Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
What is better than carrot cake? Well, I guess it depends on what you’re in the mood for. Because some days, I am chomping at the bit for a brownie, sometimes for a peanut butter dessert, sometimes an apple fritter (which I get from the donut shop)…. But today, nothing sounds better than a carrot cake. So, I had a project on my hands…
The carrots needed to be whole carrots that are shredded. I have followed carrot cake recipes, but decided to take a “shortcut” by buying grated carrots. I learned the hard way that those do not translate very well in a carrot cake… the pieces are much too big. So I need whole carrots. Check.
I know that carrot cakes are not supposed to be healthy, but I feel bad dumping so much oil into one cake. So it would make me feel better if I could lessen the saturated fat a little bit by replacing some of the oil with applesauce.
This carrot cake ended up being extraordinarily moist and flavorful. There was just the right amount of raisins and toasted nuts to get some in each bite but also detecting the moist, dense cake texture. And of course, the cream cheese frosting made it extra delicious!
This cake is vibrant with carrots and spice, and I think you will enjoy this!
Recipe:
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CARROT CAKE INGREDIENTS:
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup (one 6oz. container) nonfat plain or vanilla yogurt
- 1/4 cup oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 TBS vanilla extract
- 4 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup pecans, crushed (optional)
CAKE DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Coat three 9-inch round cake pans with baking spray w/flour.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, combine applesauce, yogurt and oil.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
- Stir in both sugars
- Stir in shredded carrots, raisins and nuts.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- Frost with cream cheese frosting.
FROSTING DIRECTIONS:
NOTES:
- Since the size of carrots vary so much, it’s difficult to recommend how many to get to equal four cups. I used four HUGE carrots to equal 4 cups for this recipe, but it’s best to just shred carrots and measure as you go along.
- I squeezed the shredded carrots a few times to get rid of some juice, but not thoroughly.
- I wouldn’t recommend low-fat or fat free cream cheese for the frosting because it will end up too watery.
