Carrot Cake 2 Ways

Carrot Cake

My dad's all time favorite cake is carrot cake. So that's what I usually make for him on his birthday. We have a family recipe that was my grandmother's. Her recipe yields a deliciously moist and decadent cake.

Carmina's Carrot Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 1/4 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup walnuts

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the nuts. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

As you can tell, this recipe isn't lowfat! It's prefectly fine to have once in awhile, as I believe all things in moderation. However, my mom requested I make a healthier cake for my dad. So using my grandmother's recipe as a starting point I came up with the following recipe.

Mon's Carrot Coconut Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1 egg
• 3 flax-eggs*
  
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups shredded carrots
  
• 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, applesauce, vanilla, carrots, and coconut. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the walnuts. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*Notes:
-For the flax eggs: combine 1 tbsp flaxseed meal with 3 tbsp warm water for each "egg". To substitute for 3 eggs, I used 3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 9 tbsp warm water. Let the mixture thicken for a few minutes.
-I used a 9" round cake pan and it came out pretty thin. I recommend using a smaller pan, for a thicker cake.

Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 package reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 c powdered sugar
• few tablespoons of milk (depends on desired conisistency)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• zest of one orange
• coconut to decorate

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the orange zest. Frost the cake and decorate with coconut if desired.

*This frosting is sweet, but not overly sweet. You may want to experiment with the proportions of sugar/creamcheese to suit your taste.

The finished cake

My cake turned out dense, moist and delicious as well. It's full of texture from the walnuts, carrots, and coconut. I have to say the frosting is the best part!


My dad was happy he blew out all of the candles! He kind of cheated though because there definitely was not 50 candles on his cake!