Better for you Carrot Cake

I found a cake recipe online when I went looking for one with less sugar and perhaps a higher glycemic index. The one I found, I added pineapple to it and it was well received. It made a beautiful cake.

Better for you Carrot Cake Recipe
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 9 x 13" pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.

Combine in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup flax meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine in a medium bowl:
2 1/2 cups finely grated carrot
1 cup finely chopped pineapple, juices squeezed out
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Stir just until combined.
Bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near centre comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

I made this recipe of icing to make the cake pictured. I added the pink fondant flower after, but the rest is:

Cream Cheese Icing
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 - 2 Tbsp. milk
3 cups icing sugar, sifted

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth.

Obviously, the cream cheese icing is not "better for you", but hey, if you want icing, it's gotta be icing, right?

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Carrot Bread Recipe

Still with the carrot theme, I also made carrot loaf. It is very moist and delicious. I may have added a touch too much cinnamon! I modified a recipe in my cookbook called "Taste of Home Winning Recipes".

 

This is my version of

Chocolate Chip Carrot Bread

In a large bowl, combine:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

shake of ground cloves

In a small bowl, beat:

3 eggs

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir the wet ingredients in with the dry. Fold in:

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup chocolate chips

 

Transfer to two greased 8 x 4 x 2" loaf pans. Bake at 350degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack.

 

The children and I all enjoyed it. Hope you can too! I've tried this recipe before as muffins and that also worked well. It made 22 beautiful muffins. I baked them at 400 for 16-18 minutes.

 

Creamy Carrot Coffee Cake

Carrots! Carrots! Carrots! We finally picked the last of our carrots on Friday and I had a baking day with them on Saturday! That was fun. My favorite thing I made was the Creamy Carrot Coffee Cake.

This was a recipe in "Company's Coming Mostly Muffins" page 137. It is awesome! A nicely spiced, decadent cake that was just plain delicious. Loved the cream cheese icing on top. Just enough to be perfect! I used fresh pineapple instead of canned and omitted the nuts they called for. It was a good use of carrots, to be sure. I can post the recipe if you leave me a comment to that effect.

Have a nice day!