Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Lighten-up Carrot Cake

I baked a carrot cake for my husband's birthday this weekend.  I needed to redeem myself from this cake disaster so I probably shouldn't have messed around with the recipe.  But I did, and thankfully it still turned out well!  This is not the recipe for carrot cake you want to use if you a completely decadent, rich cake.  It uses whole wheat flour and less vegetable oil and icing than others I've made.


I used this recipe as a guide and tweaked it a bit, mostly by substituting whole wheat flour, and adding more spices and some applesauce.  What I especially like in this recipe was the cream cheese frosting that had lemon juice in it- it gave the cake a really nice flavor, different from the plain traditional frosting.


I wanted it to look pretty, and was not about to make little icing carrots like you sometimes see.  So I topped it with toasted coconut and pecans.  Just grabbed a handful of each, spread it out on a baking sheet, and put it in a 400 degree oven.  I took out and stirred every minute or two and took it out when it looked good to me- it only took a few minutes.


Lightened-up Carrot Cake

2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tea. Baking powder
1 tea. Baking soda
½ tea. Salt
1 ½ tea cinnamon
¼ tea. Nutmeg
¼ tea. Ginger
1/8 tea. Cloves

2 eggs
2 eggs whites
1 c. sugar
1 c. light brown sugar
½ c. applesauce
½ c. vegetable oil

3 c. grated carrots

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until combined;  beat in applesauce and oil.  Gradually add wet ingredients to dry, beating until combined.  Fold in carrots.  Pour mixture into two greased, 9 inch round pans.  Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Check here for the recipe for the icing.

I enjoyed this cake more knowing it wasn't so bad for me!


2 comments:

  1. yum! I have shredded carrots in my freezer that might just turn into this cake :)

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  2. Wow! This sounds delicious (and healthy too!). I like how you added in the applesauce, spices, and whole wheat flour. Exactly what I would do too!

    I've been reading a blog awhile now. My friend introduced it to me. Very cool! Here is my blog: softandstiffpeaks.blogspot.com Please check it out!

    ~Amanda

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