Challenge # 26: Ginger-Carrot Cake

[moetushie]

There's a bag of carrots in my fridge that's been on my mind since before Christmas. Sadly, I don't have anything rich or celebratory that needs to be used up -- but I do have this bag of carrots. And you know the old saying - if you have carrots, make carrot cake. And add some ginger and cinnamon in it for some seasonal flair~

This particular recipe is sugar-free and healthy-ish.



Equipment needed:
- Mixing bowls, spatula, whisk.
- Oven
- Box shredder
- An 8 x 8 cake pan
- Can of Baker's Joy or any other non-stick baking spray

Ingredients:

Dry:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Wet:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup one-to-one sugar substitute (I used Splenda because that's what I had on hand)
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp skim milk
2 generous cups shredded carrots (if you think you have too much, don't worry about it -- throw it in. Extra veggies never hurt anyone.)

Frosting:
70 g whipped cream cheese
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Stevia drops to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cake pan with Baker's Joy.

2. Shift all the dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside.

3. You don't need a mixer (either a stand or a hand mixer) for this next bit -- you and whisk, and then a spatula will do as well. Mix all wet ingredients together -- it should be a wet batter, before adding the carrots. I'm not sure if it's actually *too* wet, actually. The final result was a very moist, rich cake -- which I love! -- but you might want to adjust according to taste.

4. Slowly stir in the flour mixture with the carrot mixture and stir until just mixed. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the cake clean.

5. Let cake cool thoroughly before attempting to frost. This frosting is kind of cheating, I acknowledge that, but I really didn't want to bring out the mixer. So I combined the whipped cream cheese that has been in the fridge for a while (talk about leftovers) with the sweetener and vanilla. It made a serviceable frosting, but of course, nothing close to the true glory of cream cheese frosting. Frost said cake and let it set before cutting.

I got 16 squares of cake with recipe, for approximately 106 calories per serving. Not bad!



A super dramatic close-up of said cake.

Comments

[missdiane]

Looks gorgeous!

[moetushie]

Thank you! It was good, although next time I might just leave off the frosting.