Carrot Snacking Cake with Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting

Blurb: This recipe is for a cake, so loaded with carrots, warm spices and whole wheat flour, you might be able to eat it for breakfast. The frosting is made with yogurt and less sugar than traditional recipes but you could skip the frosting and still love this carrot snacking cake.  If you don’t have a food processor, grate carrots on a box grater and assemble the rest of the recipe in a large bowl, mixing very well.

Cake Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces carrots, peeled
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/3cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1 recipe Yogurt-Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Directions:

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over edges enough to grab. Coat with cooking spray.
  3. Working in batches, use a food processor fitted with a shredding disk to shred carrots; transfer carrots to bowl.
  4. Fit now-empty processor with chopping blade. Process sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until sugar is mostly dissolved and mixture is emulsified, 10 to 12 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add shredded carrots and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses. Add flour and pulse until just incorporated, about 5 pulses; do not overmix.
  5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the cake is light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 26 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
  6. Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using foil over-hang, remove cake from pan and return to wire rack. Discard foil and let cake cool completely on the rack, about 2 hours. Spread frosting evenly over top of cake and serve.

Frosting Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup plain 2 percent Greek yogurt
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

  1. Process yogurt, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt in food processor until smooth, about 25 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add sugar and process until incorporated and frosting is creamy and glossy, about 20 seconds.
  2. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours until firm but spreadable.

Source: America’s Test Kitchen Nutritious Delicious