Inspired by the Incredibly Moist and Easy Carrot Cake recipe by Adam and Joanne Gallagher, this Keto-friendly version is a hit with my low-carb, high dairy fat friends. In keeping with their goal of limiting even vegetable sugars, this recipe replaces half of the carrots with zucchini. The topping is more whipped cream than cream cheese and it is not very sweet. There is just enough hint of sugar and cream cheese to satisfy the craving for a taste of Granny’s old-fashioned carrot cake.

• 2 Cups almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (comes in the yellow box)
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter plus 4 Tablespoons more (1-1/4 Cups) softened to room temperature
• 1 Cup Swerve Brown sugar substitute
• 1 Cup Monk fruit white sugar substitute, plus 6 Tablespoons more for topping
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 large eggs
• 2-3 Cups of shredded carrots
• 2-3 Cups of shredded zucchini
• 1/2 Cup raisins
• 1 Cup chopped pecans for cake, plus 1/4-1/3 Cup more to scatter on topping
• 1 Cup heavy whipping cream
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Spray muffin tins lightly with Pam and insert 30-36 paper muffin liners.

Place a small mixing bowl and meringue or whisk style beaters in the freezer to chill.

In a food processor, finely chop 2 cups shredded carrots and 2 cups shredded zucchini. Measure the results; the goal is 3 cups of finely chopped vegetables. If there is not yet enough, chop an additional 1 cup of shredded carrots and 1 cup shredded zucchini. Set aside (can also be prepared and sealed in an airtight container the night before).

Using a standing mixer with a large bowl, blend the 2 Cups of brown and white sugar substitutes with the softened butter. Stop the mixer. Crack the eggs into a cup one at a time, break the yolk with a fork and whisk lightly before adding to batter. When all four eggs are in the bowl, restart the mixer and mix on medium, using a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so all the eggs are combined with the grainy butter.

Stop the mixer and lift the beaters out of the bowl. Sift the almond flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon onto a sheet of waxed paper. Carefully lift the waxed paper and slide the sifted dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Use the spatula to gently mix the dry ingredients into the egg-butter in the bowl. Remove spatula, lower beaters and mix about a minute to ensure all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stop the mixer, remove the beaters and shake the excess batter off into the bowl.

Add in the zucchini-carrot mixture, the raisins and 1 cup of chopped pecans. Use the spatula to combine and if it is too thick to stir well by hand, use the beaters for a minute or two.

Transfer the cake mixture to the muffin cups. Use 1/4 Cup of batter for each cupcake.

Bake 20-25 minutes. It is likely the tops will be brown after 20 minutes, but the dense batter takes more time to bake all the way to the bottom. At 20 minutes, drop a sheet of foil over the tops of the pans and bake 3-5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Make the topping by removing the chilled small bowl and whisk-style beaters from the freezer. Add 1 Cup whipping cream to the chilled bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes. After 1 minute, begin adding the 6 Tablespoons of white sugar substitute to the whipped cream. If the whipped cream doesn’t hold its shape firmly after 2 minutes of beating on high, beat one more minute. Check the consistency again and possibly bean another minute. This frosting requires the whipped cream to hold its shape, so you want to stop just short of it clotting into curds on its way to butter.

Transfer most of the whipped cream to another bowl temporarily. Beat the softened cream cheese with the whisks on high to get a smooth consistency. Add the whipped cream back to the bowl and gently (medium low speed) blend the cream cheese and whipped cream with the whisk-style beaters.

If the cupcakes are still warm, cover the bowl of topping with cling wrap and store in the refrigerator until the cupcakes have cooled to room-temperature.

Remove the cooled cupcakes from the muffin tins and top with 1-2 Tablespoons of the whipped cream topping. Scatter the remaining pecans over the topping.

Store in the refrigerator, due to the whipped cream topping.

Makes 30-36 cupcakes.

Less is More

My Keto friends don’t eat a lot of desserts so I give them half of the cupcakes with topping to eat / share through the week and half of the cupcakes without topping to freeze individually and enjoy later as muffins.

Also, the recipe can easily be cut in half for 16-18 cupcakes.

Finally, to make only 1 dozen cupcakes, the one-third recipe ingredients are as follows:

• 2/3 Cup almond flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda (1/4 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/3 Cup Swerve Brown sugar substitute
• 1/3 Cup Monkfruit white sugar substitute, plus 2 Tablespoons more for topping
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg white
• 1 Cups of shredded carrots
• 1 Cups of shredded zucchini
• 1/4 Cup raisins
• 1/3 Cup chopped pecans for cake, plus 2 Tablespoons more to scatter on topping
• 1/3 Cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

The process is the same; continue to use 1/4 Cup as the amount of batter for each muffin cup and cook the same length of time.