Healthy Carrot Cake

Carrot cake has to be up there on the top tier of cakes, along with chocolate fudge cake and lemon drizzle. But this is Healthy Carrot Cake. It's next level! A light and moist cake, with all the delicious flavour, with a few lighter swaps.

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You would presume that as it has carrot in it, it is basically a health food but sadly not! But, with a few swaps, such as using a granulated sweetener and a light frosting in this recipe you can have yourself a healthier and lower calorie carrot cake that doesn't sacrifice on taste.

Why should you try it?

What you will need

Step by step

One: Preheat the oven to 170°C/350°F. In a bowl, add the flour, pecans, Hermesetas, raisins, orange zest, salt, baking soda and all spice and mix well.

Two: In a separate bowl, add the carrot, coconut oil, eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Three: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Four: Grease a 10 inch spring form tin and pour in the mixture. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Five: Whilst the cake is cooking, make the icing by mixing together the yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla.

Six: Remove the cooked cake from the oven and allow to cool fully.

Seven: When the cake is completely cooled, add the icing and sprinkle on the orange zest and pecans.

How is this healthy?

The thing about healthier versions of our favourite cakes is that they tend to be really dry and disappointing. This cake is neither. It's a really moist and delicious carrot cake that has been lightened up, as it has no butter or cream in it and a few other lighter swaps - such as using sweetener.

Well, you know we are all about mental health here, and a little bit of what you fancy in moderation is good for that. But, as well as this cake having vegetables in it, there is no butter or cream in it either. Not that those ingredients are unhealthy in themselves, but we have made some swaps that have extra benefits or lower in calories. We also skipped the cream cheese frosting for a fat free yogurt frosting.

Carrot cake icing

Let's talk about the icing of this cake for a minute. I could eat the "icing" out of the bowl with a spoon and to be honest, I did. It is that good, but so much healthier than regular butter cream or cream cheese frosting. It's made with yogurt! A little bit of maple syrup for taste and some orange zest and you have yourself and epic frosting/icing.

The cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in the allspice in this cake give it a real Christmas feel to it, so I think this is going to be made a lot more in a few months time. But it's never too early for healthy Christmas baking.

Carrot cake muffins

We have made this in to a full cake, but they work really well as muffins too. Just divide the mixture in to muffin cases and bake for around 20 minutes until the muffins have risen and set.

FAQs

Extra tips

• Turn these in to muffins instead so they are easier for little hands to eat. Just put the mixture in to muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.
• Add some extra vegetables in swapping half the carrot for courgette (zucchini). You will need to squeeze out the excess liquid first.
• We have added pecans, but you could keep it classic and use walnuts instead.
• Raisins add a nice extra touch of sweetness and texture to the cake, but you could use other dried fruit too. Try dried cherries or cranberries to mix it up a bit.

More cake recipes

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Recipe

Healthy Carrot Cake

By: Dannii Martin

Carrot cake has to be up there on the top tier of cakes, along with chocolate fudge cake and lemon drizzle. But this is Healthy Carrot Cake. It's next level!

Vegetarian

4.79 from 23 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Cooling time: 40 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 190kcal

Allergens:

Dairy

Eggs

Gluten

Nuts

Sulphites

Ingredients

For the cake:

• ▢ 250 g (2 cups) of Plain flour
• ▢ 8 Pecans - halved
• ▢ 2 tablespoon  of Orange zest
• ▢ 1 Carrot - grated
• ▢ 0.5 teaspoon  of Sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon  of Baking soda
• ▢ 0.5 teaspoon  of Mixed spice
• ▢ 50 g (0.33 cups) of Raisins
• ▢ 6 tablespoon  of Coconut oil
• ▢ 10 g (1 tablespoon) of Granulated sweetener
• ▢ 4 Eggs
• ▢ 80 ml (0.33 cups) of Skimmed milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon  of Vanilla extract

For the icing:

• ▢ 6 tablespoon  of 0% Fat Free Greek yogurt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon  of Maple syrup
• ▢ 0.5 teaspoon  of Vanilla extract
• ▢ A few pecans and a bit of orange zest for decorating

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 170°C/150°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 3.
• In a bowl, add 250 g of Plain flour, 8 Pecans, 10 g of Granulated sweetener, 50 g of Raisins, 2 tbsp of Orange zest, 0.5 tsp of Sea salt, 1 tsp of Baking soda and 0.5 tsp of Mixed spice and mix well.
• In a separate bowl, add 1 Carrot, 6 tbsp of Coconut oil, 4 Eggs, 80 ml of Skimmed milk and 1 tbsp of Vanilla extract. Mix well.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
• Grease a 10 inch spring form tin and pour in the mixture. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
• Whilst the cake is cooking, make the icing by mixing together 6 tbsp of 0% Fat Free Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp of Maple syrup and 0.5 tsp of Vanilla extract.
• Remove the cooked cake from the oven and allow to cool fully.
• When the cake is completely cooled, add the icing and sprinkle on A few pecans and a bit of orange zest for decorating.

Recipe Tips

• Turn these in to muffins instead so they are easier for little hands to eat. Just put the mixture in to muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.
• Add some extra vegetables in swapping half the carrot for courgette (zucchini). You will need to squeeze out the excess liquid first.
• We have added pecans, but you could keep it classic and use walnuts instead.
• Raisins add a nice extra touch of sweetness and texture to the cake, but you could use other dried fruit too. Try dried cherries or cranberries to mix it up a bit.

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 134mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1100IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.4mg

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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.

[1] Blaak EE et al. (2012) Obes Rev 13: 923-984.
[2] https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/are-sweeteners-safe/