Cheesecake Swirl Carrot Cake Loaf (Gluten Free)

• servings: 10 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

150 g (¾ cup) light brown soft sugar (147g for high altitude)

80 g (¼ cup + 2 tbsp) sunflower or vegetable oil (or other neutral-tasting oil of choice)

2 US large/UK medium eggs, room temperature + 1 TBS egg white for altitude

½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

210 g (1¾ cups) plain gluten free flour blend + 15 g for high altitude

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

150 g (about 1½ cups) peeled and coarsely grated carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots)

60 g (about ½ cup) pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped, optional

Cream cheese filling:

225 g (1 cup) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature

50 g (¼ cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar

1 US large/UK medium egg, room temperature

½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions

Carrot cake batter:

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a 9x5-inch (23x13cm) loaf pan with parchment/baking paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to mix everything together into a smooth, fairly thick batter with no flour clumps.

Add the coarsely grated carrots and roughly chopped nuts, and mix them into the batter until they're evenly distributed throughout.

Cheesecake filling:

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese with the paddle on low. When smooth add the sugar, egg and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Don't whisk or aerate the mixture, you don't want to incorporate too much air into it.

Assembling & baking the cake:

Spread about ⅓ of the carrot cake batter on the bottom of the lined loaf pan, creating an even layer (using ice cream scoop).

Spoon over half of the cheesecake filling, and spread it out into a fairly even layer.

Dollop on ⅓ of the carrot cake batter, and carefully spread it out into an even layer so it completely covers the cheesecake filling.

Spoon over the remaining cheesecake filling and spread it out into an even layer.

Dollop on the remaining cake batter and spread it out, so that it covers the cheesecake filling as much as possible. Smooth out the top.

Optional extra step: Cut cold butter (straight from the fridge) into very thin strips (about 1-2mm or less than ⅛ inch thin) and arrange them in a line on top of the batter, along the middle.This creates a natural weak spot on top of the cake and thus controls where the cake will crack during baking – and it guarantees a perfect split along the centre every single time.This step is completely optional, and I’ve actually skipped it when making my cake (as seen in the blog post), I really love its slightly more rustic appearance.

Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until the cake is well risen, cracked down the centre, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out without any cake batter on it.Note that the toothpick/cake tester won’t come out clean: you’ll see some cheesecake filling on it, that’s okay. You just don’t want to see any raw or half-baked cake batter on it – if you do, the cake needs longer in the oven. If the cake starts browning too much, cover it with a sheet of aluminium foil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done.

Allow the cake to cool in the loaf pan for about 10-15 minutes, then transfer it out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.It’s very important that you allow the cake to cool *completely* before you cut into it if you want to get neat slices with well-defined cheesecake swirls. If you start slicing while the cake is still hot or warm, the cheesecake filling will still be very soft and you’ll get slightly messier slices. (But if you’re impatient and don’t care about perfectly clean slices: go for it!)

Slice and serve.

Storage:

The cheesecake swirl carrot cake loaf keeps well in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Notes

113 g tapioca flour

56 g buckwheat

56 g millet

I decreased the baking powder by 1/8 tsp for high altitude but maybe try Leaving it as written since it didn’t rise as much.

Warm the cream cheese in the microwave since even at room temperature I could not get all the lumps out using the paddle or whisk at low speed. Mix it first on its own before adding other ingredients.

Bake at 365 Fahrenheit for 50 minutes for high altitude.

This is better the 2nd day.

The cheesecake swirl carrot cake loaf keeps well in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days.