake turned out to is soggy .I baked for 45 minutes and baked for extra 15 minutes also.I didn't make any changes and followed your recipe as it is.(I tried in countertop oven and preheated the oven for 15 minutes and I'm using wilton's pan).Your advice is appreciated.
Madhuram says
Thanks GV. Have you tried any other baking recipe in that oven and how did it turn out? Since I don't have any experience using a countertop oven I'm not able to tell if that was the problem. Otherwise I'm sure that the recipe is not an issue because I have tried it a couple of times.
Smitha says
Hi Madhuram,
What is all spice powder ? Can you explain the ingredients in it ?
Thanks
Madhuram says
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allspice
This spice has a combined flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. So you could use a little bit of each if you don't find it.
Smitha says
Okay thanks Madhuram. This helps.
Smitha says
I baked this cake for Diwali. It was not so great as expected. I dont know if my consistency was ok. Like you said, i did everything and then mixed the 2 cups of wheat flour to the liquidish mix of juice and the nuts. I could not use a cake mixer to fluff it up because of the nuts. I hence mixed it using my hands. I added a little extra (carrot+orange mix) juice because the flour and the liquid did not seem to mix well. After i mixed in the end it was a little more softer and liquidier than the chapathi dough if u understand what i mean. I could use a big spoon and put it on the cake tray. I have a samsung MW+convection oven. I baked it at 190C for 40 mins and then left it to cool. My tooth pick came out clean when inserted. After 1 hr, the cake was not a pain to get it out as i use a butter paper, but it was not so fluffy in some parts inside the cake. The cake was sticking to the teeth and hands 🙁 May be my consistency was not right. I kept baking it for 10 more mins 2 more times and it was much better, but i did not like all this trial attempts. To make things worst, i kept the pieces in the fridge and after a day it was all wet from the condensation..not sure why.
Can you tell me what can make things better and where i could have gone wrong. How do i know if the consistency is ok ? Can uou send me a picture of the batter when u pour this on a cake tray please ? I am very passionate to bake, but my skills are very crude.
Madhuram says
Hi Smitha, I'm sorry that you didn't get the cake right. Don't lose your passion because of one failed experiment. I still mess up more than you think even after 3 years. It all comes from practice and patience. Now coming to this cake recipe; this one will not be fluffy. It's a dense, moist cake because it has so much ingredients going in. With dates, raisins, whole wheat flour you cannot expect a fluffy cake. I don't have experience in baking in a mw convection oven, so I'm not sure if this would anyway affect the outcome of the cake. Have you tried any other recipe in that oven and how was the result? Maybe your oven needs more time for things to bake. The batter of this cake was pretty thick unlike the other cake batters which are more "liquidy".
Smitha says
Wow..I think i tried a banana nut muffin from your site. It was pretty ok. May be if you can tell me a recipe for this cake along with some butter and curd and all that eggless cake stuff..may be it will look better. At this time, i might be satisfied with baking a great cake. Once i am good at that, will try the low cal cake. Thanks again for keeping up my spirits . Can you compare the consistency of the dough with the chapati dough and tell me if it should be like that for this cake?
Madhuram says
It was not as thick as Chapathi dough. You can always add some milk/water to get a nice consistency.
Tina says
I found it fascinating. I just started baking, I am not too good at it but I really am looking forward to trying your recipe. Thanks.
Madhuram says
Thanks Tina. Hope I can convert you into a "bake-aholic".
bek says
the consistency of the cake is fabulous~ i actually made cupcakes instead!! but i think without the frosting it tastes more like a bran muffin then carrot cake. i think the next time i make these i will add more allspice and cinnamon for more flavor~ i did add about a 2 tsp. of agave nectar...and i think next time i'll even add more i also had to added some pineapple juice to get the consistency of a cake batter because it was a little dry. but the flavor was really good!! i WILL make these again!! thanks!
Madhuram says
Thanks for trying the recipe. Yes I too found that the batter was a bit dry and added some extra juice, like I have mentioned in the Notes. Could you please rate the recipe?
Chup says
Can I leave dates and all spice? As I don't have them in my pantry right now and I want to make cake now?
Thanks in advance
Madhuram says
Dates and raisins is the key element here to make it sugar free. So you cannot omit that.
Rathi says
Hi,
Ever since I tried out your apple cocoa cake and that came out well, have been wanting to try this out. I just baked it today and after reading all the reviews and being a sweet toothed person, cheated a little and added 3 teaspoons of sugar in the date mixture. The cake came out moist and yummy! Thanks once again for your great recipes.
Madhuram says
Thanks Rathi.
sangeeta says
The carrot cake is so healthy and i will be making it this season for sure ...
sangeeta says
Hi Madhuram...came after a long time . Wishing you a happy new year though it is a bit late
saloni says
hi i wanna know u have used packet juice or fresh juice of carrot
Madhuram says
I used store bought carrot juice, but it doesn't have any added sugar. Juice just from carrots. Got it in Costco.
