Super Moist Carrot Cake

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there! I hope your families are honouring you and that you are celebrating your mom, by a text, phone call, in spirit, or if you are lucky enough, in person.  As moms, we know some moments are amazing and some can be just downright difficult!  The tricky part is seeing the beauty in the everyday, learning to accept what we can not change and embracing all of the challenges and amazing moments motherhood brings us.

My morning so far has been quite stellar… my coffee, lemon water, early Moksha Yoga class with Sheldon then back home to flowers and a card. Then hunger set in and thankfully, because of our potluck last night, I had a delicious salad from our friend’s greenhouse and yummy quinoa salad all mixed together with some homemade garlic caesar dressing.  You would think a large bowl of that would be enough, but nope… There was that carrot cake in the fridge that I made yesterday with the “cream cheese” icing… Dang.  It was calling out to me.  Two pieces in, it is luckily mostly finished now.  I am on the deck, changed into my sweatpants, chalking it up to my Mother’s Day indulgence.  I absolutely love carrot cake but rarely eat it because 99% of the time the icing is made from real cream cheese.  It is tough to mimic that flavour, but this recipe does a pretty good job.  Most of our guests had two pieces last night so I was eager to share the recipe with you today.

I have been modifying this recipe for years.  I had to take a photo of the actual recipe book and page to show you how much of a time travel moment pulling up this recipe is for me.  We got this recipe book as a wedding gift.  We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this summer.  It’s crazy where time goes.  Those are some old stains on that page!

Like my mom, I have always marked up my recipe pages with comments and modifications. Sometimes I mark down who I served it to and when.  It’s such a fun trigger of memories!

Here is the recipe written out the way I made it yesterday.  I think there are still modifications that can be made to make it a healthier version of itself… but isn’t that a process we are all working on? 😉

I think the secret to the moistness of this cake is not only the carrot, but the pureed pineapple.  I also love how, because the applesauce is used for part of the oil,  it’s not greasy.  To modify this more, I think I will reduce the sugar by a 1/4 of a cup and use half cane, half date sugar.  Date sugar is not actually sugar… it is dried, pulverized dates.  This makes it a whole food.  It is rich in fibre, is a concentrated source of potassium, magnesium and copper, and it contains decent amounts of iron, phosphorus and calcium.  It is the healthiest sweetener on the planet.  It is more expensive but worth it!

Carrot Cake

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Serves: 16 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 50 minutes 50 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• For cake:
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds mixed with 71/2 tablespoons of water (substitute for 3 eggs)
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil, or olive oil
• 3/4 cup of 'no sugar added' applesauce
• 1 1/2 cup cane sugar (next time I would sub 1/2 cup date sugar and 1 cup cane sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup blended canned pineapple with juice
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts
• For icing:
• 1/4 cup of vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 4 ounces vegan cream cheese- (I used Yoso but I think I prefer Daiya)
• 1 3/4 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

For cake:

1. Mix together ground flax and water and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flax 'eggs', oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla.
4. Mix well then add the flour mixture and stir until completely blended.
5. Add coconut flakes, pineapple, carrots and walnuts and mix until combined.
6. Pour into a greased and parchment paper lined 9x13 inch pan. (If you are wanting a fancier looking cake, you could use two 8 or 9 inch pans and have a two layer cake.  Or, make two cakes using two round or square cake pans instead of one.)
7. Bake just above centre at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Poke a toothpick into the centre to check for doneness.  If it comes out clean it is ready.
8. Let cool on counter in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

For icing:

1. Cream butter and cream cheese together.  Add vanilla, then icing sugar. Blend well.
2. Make icing while cake is cooling.  Spread icing over the top and let drip down the sides. Yum!
3. Decorate with fruit if you like.

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