Cleaning up the refrigerator challenges me, inspires, me and tickles my fancy. Sometimes, like today, good things come out like this GLUTEN FREE carrot ricotta cake with orange zest!
A freshly tasting, unusually moist bunt cake was born, and made me happy. The fact that I used up all my egg, some carrots and the ricotta, made me even more happy.
Some notes: I use Grapeseed oil because has a very mild taste, almost tasteless and colorless.
I made my own candied oranges last winter. When I squeeze them for juice, I keep the skins because they are tastier at the peak of the season, and they are so much better than the oranges one finds during the summer.
So here, I’m sharing this recipe with you, it’s gluten free but one will never guess!
CARROTS RICOTTA Cake with ORANGE ZEST
Serves 8 to 10.
Ingredients for a 9inch Bunt form
150 gr shredded carrots
150 gr coconut sugar
50 gr granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
50 gr Candied Oranges (recipe in the link HERE )
200 gr ricotta
200 gr almond meal
100 gr brown rice flour
1 T baking powder
1 T vanilla bean paste
3 T Grapeseed oil
3 lg eggs
4 Tbs cocoa nibs (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Place the carrots, the sugars and the salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mix is almost creamy. Now, let it sit, in the bowl, for about 1 hour to macerate. You will see that it will get more watery as time goes by. The sugar helps extract the juice from the carrots. This will make the cake super moist and sweeter.
Meantime measure the almond meal and rice flour. Sift them with the baking powder.
Pre heat oven to 350F.
Add the eggs, the oil, the vanilla and the flours to the bowl and pulse. Add the orange zests and pulse again. until you get a creamy batter. Add the ricotta, pulse until totally incorporated. Finally fold in the cocoa nibs by hands. (If using)
Immediately pour the batter into the prepared (non stick) bunt pan. I coated mine with oil and sugar.
Level the surface with a spoon, lightly.
Bake for 45/ 50 minutes. Wait a few before un-molding the cake.
Let cool totally before dusting with powder sugar or coating it with chocolate 🙂 because….
Enjoy!!
