Gluten-free, naturally-sweetened carrot cake recipe

My dad loves carrot cake, and I fell in love with the naturally-sweetened one that I made several months ago from 101 Cookbooks.  I knew that Dad would enjoy one for his birthday, so I decided to try out a gluten-free version.  I read several comments (both on the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks and on Twitter) that the recipe worked simply by substituting a gluten-free baking mix for the whole wheat pastry flour.

Well, I got some interesting results.  This cake was moist. Very moist.  I've heard horror story after horror story about gluten-free disasters that always turn out dry, so I was definitely not expecting to have the opposite problem.  I checked it after an hour of baking, and it was not done.  But the inside didn't appear to cook any more over the next 40 minutes.  I finally gave up and took it out of the oven.  It turned out ok - it tasted just as good as the gluten-filled version, but was just a moist version.  After sitting in the refrigerator overnight, it firmed up somewhat and tasted even better.  Mom, Dad, and I managed to eat up most of it in the two days before they left, so I'd say that it went over fairly well.  Again, I prefer it without frosting - that way it's more of a sweet bread instead of a cake.  In fact, I may make zucchini bread with this basic recipe.

Carrot cake (originally adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
(Printable version)

2 cups gluten-free baking mix (see below)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup dried dates, seeded and chopped

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

3 medium carrots, grated

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Frosting (optional)

8 oz. cream cheese at room temp

3 Tbsp honey

Mix flour mix, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in walnuts. In a separate bowl, combine butter and dates. In a third bowl, combine bananas, carrots, and applesauce. Stir the butter and date mixture into the banana mix, and then add the yogurt and eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir just until everything is combined. Pour into a loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper and lightly oiled. Bake at 350 until you get really impatient (mine cooked for 1 h 40 min, and when I stuck a knife in the middle, it still came out with a little bit of cake goo). When you take the cake out of the oven, remove the cake and parchment from the pan and let cool. If you want to frost the cake, whip together cream cheese and honey, and spread it over the top and sides of cake.  Store it in the refrigerator, and it's even better cold.

Gluten-free baking mix (adapted from Karina's Kitchen)

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup sorghum flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp xanthan gum