I am very behind on posting recipes right now. I still have recipes from Thanksgiving dinner, that I have yet to post. We are in the thick of one of our busiest times of the year. Our store is busy for the holidays, our web sales have been killer, we have two pretty big jobs on the books and we have been traveling to many different holiday events selling our stuff. On top of all of this, a week and a half ago, Buffalo got slammed with a really nasty snow storm that dumped about 3 feet of snow at our house in a very short amount of time. Our street wasn’t plowed for days and we were stranded at home. This all wasn’t so bad, except my husband Mark was supposed to be in Chicago selling our wares at the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale. And worst of all, our fridge and pantry were pretty bare, I had planned to shop that coming weekend. So, I couldn’t even make the best of the situation by baking and cooking. Needless to say, I have been craving to have a few days to just relax, sip on a cocktail or two and just cook!

I came across this recipe just days before Thanksgiving and I had still been looking for the perfect dessert option to bring to my parent’s house. I made a huge feast at our house beforehand for just Mark and I, complete with a pastured turkey from our farm and tons of healthy and gluten-free dishes. Admittedly, I had my hands full and didn’t get the best pictures, so I am unsure on how many of the dishes I will be able to feature this year (I still have to go through all the photos), but that just means I may have to recreate them again some time soon, so I can get them on here. Darn.

This cake was the perfect light finish to a day full of eating and it was so incredibly easy to make. I loved that it was naturally gluten-free and didn’t have many ingredients at all. It had a lovely spice to it, reminiscent of pumpkin pie filling and the flavor from the almonds was so great. It’s like this recipe was created just for me on the day.

Make sure to grate the carrots on the fine holes of your grater, or they’ll be too crunchy. For best results, wrap the cake tightly in plastic after it cools and serve it the next day. It will keep for five days in the refrigerator if wrapped airtight.

Flourless Carrot Cake
Adapted from Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman, New York Times
serves 10-12

1 1/2 cups (1/2 pound) unsalted toasted almonds
1/4 cup organic dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
4 large farm fresh eggs
1/3 cup organic raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated organic carrots (about 10 ounces)
a bit of raw sugar for dusting

Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle. Oil a 9-inch springform pan, and line it with parchment. Lightly oil the parchment.

Combine the almonds and the brown sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend until the almonds are finely ground. Add the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest, and pulse together.

Beat the eggs until thick in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with an electric beater. Add the organic raw sugar, and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and forms a ribbon when lifted from the bowl with a spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Add the almond mixture and the carrots in three alternating additions, and slowly beat or fold in each time.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place in the oven, and bake one hour until firm to the touch and beginning to pull away from the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and carefully remove the spring form ring. Allow the cake to cool completely, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar, then wrap tightly in plastic.

I realized in all the excitement of my first Thanksgiving dinner and sharing this dessert with the family, I never took a photo of the cake sliced, so I am doing something I never do and including a photo from the original recipe. The photo is what sold me on the recipe, so I figure it only fitting you get to enjoy it (and drool over it), as well.

©Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times