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!
I enjoyed this cake more knowing it wasn't so bad for me!
yum! I have shredded carrots in my freezer that might just turn into this cake :)
ReplyDeleteWow! 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!
ReplyDeleteI'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