Mothers' Day

My mama loves carrot cake.

I do not. In fact, I can never remember how to spell carrot. (Carrott? Carott? Good thing I teach English.)

Carrot cake (thanks, spellcheck!) seems to have a love/hate relationship with humanity. You either love it, or you hate it. And since my poor mama loves it, and the rest of our family loves chocolate, no one ever remembers her. This year, I was darned to remember her, and make some just for her.

I have to say, I was pleased with the result. I was not pleased with the carrots sprayed all over the my kitchen at the first use of the mini food processor I got as a wedding gift almost two years ago. (Clearly, I was made to write a food blog, what with my mastery of small kitchen appliances and all.) While I'm not carrot cake's biggest fan, I really liked this one. It earned contented sighs all around from gluten lovers and non-gluten lovers alike.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
Adapted from: recipezaar.com
Ingredients
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup white sugar *I used organic
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup potato starch*I used tapioca starch because I had it on hand
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 tablespoons water *Huh, I forgot the water...oh well, it turned out fine!
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) *I used walnuts
1 1/2 cups packed grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)

For Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
drops of milk as needed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix well.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except for nuts and carrots. Mix well, being sure that no lumps remain in the batter.
4. Mix in carrots and nuts.
5. Pour batter into greased 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.Bake 45-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center tests clean.
6. For icing: Combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Beat very well. Add a few drops of milk as needed.
7. Spread icing on cooled cake. Eat and enjoy!

*Note: You can always choose to throw ingredients together willy-nilly, not really measuring or being careful. That's what I do!*

*I doubled this recipe, which I highly recommend. I then made a layer cake with two round cake pans. (Do you really call those silicone things "pans"? Man I love me my silicone, you can't burn anything!) I put a layer of cream cheese frosting in between. Yum!*

Happy Mothers' Day!