A few weeks back I asked in one of my posts if there were any low FODMAP recipes that readers would like me to include on the website. One suggestion was carrot cake as this person had struggled to find a good gluten free recipe. For my mum’s 70th birthday this week I made a delicious carrot cake, based on a recipe by Nadiya Hussain (Bake Off winner.) I realised that the mashed banana and some additional soaked raisins would be great in a low FODMAP version of carrot cake as they add fibre, sweetness -allowing you to reduce the added sugar in the recipe – and extra moisture which prevents the cake from being too dry or crumbly. To keep it low FODMAP the bananas should be on the firmer side, a bit harder to mash but it still works. I’ve made the recipe as mini carrot cakes but you could easily turn it into one large one with a 20cm cake tin, lined with baking parchment and baked at 180 C for 45-50 mins.
Looking for more cake ideas? Scroll through these low FODMAP baking recipes
- 1 heaped tablespoon raisins (be sure to choose raisins instead of sultans as the FODMAP content is significantly lower)
- 250g gluten free self raising flour (I use Doves Farm which includes xantham gum to improve the texture)
- 100g light brown muscovado sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 50g pecans, chopped
- 2 medium carrots (approx 160g) roughly grated
- 2 large eggs, lightly whisked with a fork
- 2 firm bananas, mashed
- 125ml vegetable oil (I use rapeseed as it's high in healthy monounsaturated fats)
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- For the cream cheese icing
- ..............................................................................................
- 50g softened butter
- 100g full fat cream cheese (the quantity of lactose here is well within limits when divided between 10-12 mini cakes)
- 100g icing sugar, sifted
- Grated zest of 1 small orange
- 12 toasted pecans
- Place the raisins in a small bowl or cup and cover with water for at least half an hour to allow them to swell, then drain off the excess water
- Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degrees (400F, gas 6) and line a muffin tin with 12 cases
- Measure the flour, muscovado sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl and stir them to combine, breaking up any lumps in the sugar
- Add the raisins, chopped pecans, grated carrot, mashed banana, whisked egg and oil, then mix together with a large spoon until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined
- Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through (a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean), then cool on a wire rack
- For the topping
- Place the softened butter and full fat cream cheese in a medium bowl and beat with a hand-mixer for a minute until smooth then add the icing sugar and orange zest, beat together until combined
- Decorate each cake with the cream cheese icing topped with a pecan
- The cakes can be frozen without the topping
Clare Falconer-Flint says
This sounds great, thanks Louisa.
I will try it this weekend.
Louisa Reid says
No problem Clare, I hope you enjoy it!
Angela Stevens says
Hi, Clare. I’m on a low FODMAP program and excited about your recipes. I’m in the US and STRUGGLING to figure out how to convert g and mls to cups, Tablespoons and Teaspons. Do you have an easy formula that works for your recipes?
Louisa Reid says
Hi Angela, this website has a conversion from grams to cups and ounces for various foods, hope that helps http://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Claire says
Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this site, I’m so glad I found this. It has made life a whole lot easier. I made this recipe yesterday morning and my sweet tooth has been satisfied ever since, they are just delightful, so light and airy, thank you very much
Louisa Reid says
Thanks for the lovely feedback, it’s great to know that it’s helping! Best wishes, Louisa
Mel says
Hi my Dietician in Australia advised me that Monash University has recently retested bananas and they now consider ripe bananas high fodmap. Which is annoying because i was eating them daily!
Thanks
Mel
Geraldine says
Hi Louisa,
I love the addition of banana in the carrot cake recipe. I used vegetable oil when I first baked this recipe. But can I replace the vegetable oil with butter?
Louisa Reid says
Hi Geraldine, FODMAP wise there would be no problem replacing the oil with butter. I would just make sure the butter is very soft to ensure that it mixes through thoroughly and it would probably be better to use an electric mixer to combine it rather than just stirring it through. Hope it goes well.
Best wishes
Louisa