No Calorie Friday: Carrot Cake

After the end of a long week and anticipating another long one ahead, I was craving something sweet.  The only problem is that baking doesn't allow for small portions and although I share what I make with my boyfriend it still means that I end up eating half of a high calorie dish.  While I would consider making up for the increased calorie intake with extra exercise- meaning running through Central Park- there is just not enough time in the day to negate the dessert calories.

As a solution to this problem, I remembered a story told by my mom. She was complaining that her coworkers were bringing in too many cookies, cakes, and doughnuts on Fridays. In response to her complaint, her coworker told them not to worry about all the desserts because calories don't count on Fridays.

And so, with this idea in mind, I introduce No Calorie Fridays!  A day for indulging and making whatever desserts my heart desires. I hope that you enjoy these days and find some inspiration in the recipes.

My first dessert is carrot cake.  I recently bought a lot of carrots and so the idea of carrot cake jumped into my head.  I used a recipe from the food network and modified it a little by adding pineapple chunks to the cake.  I wanted to make it sweet while using slightly less sugar and to also make the cake moist.  The result is perfect.  A soft moist cake with just enough cream cheese frosting to balance it.  I want to eat slice after slice.

Ingredients
Cake
Unsalted butter for the pan
2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour
6 medium carrots, grated

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 large eggs
3/4 cups plain yogurt
3/4 cups vegetable oil

Cream Cheese Frosting

12 ounces cream cheese

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of powdered sugar
 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Butter a springboard cake dish.

3. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl.

4. Add in the carrots and mix until they are covered in flour.

5. In another bowl mix the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.  Then slowly add in the vegetable oil and mix until combined.

6. Combine the wet mixture with the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

7. Pour into the cake dish and  bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool.  When it is cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting.

9. When the cake is cooled, cut it into two equal parts.

Cream cheese frosting

10. Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.

11.  Slowly mix in the sugar.

12. Spread the cream cheese in between the two cake pieces and frost the rest of the cake.

Enjoy

~R