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Carrot Cake

Cooking Light
Carrot Cake
Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
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Outstanding

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 piece)

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
  • 1 1/3  cups  granulated sugar
  • 1/2  cup  sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1/3  cup  chopped pecans
  • 2  teaspoons  baking soda
  • 1  teaspoon  salt
  • 2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
  • 3  tablespoons  canola oil
  • 2  large eggs
  • 2  cups  grated carrot
  • 1 1/2  cups  canned crushed pineapple, drained
  • Cooking spray

  • Frosting:
  • 2  tablespoons  butter, softened
  • 1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3  cups  powdered sugar
  • 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
  • Additional grated carrot (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine oil and eggs; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated carrot, and pineapple into flour mixture. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish each serving with grated carrot, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:
322 (29% from fat)
Fat:
10.4g (sat 4.2g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.5g)
Protein:
4.1g
Carbohydrate:
54.4g
Fiber:
1.4g
Cholesterol:
40mg
Iron:
1mg
Sodium:
403mg
Calcium:
29mg
Emma Olgard, Spokane, Washington, Cooking Light, APRIL 2007

Member Ratings and Reviews

5 stars
Em
I made this cake for my son's first birthday. I was looking for something yummy, but with at least some redeeming health value. With the carrots and pineapple, and the relative "lightness" of the rest of the recipe, I felt this one was a good choice, and I wasn't disappointed. I omitted the nuts and coconut, as he hasn't tried those yet, so I added some extra carrots. I made sure the carrots were very fine: I shredded them and then used the metal blade to cut them even smaller. I used two 8" rounds to make a layer cake. The cake turned out very moist and very flavourful, even without the nuts and coconut. Rather than the sugar-rich cream cheese frosting, I used a bit of vanilla pudding (made with reduced milk) in between the layers, then frosted the rest with whipped cream with some vanilla pudding added in. It was quite delicious. Everyone seemed to enjoy it: cleared plates all around and a request for the recipe!01/18/10

5 stars

Wow! I'm glad I picked this carrot cake recipe to try. The cake is excellent just as is- very moist and tasty! I made the cake into cupcakes instead and reduced the baking time by 10 minutes. It produced 18 cupcakes and they are so good as is that I didn't even bother making the icing.09/04/09