I recently had my 40th Birthday. I don’t feel particularly old… but I have been very contemplative this month. Holding my life before God and thinking about family, prayer, habits, values & work amongst other things. As some dear friends are also reaching 40 this year we have talked about our youth and the subject of beauty as well. The truth is my life is so much richer and full of life and God than when I was young. I also feel I have found a comfortable place resting in what physical beauty God has given me and can look at it with confidence and peace in a way I never could when I was young. I enjoy taking care of my “temple” (my physical self) now… whereas when I was younger I had some unaddressed health issues that caused stress and confusion. Even though now I have a diagnosed disease, I also understand my body and needs so much more now and can say what I need without feeling ashamed or like I shouldn’t be “fussy” or “high-maintenance”. It is what it is and I work around it. Despite health challenges I have more joy, strength, confidence, peace and I daresay beauty than when I was young… and I would not choose to go back. I have a fire in me… that was always there but now I have the freedom to love through it rather than constantly struggling with myself. I can attribute this to freedom in Christ. Of knowing I was made well. I can attribute it to a rich marriage where my husband and I challenge each other and have worked through hard times together. I can attribute it to raising three children who are so different from one another and mirrors of myself and my husband (and other family members) in different ways and parts of their characters and personality. It is amazing the grace you have for people when you see certain attributes played out in your own offspring. The kind of understanding and love that comes only from prayer and the struggle to parent these tiny people who will one day be adults. Adults… with their own spouses… with their own families… with their own friends and workmates. Who are responsible to be good and kind people in their own way.
All that is to say that so far 40 is good. Really, really good. And I look forward to this next decade and what it holds.
As for this recipe… my favorite cake as a kid was my mom’s carrot cake and I was craving it like mad for this my midlife birthday. It is a hard one to do keto… and technically this would be keto cycling, but for me I focus on foods that nourish and do not trigger my inflammation. If you’re struggling with inflammation it is hard to enjoy anything, so that is more important to me than being strictly keto all the time, although that helps me massively to keep my inflammation down. I hope you enjoy this! I certainly did and found it met all my expectations of a carrot cake; dense, rich & spicy. You’ll need a food processor to make it and I’ve linked mine below. I use a commercial mixer to finish as well as for the frosting but if you have a hand mixer that can work too. It is simple but a beast in the kitchen. For the cream cheese frosting, I make my own cream cheese from coconut kefir. I have the process for normal cream cheese posted here, and you’ll just sub with good BPA free coconut milk or coconut cream. I serve it with coconut vanilla ice cream or this chai one.
Enjoy!
Carrot Cake (Keto & Paleo)
Equipment
- Fat Daddio Cheesecake Pan
- unbleached parchment paper
- oven
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Carrot Cake:
- 2 cups carrots shredded
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 4 eggs pastured
- 1/2 cup rice bran oil
- 1 tsp pure monk
- 1/4 cup Swerve Brown, or Purecane
- 1/4 cup coconut flour Bob's Red Mill
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1/2 cup usweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese I make my own from coconut kefir but feel free to use what works for you. Miyoko's is good for vegan.
- 1/2 cup grass fed butter (or 1/4 cup ghee) optional, will need to make adjustments if leaving out.
- 1/2 tsp pure monkfruit powder
- 1 tsp vanilla or 5 drops lemon dōTERRA essential oil drops
- 1/2 cup Swerve confectioners (optional, but helps stiffen frosting and add sweetness)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a cheesecake pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper for ease of removal. (I cut the parchment paper to fit the pan before I grease it, tracing the base with a knife to get a circle. This helps the cake remove clean without breakage.)
- Shred carrots and set aside.
- Add hazelnuts & dates to food processor and chop until they make a paste.
- Add eggs, oil, baking soda, swerve, spices and process.
- Remove to a mixer or new bowl and stir in shredded coconut.
- Fold in raisins.
- Bake in oven 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your pan and thickness of the cake. I like little fat cakes in a 6-7” pan so mine take longer. I check at 30 minutes with a skewer or toothpick. When it comes out mostly clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the side a wee bit it is done.
- Remove and let cool before frosting.
- In a mixer, add cream cheese of choice and softened butter and beat together with a whip until smooth.
- Add vanilla, monk and Swerve and whip again until it forms soft peaks.
- Frost the cake as you like. I sometimes frost it on all sides and at other times I just like to dollop it on top.
- Serve!
