Carrot Cake with Dates – Enjoy this delicious, moist carrot cake, absolutely brimming with wonderful earthy flavors and rich texture. A must-try for carrot cake and date aficionados!
Warmly spiced, moist and rich, this carrot cake is filled with walnuts, dates and carrots. The ultimate home-baked carrot cake is a tasty alternative to the classic cake recipe with raisins.
Recipe Highlights
This naturally sweetened carrot cake with dates is so delightful and satisfying. It also is made with wholesome ingredients , most of which are already in your pantry.
We love carrots. And we love dates. Here is a no frosting carrot cake recipe that combines both delicious ingredients. This gluten free carrot cake is easy to make, and it will satisfy your sweet tooth.
You will love that this carrot cake is
- Gluten Free
- Eggless
- Refined Sugar Free
- No Butter
- No Oil
- good option for hidden veggies
- No Frosting
- Satisfying and full of flavors
Cooking With Carrots
Fruit cakes have some health benefits, especially carrot cakes. Carrot cakes have high levels of vitamin A, fiber and antioxidants. Eating this yummy cake gets you an extra dose of anti-oxidants and vitamins. You will also love the easy to follow cooking instructions and simple short list of ingredients.
I love cooking with carrots. Carrot Ginger Soup, Carrot Almond Pudding ( Gajar Halwa) , Air Fryer Roasted Carrots and Carrot Ginger Pickle are our favorite carrot recipes on the ProfusionCurry Blog.
Spring Dessert
Looking for a great Spring-time dessert recipe? This carrot cake is the perfect ! I am sure this date sweetened carrot cake could become a new staple on your Easter table.
Walnuts and soaked dates add moistness, texture. Cinnamon and nutmeg add depth of earthy flavor to this flavorful carrot cake.
This delightful cake is made gluten-free by using gluten-free flour. I used chopped dates and walnuts instead of raisins. The cake is moist, dense, and incredibly delicious.
This tasty carrot cake packs a lot of flavor. It’s a make-ahead cake great for holiday celebration or dinner gatherings. Try it!
Ingredients :
- Carrots : 2 Cups of grated carrots are used in this recipe. I use food processor to coarsely grate the carrots.
- Flour : I used Gluten-free all purpose flour. You can use any flour suitable for baking. Almond flour, whole wheat flour, regular all purpose flour or oats flour all are good options. As always sift the flour in fine wire mesh strainer for proper aeration.
- Dates : Pitted dates are soaked in warm water. Then you grind them to smooth paste. Dates are superb natural sweetener and add wonderful sweet taste to the recipe. Either Deglet Nour or madjool dates work well.
- Yogurt : Full fat Greek yogurt brings moist texture to the cake. I use it as a replacement for eggs. However, you can use eggs instead. To make it dairy-free use apple sauce.
- Milk : I am using unflavored almond milk. Any other dairy milk or plant based milk also works.
- Baking Supplies : Baking powder and baking soda help get a rise for the batter. They also help the cake get fluffy.
- Flavors : Spices like Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and vanilla essence make this carrot cake super flavorful and earthy. You can use store brought carrot cake spice mix as well.
- Walnuts : I like to garnish the cake with chopped walnuts. You can use other nuts like almonds or pecans as well. To make it nut free, simply skip using the walnuts.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Soak pitted dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile shred the carrots. Prepare a 9 inch or 8 inch round cake pan by lining it with parchment paper. You can use cake tin, loaf pan or Bundt pan
- Sift all the dry ingredients through fine mesh strainer. Combine flour, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In a blender/mixer, blend soaked dates with water to make date mixture. Add yogurt, milk and vanilla extract. Make a smooth paste.
- Pour the date yogurt mixture into the mixing bowl of dry ingredients. Add shredded carrots and fold till well combined.
- Adjust the consistency of batter by adding little extra milk if required. Fold 1/2 of the walnuts inside the batter. Pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pan. Use remaining half of walnuts as a garnish on top.
- Tap the pan few times on the counter to get rid of bubbles in the batter.
- Put it in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes. For the 8 inch pan you may require to bake it for extra 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking time.
- After 50 minutes of baking, remove from the oven. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the pan to see if the cake is fully cooked. The toothpick should come out clean if it’s fully baked in the middle.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on the counter or wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the pan. Slice it as desired and Enjoy !
Storing and Reheating
To Store : Make sure that freshly baked cake has completely cool down before you store it. Store leftover carrot cake in an airtight container on the counter out of direct sunlight for a couple of days.
For longer storage, wrap it in a plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to a month.
To Reheat : Place the cake on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place in a preheated at 250 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. To microwave it, cover it with paper towel and heat it up for 2 minutes.
Best Dessert Recipes
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Eggless Tiramisu
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownies
- Apple Crisp – Vegan , Gluten Free
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Carrot Cake With Dates
Ingredients
- 2 Cups shredded carrots 3 big Carrots or 4-5 medium
- 1 cup pitted Dates
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 cup Greek yogurt/ thick yogurt
- ½ cup Almond milk
- 1 ½ cup Flour – I used Gluten Free APF.
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup Chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Soak pitted dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile shred the carrots. Prepare a 9 inch or 8 inch round cake pan by lining it with parchment paper.
- Sift all the dry ingredients through fine mesh strainer. Combine flour, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt in a big mixing bowl.
- In a blender/mixer, blend soaked dates with water. Add yogurt, milk and vanilla extract. Make a smooth paste. Pour the date yogurt mixture into the mixing bowl of dry ingredients. Add shredded carrots and fold till well combined.
- Adjust the consistency of batter by adding little milk if required. Fold 1/2 of the walnuts inside the batter. Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan. Use remaining half of walnuts as a garnish on top.
- Tap the pan few times on the counter to get rid of bubbles in the batter.
- Put it in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake the cake for 55-60 minutes. For the 8 inch pan you may require to bake it for extra 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking time.
- After 50 minutes of baking, remove from the oven. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the pan to see if the cake is fully cooked. If it doesn't continue to bake further. The toothpick should come out clean if it's fully baked in the middle.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on the counter for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the pan. Slice it as desired and Enjoy !
If you have Air Fryer / Toaster Oven Combination
- You can also make this cake in the air fryer. Follow Steps 1-5 as above. Put the cake batter pan in the air fryer at set temperature at 350 degree Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
- Insert a toothpick in the middle of the pan to see if the cake is fully cooked. If it doesn't continue to Air fry further for 10 extra minutes.
- All other instructions remain the same.
Shalini
Hi Pranjali, this recipe looks amazing. I would love to try it today. Unfortunately, I do not have greek yogurt at home but do have eggs.
If I were to use eggs, how many would you recommend for this recipe?
Thanks so much,
Shalini
Team ProfusionCurry
Thank you. Use one egg for yogurt replacement.