I’m blessed to have my 87-year-old Grandma Charlotte as a guest in our home for the next week. Every time she visits, or I travel back to see her in Michigan, I always pick up some baking tips (and a couple of extra pounds) because she is such a master baker. Since Easter is almost here and one of our family traditions is baking a to-die-for carrot cake, I wanted to share a healthier version we made together. This cake isn’t just a little bit better on your waistline. This is an overhaul. It contains around 75% less sugar and 50% less fat than our classic carrot cake. Enjoy this treat any time of day—dare I suggest even a sliver with your morning coffee.
- CAKE
- 1 cup organic cake flour
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 cup Stevia for baking or Truvia baking blend
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs with 2 additional egg whites
- 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup organic, non-GMO canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk
- 1 tsp real vanilla
- 3 cups finely shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup chopped raisins
- FROSTING
- 1/2 cup stevia
- 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese (for a dairy-free and delicious alternative, forgo the stevia and replace the cream cheese with SoDelicious coconut whipped topping. Heaven).
- Unsweetened coconut flakes for garnish (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray two, 8 in cake rounds.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking stevia, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a second bowl, beat eggs and egg whites, then mix in canola oil, cashew milk, vanilla and carrots.
- Add carrot mixture to flour mixture and combine.
- Cut raisins in half (so the sweet taste goes farther in the cake) and pulverize chopped walnuts by putting in a chopper or going old-school and smashing them in a plastic baggie. Fold raisins and walnuts into mixture.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
- Grind the stevia for baking in a blender, food processor or even coffee grinder for 10 seconds to get it fine enough for frosting.
- Add to cream cheese and whip with a mixer until fluffy.
- Spread on cake layers and top with a bit of chopped walnuts and unsweetened coconut flakes.
- Words to the wise: Since we are using almond flour in place of some of the all-purpose flour, this cake will be more dense than a traditional carrot cake.
My mom Michelle, Grandma Charlotte and myself.
So what has been substituted to make this cake healthy yet moist and non-diety tasting?
To reduce sugar:
- The 2 cups of sugar for the cake and 2 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting have been replaced with stevia for baking.
- The amount of raisins have been reduced from 3/4 cup to 1/4 cup. Just chop them up so a little goes further.
To reduce fat and calories
- The entire stick of butter has been removed from the frosting.
- 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil has been reduced to 1/2 cup organic canola oil.
- The buttermilk in the classic recipe has been replaced with unsweetened cashew milk.
- Full fat cream cheese has been replaced with low fat cream cheese or neufchâtel cheese.
- Walnuts have been reduced from 1 cup to 1/4 cup (just pulverize to make them go further in the cake).
- Two of the four eggs have been substituted with egg whites.
[…] the shop is closed after this addition). So the dessert recipes I’ve recently written (here and here) were created as healthy alternatives to satiate sweet cravings during my 1st trimester. […]