Vijaya says
Hi Madhuram,
Nice to see you back with amazing recipes. I tried this Carrot Cake recipe last weekend. The texture was good, but I felt it was less sweet than I would have liked it to be. Maybe I will add more dates / raisins next time. Also, I didnt have Walnuts and substitued it with Cashews. And, the liquids turned out to be too less and so I added much more water than specified. But overall, we liked the "healthy" cake. Thanks...
Vijaya
Madhuram says
Vijaya, I think the sweetness and consistency of the batter depends upon the dates we use. Mine too was quite thick. Regarding the sweetness, we as a family have reduced our sugar/salt/spice levels. So it can be us also.
jeya says
Hi madhuram
What kind of wheat did you use to make the flour?. I saw two types in the grocery store. - hard winter wheat and soft wheat -and was not sure which to buy.
Madhuram says
I used the soft wheat Jeya. I did try chapathis with it and it turned out great.
Ani says
I made this last night. The taste was good. But the cake was very dry. I also had to double the juice quantity because while mixing I felt the cake mix was getting very thick and needed little more liquid mix. Not sure what went wrong.
Madhuram says
Did you by any chance over bake it, because mine remained moist even after a couple of days.
asha says
Hi madhu,
i want to bake this cake for my son who is turning 4 next week. Apparently he is on a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, nuts free and eggless foods. I want to know what flour to substitute for whole wheat flour. I shall omit the nuts. Your quick response is appreciated. Thanks.
Madhuram says
Why don't you try the gluten free flour mix available in stores? Check this link I found in Amazon.com. It has good reviews. I read that this can be used in all recipes except yeast bread recipes measure to measure in place of flour because it already has xanathan gum in it.
http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Foods-Multi-Blend-Gluten-Free/dp/B00112CND8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Asha says
Hi madhu,
I did try with the gluten free flour and xanthan gum. But the end result was that the cake was hard on the top whilst it was superb inside. I had to shave off the top part just to enjoy the rest of the cake. Thanks a lot for the recipe.
Surinda says
Dear Madhuram
Hi, I would like to try this recipe. I was just wondering if I use
self-raising wholewheat flour, then how much baking soda and baking
powder do I need to add?
Thank you
S
Madhuram says
I haven't tried substituting self rising flour for regular flour. I would suggest using just 2 cups of the self rising whole wheat flour and omit the baking soda, baking powder and salt in the recipe. See if it works and please let me know the result.
Sonia@7spice says
Hi dear, wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year 2011!!! 🙂
RedChillies says
Hi Madhuram, hope you are doing well. Wishing you a very Happy New Year, hope you have a great year ahead!
Madhuram says
Thank you very much RC.
maanasi says
hi
i am planning to try baking this cake today - new year day - can u pls tell me what can i substitute for all spice powder or , if i want to make that powder at home what all sd i use .thank you .
happy baking !
happy new year !
Madhuram says
You can try a mix of cloves, ginger, mace and cinnamon.
Lisa says
This looks delicious! My husband is not a big fan of sweets, and I am trying to stay away from excess oil. My carrot cake recipe is full of oil. I'm going to have to try this soon! In the mean time, I'm going to share it with my blog readers. 🙂
Curryleaf says
AWESOME Madhu.I think we can also try this with beets as well. Thgh I do not know how the beets -dates combo will turn out ? Love the way the cake is prepared. Dates are perfect natural sweetners.
All the BEST to You with the 3 kids. :). I am POSITIVE that you will manage well. Do TAKE CARE of Yourself as well.
Madhuram says
Thanks Sweatha.
Jen says
This is on my to-do list for this week without school. It looks wonderful!
Sanjeeta kk says
The cake looks and sounds very healthy with wholewheat flour in it.
Veggies, fat & sugar free, fruits and nuts are the bonus 🙂
abc says
Lovely cake 🙂
Hari Chandana says
Looks absolutely tempting.. very delicious one 🙂
Rama says
Hello Madhu, I am a strict vegetarian yet love baking. Love your website. Seems to be a direct response to my needs. 🙂 I am going to try the carrot cake today. My husband loves it. Do you think I could use aluminium foil instead of parchment paper? I have that handy and dont need to run to the store to get parchment paper. Thanks again!
Madhuram says
Thanks Rama. I wouldn't suggest using aluminum foil. You can simply grease the pan with enough oil/butter and sprinkle some flour. That should be good enough, but you will have to wait a bit longer to remove the cake.
harini-jaya says
Whats with sugarless cakes this season? I myself hv tried a sugarless cake
with dates ..Very healthy indeed!
Rohit Sinha says
Just find eggless carrot cake, will try asap. thanks
Porkodi says
Yummilicious cake Madhuram!
nishi says
This is an awesome recipe Madhu!! I'll definitely try this 🙂 Merry chris
Christmas and a very happy new year!!!