Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Food nerd and host of The Urban Vegetarian, Desiree Nielsen has a knack for making amazing and healthy meals. Life is sweet, and Desiree makes sure she has a baked treat every day! For this recipe, she shows us how to make a classic carrot cake with a twist, swapping out white flour for whole wheat, giving it a nutty taste that’s also healthy.

1 cake, 6-8 portions, as a dessert

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup (120 ml) light cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons (30 ml) maple syrup

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla extract

Carrot Cake

2 cups (470 ml) whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon (7.5 ml) ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml) grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt

3 large eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil

1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract

½ cup (120 ml) milk

1 cup (240 ml) applesauce

¼ cup (60 ml) brown sugar

3 cups (710 ml) freshly grated carrots

Toasted nuts (such as walnuts and pecans), to garnish (optional)

Method:

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting. Add cream cheese to a bowl and beat until smooth.

Add maple syrup and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.

Reserve until needed. Refrigerate if not using right away, but bring back to room temperature before attempting to frost the cake.

Make the Carrot Cake: Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Prepare a springform pan by lining it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, make a dry mix by combining flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mixing well.

In a separate bowl, make the wet mix. Whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla, milk, applesauce, and brown sugar.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to make a batter.

Fold the carrots into the batter and mix until well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until golden and firm.

Let cool completely at room temperature before decorating.

Frost with the reserved Cream Cheese Icing and garnish with toasted nuts, if desired.

Enjoy!