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Layers of your favorite carrot cake (mine happens to be flour less, gluten free, and filled with raisins and walnuts) and a creamy, tangy Greek yogurt no-bake cheesecake filling create a light and whimsical dessert perfect for springtime holidays in these Carrot Cake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits.
Carrot Cake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits {can be gluten free}
I’ve told you many times about my tendency to “repurpose” leftovers. I mean turkey breast –> salads –> quiche –> grilled cheese and chicken tacos –> sliders –> enchiladas. I just can’t stand throwing food away. Heck, I turn random bits and pieces into omelets and sandwiches and salads and stuff. So you can imagine how I handle baking failures.
Not so well.
I mean, a baking “failure” usually just means it doesn’t have exactly the right texture or it didn’t puff up quite enough or the chips sank to the bottom. With my sweet tooth, do you really think I’m going to throw away an entire pan of brownies simply because I made them too thick, and the middle took too long to bake compared to the edges? Nope! I mean, I’d be happy to shovel the entire “failure” into my pie-hole, but I wanna fit into my jeans, and I don’t have time or money to waste. It’s gotta become blog-worthy if possible. Exhibit A: Brownie fail –> the most amazing ice cream everrrrrrr!
So this, my friends, is a batch of gnarly, mangled, but suuuuper delicious flourless carrot cake cupcakes…
I know, I know, I could keep up the mystique and make you think that this is what I had originally intended to make. I mean, these parfaits! Soooo cute in their mismatched, random, funky little jars.
But I’ll be straight up with you. Remember when I told you about those cupcakes that didn’t stick to the liners and collapsed? Was I really going to throw them away? Nope! Into the freezer until I figured out what to do with them. I was originally thinking about carrot cake cheesecake ice cream, but I gave up ice cream for Lent, so that’ll have to wait. This time, it was parfaits.
And remember those dinner guests I told you about on Sunday? The ones who are my guinea pigs that I subject to trying my new creations. Yeah, let got leftovers for dessert. But when leftovers become something even more tasty and beautiful than what I originally started with, I mean, who is really gonna turn them down?
These Carrot Cake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits made from gluten free flourless carrot cake were loved by everyone. Even The Bug and Little Smiles were loving these. The Hubby is not even a carrot cake fan, and his jar was quickly emptied.
I love this carrot cake recipe. I think using almond meal makes it even more flavorful than “regular” carrot cake, and I love the hint of citrus from the orange zest. And making a cheesecake-y pudding-y type thing is one of my favorite things to do lately. I vary the ratio of Greek yogurt to cream cheese based on whether I am making a parfait or frosting a cake, but the yogurt adds the perfect texture and tang. Pair it with the carrot cake and you just have the perfect combination of textures and flavors.
Another thing I hate to put in the trash? Tons of pretty pictures of yummy sweets. So here, you get a collage. Stick this on Pinterest, peeps!
What would you have made with the cupcakes?
Carrot Cake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Parfaits {can be gluten free}
Ingredients
For the parfaits:
- A single layer or about 12 cupcakes of your favorite carrot cake recipe I used the Flourless Carrot Cake baked as cupcakes, below
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (I used light cream cheese)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Flourless Carrot Cake (Cupcakes):
- 4 eggs separated
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups finely grated carrots
- 1 3/4 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
For the parfaits:
- Crumble the cake/cupcakes and divide approximately into thirds.
- Using a hand mixer, whip together the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
- Divide one-third of the crumbled cake between eight jars or glasses. Top with 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture.
- Repeat with another one-third of the crumbled cake and another 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture.
- Divide the last of the cake between the jars or glasses. If you have any cheesecake mixture remaining, divide between the parfaits, piping decoratively, if desired.
For the Flourless Carrot Cake (Cupcakes):
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Line about 20-24 muffin cups with liners, or grease an 8-inch springform pan and dust with (gluten-free, if necessary) flour.
- Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed to form soft peaks.
- Add the 2 Tbsp sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla, and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high intil thouroughly combined and lightened in color, about 2-3 minutes.
- Gently fold the carrots and about one-third of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Gently fold in the remaining egg whites and almond flour until barely combined, then fold in raisins and walnuts.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups (about 3/4 full), or pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake cupcakes for 18-22 minutes until set, or the cake for 45 minutes until it starts to pull away from the sides.
- Transfer to a rack and cool completely. The cupcakes will likely pull away form the liners as they cool.
Did you make this?
Leave a rating below and tag @cupcakesandkalechips on Instagram and hashtag it #cupcakesandkalechips
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Enjoy!
How about some more gluten-free little goodies…
- Flourless Nutella Marshmallow Cloud Cups
- Gluten-Free Deep Dish Hot Fudge Brownies for Two
- Bananas Foster Cheesecake Parfaits
And here are some from my friends…
- Layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Flan with Moscato Sauce from Family Foodie
- Flourless Chocolate Cakes for Two from Bake or Break
How creative! Why chose between cake and cheesecake when you can have both? 🙂 The little dollop of cheesecake on top makes it so adorable.
Thanks! I purposely made sure I had enough left to make the little dollop 🙂
So perfect for Easter! And I love the addition of Greek yogurt!
Thanks Candace. I swear I add Greek yogurt to everything.