Sunday Nite Dinner » carrot

Light Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chuck — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:55:32 +0000

Carrot cake again? I know, I know, how much carrot cake can someone eat? Well, I've eaten entirely too much of it in the last two weeks. After Hungry Bear made her fantastic carrot cake, I wanted to make a light version while her normal, full-fat version was still fresh on our minds.

The light carrot cake recipe was adapted from Cook's Illustrated (CI). I used all the CI fat reducing steps...

Reduced the amount of oil from 1 1/2 cups to 1/2 cup
Reduced the number of eggs from 4 to 3
Used Philadelphia Neufchatel reduced-fat cream cheese
Lowered the sugar quantity in the frosting

Then, I kept the majority of the normal cake's other ingredients to keep the flavors similar, which means pineapples and coconut flakes were included.

Cook's Illustrated's light cream cheese frosting recipe uses 12 oz of reduced fat cream cheese and no butter. I didn't like the idea of buying two 8 oz boxes of low fat cream cheese and not use 4 oz. So, I modified the recipe to use 8 oz of cheese and added a little butter.

The light carrot cake was pretty good. We thought the cake tasted similar to the full-fat version, but Hungry Bear's cake had a superior, more tender texture. The light cake was a little too moist and dense, which was a surprise given only half a cup of oil was used. It was probably due to the moisture of the carrots (3 cups) and pineapples. I actually preferred the light cream cheese frosting over the full-fat version because it was less sweet and rich.

Here's a breakdown of calories and fat per serving for the two cakes...

Carrot Cake	Calories	Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)
Normal	564	33	7	80
Light	406	17	5	61

As you can see, the light carrot cake is not a low fat dessert, but with half the fat of the normal recipe, it still tastes great. If someone were to serve me this cake, I wouldn't know it was a light version. If you love carrot cake, eat it regularly, and want a lighter recipe, definitely give this one a try. When I'm craving carrot cake again (it will be awhile), I'll stick with Hungry Bear's carrot cake.

Light Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

SND Note: The batter is quite thick before the carrots and pineapples are added, so don't worry. The next time I make this recipe, I would reduce the carrots by 1/2 to 3/4 cup to get a lighter crumb when using pineapples. 3 cups of carrots with pineapples has too much moisture. To reduce calories and fat further, skip the pineapple and coconut flakes (37 calories and 2 g of fat per serving).

Light Carrot Cake Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 cup packed light brown sugar (7 ounces)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and grated (3 cups)
8 ounces canned crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
3 1/2 ounces coconut flakes (optional)

Light Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces Philadelphia Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) cream cheese, softened but still cool
3 tablespoons butter, softened but still cool
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces confectioners' sugar

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom of pan with parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
Shred carrots using a box grater; set aside. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat eggs, granulated and brown sugars on medium-high until they turn thick and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the oil until thoroughly combined and emulsified, 30 to 60 seconds.
On low speed, add half the flour mixture over the batter and gently mix in. Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to mix the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone (do not overmix). By hand stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut until well combined. Pour into cake pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the parchment paper. Flip the cake right-side up, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours, before frosting.
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment ( or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until fluffy, about 1 minute. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes one 13 by 9-inch cake and 16 servings

[Adapted from The Best Light Recipe by Cook's Illustrated]

Tags: cake, carrot, cinnamon, coconut, cream cheese, frosting, light, lower fat, nutmeg pineapple

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chuck — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:06:29 +0000

I love carrot cake. Of all the non-chocolate cakes, it's probably my favorite one. When Hungry Bear gave me the choice between carrot cake and chocolate turtle cake, I still chose the carrot cake. I wanted to keep it uncomplicated this past Sunday night, and what's better than a simple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?

Hungry Bear used a recipe from an old roommate, Roz. You know, the kind of recipe that's written on an index card and handed down. The cake contains pineapples and coconut flakes, which we both enjoy in our carrot cake. Hungry Bear mentioned Cook's Illustrated (CI) pooh poohed the use of canned crushed pineapples, toasted coconut and wheat germ in The New Best Recipes. In fact, they were "unanimously voted out", but CI approved raisins and nuts as options... um, no thanks. I love Cook's Illustrated, but sometimes their decisions seem completely arbitrary. With all due respect to CI, Hungry Bear and I unanimously voted pineapples and coconut flakes back in!

The carrot cake was fantastic. It was relatively light, tender and moist, but not soggy. And then there's the cream cheese frosting. I think it speaks for itself. I knew the cake was good when our friend, Jane, had two servings of dessert, which she never does. Or it just could be, she's eating for two now, congrats Jane and Mark! We like to believe the cake was really good.

Since the carrot cake is fresh on our minds and palates, I'm going to make a light carrot cake based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe this weekend. We'll see how it compares to the full fat version. And yes, crushed pineapples and coconut flakes will be included!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

SND Note: The parchment paper in step 1 is optional. It will make it easier to remove from the pan and the presentation may be a bit nicer. If you're fine with icing the cake in the pan just skip the parchment and greasing. The frosting is on the sweet side, so reduce the amount of confectioners' sugar to taste. When the cake is frosted only on top, we use only half the frosting. The recipe calls for 8 ounces of crushed pineapple, but Hungry Bear used 12 ounces, which she thinks is a better amount.

Carrot Cake Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups carrots (4-5 medium carrots), peeled
8 ounces crushed pineapple, lightly drained
3 1/2 ounces coconut flakes

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened but still cool
1 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces confectioners' sugar

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom of pan with parchment and oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
Shred carrots using small holes of box grater; set aside. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat eggs, granulated and brown sugars on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds. Reduce speed to low; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 to 60 seconds longer.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients until just combined. By hand stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut until well combined. Pour into cake pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. On a wire rack, cool cake to room temperature in pan, about 1-2 hours.
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment ( or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.
Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes one 13 by 9-inch cake

[Directions adapted from Cook's Illustrated]

Tags: cake, carrot, cinnamon, coconut, cream cheese, frosting, nutmeg, pineapple