Healthy Carrot Cake

Here it is folks.  Breaking into the double digits with recipe #10.  This one is a fitting followup to the previous pumpkin recipe.  Carrot being another quintessential fall flavor.  Though its funny, I didnt always think that.  When I was younger, I thought carrot cake was repulsive.  Carrots in a cake?  Who would consider such a thing.  Vegetables were the vile things our parents forced us to eat in order to “be healthy.”  Not interesting, fun, nor tasty to a child.

Another one of the many great changes that come with age.  Embracing desserts made with vegetables, like this delectable carrot cake.  This version is a signifigantly lighter and healthier version as opposed to traditional carrot cake.  As you can see from the barrage of photos, I am particularly pleased with how this one came out!

This cake is refined sugar-free.  The cake itself is also lactose-free, though the frosting is not.

Enjoy.

 

For the cake:

1 ½ cup of whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder

1 ½ tablespoon of cinnamon

½ teaspoon of ginger

½ teaspoon of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of coconut oil or butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 large egg

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

½ cup of honey

¼ cup of canned pumpkin

½ cup of coconut milk

2 cups of grated carrots

 

 

For the frosting:

8 ounces of ricotta cheese

3 ounces of cream cheese

Honey, to taste

 

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C and coat a 9-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly with butter.
2. To prepare cake, mix flour, baking powder and spices together in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg and vanilla. Stir in the honey and canned pumpkin, mixing thoroughly until no clumps remain.
4. Begin adding the flour mixture and coconut milk into this bowl of all the liquid ingredients. Alternate between adding some of the flour mixture and some coconut milk, stirring until just incorporated.  At the end once the dough is completly mixed, fold in the carrots.
5. Pour and spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely at room temperature before frosting.
6. To prepare frosting (I recommend doing this while the cake is baking), stir together ricotta cheese, cream cheese and honey. Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Spread on top of the completely cooled cake.  Let the frosting set for an hour or so before slicing and serving

Leftovers should be stored in the fridge in and airtight Tupperware container for 2-3 days.