Let’s face it, carrot cake is a trick. Not to make, but on our health radar! Is it healthy or is it horrific? It’s made of cups of shredded carrots so it’s basically one step away from salad in a cake pan, right? Not so fat, I mean fast!
If you’re not careful, it can be a days worth of calories in the palm of your hand but fortunately I have made a few sneaky substitutions that don’t compromise flavor and moistness and keeps the integrity of the cake intact. Yes, cakes have integrity. Just try cheesecake with non-fat, non-dairy “cheese”! Now that’s a cake whose integrity has gone out the window and slinks home with it’s tail firmly planted, well, you know where I’m going with this … so take that old standby that’s easy to make and even easier to eat for a makeover! A lighter, healthier version than those calorie-loaded offerings of the 80’s minus the artery-clogging, booty-expanding icing and of course, that scary big hair!
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1. Put the dry ingredients in your food processor.
2. Get the carrots organized.
3. Shred them and set aside.
4. Add the yogurt and sugar.
5. It’ll be on the dry side so don’t be alarmed.
6. Get the eggs and oil ready.
7. Add the eggs one at a time, whizzing after each addition.
8. Nice … just how you want it.
9. Time for the carrots.
10. Stir well to distribute evenly.
11. Add raisins, nuts, finely diced dried fruit, butterscotch chips, whatever you’re in the mood for.
12. Bake in prepared pan and voilà.
13. And voilà again!
14. Carrot cake, anyone?
carrot cake
Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
1. In a food processor pulse to combine:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsps. each baking soda, baking powder & cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- a pinch of any or all: ground cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg
2. Add and mix to combine:
- 1.5 cups sugar OR 1 cup of honey
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
3. With machine running, add the following and mix well after each addition:
- 1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil
- 3 eggs, one at a time
4. Transfer to a bowl and stir in:
- 3 cups shredded carrots, loosely packed
- a handful of raisins, nuts, butterscotch chips (optional)
Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick comes out clean, 30-45 minutes. Cool. Consume.
ice it
Mix the following until light & fluffy – an electric beater works great.
- 4 ozs. cream cheese (1/2 block or container), softened
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup icing sugar
- pinch of salt
glaze it
Whisk the following in a bowl:
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 2 tbsps. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Keep adding milk a dribble at a time until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over cooled cake.
get creative
- use cream instead of milk for a richer glaze.
- use lemon or lime juice plus the zest for more zing. Orange also works well.
leftovers
- cube it up and proceed with you favorite bread pudding recipe. Sublime!
- cut the cake in 3″ squares. Beat an egg or 2 in a shallow bowl, add a splash of milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Dip squares in the egg mixture to coat both sides and proceed as you would for french toast. With maple syrup, you’ll lose your mind, so you might want to wait and make this for dessert as opposed to breakfast – better mindless alone in the dark than right out there for everyone to see…sigh, I digress …
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Looks good 😀