We like to bake with a little less sugar here. For several reasons. Cakes don’t always have to be super sweet to be delicious. This simple Carrot Cake here has been baked without any added white sugar – instead, we use some maple syrup to sweeten it. Preparing this cake also did not require the usage of eggs. Something that might be interesting as well for some of you out there… right?! ;)
We may live in a time of abundance (at least here in Western Europe), but even in times like these, some products can become scarce. We all experienced that first-hand during the pandemic. Toilet paper, masks, flour, and even yeast were hard to get sometimes or not available at all at times. For various reasons. Sometimes people started hoarding stuff, sometimes there were simply not enough products made by companies due to limited availability of materials needed for production.
Even when there is no pandemic, shortages are still happening these days. Best example here, the shortage of chicken eggs in the US at the end of 2024/the beginning of 2025. The reason for that is/was an outbreak of avian flu on several chicken farms in the US. This shortage led to rising prices for eggs and other products that are made with eggs. For a country that loves (like really loves) scrambled eggs, omelettes, and other egg-based items for breakfast, this is certainly a bit of a problem…
Regardless of the reasons why something is not available, it never hurts to know how to substitute ingredients in recipes, right?! It’s actually often quite easy to replace products, such as eggs or milk. Just take a look at vegan recipes and do what they do. ;) There are many simple solutions in case you don’t have certain ingredients at hand you would normally use. Depending on the recipe, you can replace eggs easily with applesauce, bananas, or chia seeds, for example. Anyone who baked a vegan cake before, will have noticed this, I assume.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to switch completely to vegan recipes. You can, but you don’t have to. Although eggs are omitted with applesauce in this cake, there are still dairy products used for the batter and the frosting. If you want to get rid of these dairy products, you can do that, of course. There are excellent plant-based substitutes for yogurt and cream cheese out there – everything is possible these days… ;P
Well. Back to the cake. Like many other carrot cakes, this one here is also very delicious and moist (yes, I said moist!). However, the cake itself is not very sweet, I would like to add. As already mentioned at the beginning, we used some maple syrup instead of regular white or brown sugar. The amount we used is not that much tbh – hence the reduced sweetness. At least when you look at the cake itself. The frosting is quite sweet, though (in our opinion). If you have a sweet tooth, you might want to add a little more maple syrup to the cake batter. Up to 2 tbsp. more should be fine without affecting the texture of the cake.
Anyway. If you like baking with less or no sugar at all, you’ve come to the right place. We got delicious Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes (made with Xylitol and Erythritol instead of sugar) – the cupcakes are, as a bonus on top, also gluten-free. Definitely worth trying!
On the other hand – if you prefer to go all out when it comes to baking cakes, you should most certainly take a look at our Baked Carrot Cake Cheesecake. An absolute highlight on any cake table (but also quite sweet and caloric). But who can resist the combination of a carrot cake and a cheesecake?! This has to be good! ;P
Our Swiss Carrot Cake aka. Rüblikuchen is less overwhelming and intense, but no less delicious. The cake is an absolute classic in Switzerland – the home of Heidi and her friends. ;P There are, of course, numerous recipes out there for this type of cake, but this version is our favorite for many years already…
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the cake batter:
1 1/2 cups (200g) wholemeal spelt flour
1/2 cup (65g) spelt flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
5.3 oz. (150g) applesauce (unsweetened)
5.3 oz. (150g) Greek yogurt
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1/3 cup (80ml) rapeseed oil
3 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
7 oz. (200g) carrots, grated
3.5 oz. (100g) walnuts, chopped
For the cream cheese frosting:
10.6 oz. (300g) cream cheese
1.8 oz. (50g) maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
some chopped walnuts & pistachios for decorations (optional)
some carrot strips for decorations (optional)
Für den Kuchen:
200g Dinkelvollkornmehl
65g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)
1 1/4 TL Backpulver
1/2 TL Natron
1/4 TL Salz
1 1/2 TL Zimt
1/2 TL Kardamom
150g Apfelmus (ungesüßt)
150g griechischer Joghurt
80ml Milch
80ml Rapsöl
3 EL Ahornsirup
2 TL Vanille Extrakt
200g Karotten, geraspelt
100g Walnüsse, gehackt
Für das Frischkäse Topping:
300g Frischkäse (Doppelrahmstufe)
50g Ahornsirup
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
gehackte Walnüsse & Pistazien für die Deko (optional)
einige Karottenstreifen für die Deko (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 22cm (8.5-inch) square baking pan* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Set aside.
2. Add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and cardamom to a large bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, mix apple sauce, Greek yogurt, milk, rapeseed oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add these wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix in (with a rubber spatula). Finally, add the grated carrots and chopped walnuts and fold in. Transfer to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake the cake for about 40-42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down inside the baking pan for some time, then lift it out with the baking parchment and let cool down completely on a wire rack.
3. For the frosting, mix cream cheese with maple syrup and vanilla extract. Spread the frosting evenly on the completely cooled cake and decorate with some chopped nuts and carrot strips (optional).
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Eine 22cm quadratische Backform* mit Backpapier auslegen und leicht einfetten. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Beide Mehlsorten, Backpulver, Natron, Salz, Zimt und Kardamom in einer großen Schüssel vermengen. In einer separaten Schüssel Apfelmus, Joghurt, Milch, Rapsöl, Ahornsirup und Vanille Extrakt verrühren. Diese feuchten Zutaten in die Schüssel mit den trockenen Zutaten schütten und (mit einem Gummispatel) kurz vermengen. Die geraspelten Karotten und die gehackten Walnüsse dazugeben und unterheben. Den Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen und glatt streichen. Den Kuchen für etwa 40-42 Minuten backen – mit einem Zahnstocher testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und den Kuchen erst herausholen, wenn dieser sauber herauskommt. Den Kuchen aus dem Ofen nehmen und einige Zeit in der Form abkühlen lassen, dann mit dem Backpapier herausheben und auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.
3. Für das Topping den Frischkäse mit Ahornsirup und Vanille Extrakt verrühren. Das Frosting gleichmäßig auf dem (vollständig) ausgekühlten Kuchen verteilen und mit einigen gehackten Nüssen und Karottenstreifen dekorieren (optional).
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Easy Carrot Cake (No Eggs, low-sugar)
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:40
- Total Time: 02:00
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
If you want to bake something without eggs (because you don’t like them or because they are expensive) – you should try this Easy Carrot Cake. It’s so good!
Ingredients
For the cake batter:
1 1/2 cups (200g) wholemeal spelt flour
1/2 cup (65g) spelt flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
5.3 oz. (150g) applesauce (unsweetened)
5.3 oz. (150g) Greek yogurt
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1/3 cup (80ml) rapeseed oil
3 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract
7 oz. (200g) carrots, grated
3.5 oz. (100g) walnuts, chopped
For the cream cheese frosting:
10.6 oz. (300g) cream cheese
1.8 oz. (50g) maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
some chopped walnuts & pistachios for decorations (optional)
some carrot strips for decorations (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 22cm (8.5-inch) square baking pan* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Set aside.
2. Add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and cardamom to a large bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, mix apple sauce, Greek yogurt, milk, rapeseed oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add these wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix in (with a rubber spatula). Finally, add the grated carrots and chopped walnuts and fold in. Transfer to the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake the cake for about 40-42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down inside the baking pan for some time, then lift it out with the baking parchment and let cool down completely on a wire rack.
3. For the frosting, mix cream cheese with maple syrup and vanilla extract. Spread the frosting evenly on the completely cooled cake and decorate with some chopped nuts and carrot strips (optional).
Notes
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