If like me, you love carrot cake, and like me, you love a good baked cheesecake, then you'd love this cracking combination of carrot cake cheesecake! It's an update on the popular black-bottom cupcakes recipe, where chocolate sponge and cheesecake batter are baked together. The recipe I'm sharing is sugar-free and gluten-free so is suitable for those on a low-carb or keto diet. But honestly, you wouldn't even know it was sugar-free or keto whatever-o. It's just really good.

If you're baking something low-carb or sugar-free, you'll be relying on a few sugar-free baking staples such as powdered erythritol (natural sweetener), gluten-free baking powder, and ground almond flour. Having these in your cupboard will mean you can whip up guilt-free sweet treats anytime, including this Low Carb Carrot Cake Cheesecake. This recipe can also be adapted into cupcakes - simply place a scoop of carrot cake batter into each cupcake case and spoon a tablespoon of the cheesecake batter mix on top and bake for 20 minutes.

I think the Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting here deserves a special mention though. It is UNBELIEVABLE. That stunning tangy and buttery flavour with just the right amount of sweetness with ZERO SUGAR. I could have spoonfuls of it by itself, and feel a bit guilty for NOT feeling guilty. It's SO GOOD! Also, when it comes to sugar-free and low-carb baking, the substitutes involved often come with their own taste and texture traits - eg: almond flour by nature will yield a different texture to your standard plain flour cakes with a heavier crumb, and natural sweeteners may sometimes have an unexpected aftertaste (eg: Stevia can have a weird liquorice-style twang), but this sugar-free cream cheese frosting covers up any sugar-free baking sins.

Click through my Amazon shop for sugar-free baking essentials and cake decorating tools you may need. I get a small commission from any sale (thank you!) but the cost is exactly the same for you and it's all handily collated together for easy shopping.

Sugar-Free and Gluten-Free Carrot Cheesecake Recipe

Serves 12 Portions

For the Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Ingredients

100g Powdered Erythritol

115g Butter (preferably grass-fed like Kerrygold)

4ml Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

185g Almond Flour

6g Baking Powder

4g Ground Cinnamon

A Pinch of Salt

200g Shredded Carrots (approx. two medium/large carrots)

75g Chopped Walnuts

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 Degrees Celcius. Grease and line two 6 inch round cake tins with parchment paper. In a stand-mixer bowl, beat the powdered erythritol and butter together till creamy. Make sure your erythritol is the powdered version as it beats in better than granulated.

2. Lightly beat the eggs with vanilla extract and pour in slowly to the creamed butter to incorporate. 

3. Place all the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl and stir to combine well. 

4. Pour the eggy-mix into the dry ingredients and fold till you reach an evenly mixed batter. Then tip the carrots and 50g of chopped walnuts in and stir to combine. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins and set aside whilst getting on to making the cheesecake filling (unless you want just the carrot cake, in which case you can just put it straight in the oven and bake for 30-33 minutes or until done).

For the Sugar-Free Cheesecake Topping

Ingredients

100g Full-Fat Cream Cheese

1 Egg

2g Vanilla Extract

5g Butter (preferably grass-fed like Kerrygold)

60g Powdered Erythritol

Method

1. In a clean stand-mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream cheese and butter together. Make sure they are both at the same temperature eg: if the cream cheese is from the fridge, then the butter should be too, and if the cream cheese is softened, the butter should be too (if one is cold and the other warm, it'll split).

2. Lower the speed and tip in the powdered erythritol and whisk till combined.

3. Lightly beat the egg with vanilla extract and pour into the cream cheese mix slowly and whip till well combined.

4. In the cake tins filled with carrot cake batter, make 5-6 wells using the back of a tablespoon into the batter and pour the cheesecake mix evenly into both tins. You want the cheesecake mix to flow into the wells so they bake as lovely soft cheesecake pockets in the sponge.

5. Place the tins into the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 30-35 minutes. Use a cocktail stick or wooden skewer to check for done-ness. Once baked, let cool in their tins for 20 minutes at room temperature before carefully removing them from the tins and placing on a wire rack to cool through completely and ready to frost.

For the Sugar-Free Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

230g Full-Fat Cream Cheese

60g Butter (preferably grass-fed like Kerrygold)

200g Powdered Erythritol

5ml Vanilla Extract

Method

1. In a clean stand-mixer bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter together till fluffy and combined. Make sure both the cream cheese and butter are at the same temperature when you use them together (ie: both from the fridge, or both softened at room temp). Lower the speed of the mixer and tip the powdered erythritol and vanilla in and whip till you have a nice fluffy buttercream. Your delicious sugar-free cream cheese frosting is ready! 

2. Place a cake board on a turn-table (my marble one from Amazon is brilliant, as it also doubles up as a beautiful cake stand), smear some buttercream in the middle and place a sugar-free carrot cheesecake sponge layer on it. Spread an even layer of sugar-free cream cheese frosting on it and place another sponge layer on top.

3. Smooth out the top layer with sugar-free cream cheese frosting and spread a thin naked layer of buttercream on the sides. Scrape off any excess either with the edge of the palette knife or a handy cake scraper (we swear by these at the bakery and they are cheap and cheerful). Scatter the remaining chopped walnuts on the top.

4. You can either fully coat your cake with another layer of frosting around the sides (and I wouldn't blame you because the frosting is DELICIOUS), or pipe along the edge with a star nozzle (which I think is cuter).

Now, ENJOY. And when I say enjoy, I really mean it, because it is an indulgent treat. Despite being sugar-free and low in carbs, cakes and baked goodies are still meant to be enjoyed as an occasional treat in moderation. Before any diet police come after me, yes, I'm aware it is high in fat. If I wanted to make a sugar-free, fat-free, carb-free, gluten-free cake, I'd make one out of celery and dust. But that's not my gig.

If you have any questions please do leave them in the comments section. If you do make this please share your delightful sugar-free creation on instagram and tag @angesdesucre #angesdesucre in it so we can ogle at it and share it with our followers too! If you'd like us to make you a sugar-free low-carb cake do get in touch as we'll be happy to make them on special order if we can.

Lots of love,

Reshmi xoxo