Carrot Cake

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Carrot Cake
Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.
total:
1 hr 10 mins
Servings:
16
Carrot Cake

Ingredients

Cake
Frosting

Directions

  • To prepare cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

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  • Drain pineapple in a sieve set over a bowl, pressing on the solids. Reserve the drained pineapple and 1/4 cup of the juice.

  • Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and the 1/4 cup pineapple juice in a large bowl until blended. Stir in pineapple, carrots and 1/4 cup coconut. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until blended. Stir in the nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.

  • Bake the cake until the top springs back when touched lightly and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

  • To prepare frosting and finish cake: Beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Tips

Ingredient Notes: Whole-wheat pastry flour, lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, has less gluten-forming potential, making it a better choice for tender baked goods. You can find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets and natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

Tips

Large thin flakes of dried coconut called coconut chips make attractive garnishes. Find them in the produce section of large supermarkets or at melissas.com.

Tips

Tips: No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk”: mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.

Tips

To toast chopped walnuts and coconut chips, cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 5 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size:
1 piece
Per Serving:
341 calories; protein 6g; carbohydrates 43.2g; dietary fiber 3g; sugars 29.8g; fat 16.6g; saturated fat 4.8g; cholesterol 50.8mg; vitamin a iu 2545.9IU; vitamin c 4.2mg; folate 15.5mcg; calcium 50mg; iron 0.5mg; magnesium 17.4mg; potassium 161.9mg; sodium 335.5mg; thiamin 0.1mg.
Exchanges:

2 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1/2 vegetable, 3 fat
© Copyright 2022 EatingWell. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.eatingwell.com 09/25/2022
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