Kitchen Trails - Healthier Carrot Cake

I was looking for a healthier option for carrot cake, and after some research, I came up with this version. Using half all purpose flour and half whole grain flour, low fat yoghurt instead of butter for the cream cheese, using coconut palm sugar syrup instead of refined sugar for the cake.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole meal flour

2 tsp baking soda 

Cinnamon powder

Pinch of cardamom powder

Pinch of salt

Gula melaka 300g, melted in 1/4 cup water

3 eggs

Yoghurt 1/4 cup

Vegetable Oil 1cup (I used olive oil)

Vanilla extract 

Zest of 1/2 orange 

Carrots, finely grated, 3 cups

Frosting 

200g Low fat cream cheese

2 tbsp Yoghurt

2 tbsp Honey

1/2 cup Pecans, toasted, chopped and mixed in 2 tbsp maple syrup/gula Melaka (optional)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Prepare two 8-inch baking pans, butter the bottom and sides, and line the bottom with baking paper, butter the top of the paper, and then flour the pans

Whisk the 2 flours, baking soda, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly with a whisk or hand held or stand mixer. 

Add the gula melaka syrup and beat thoroughly to incorporate with the eggs. Then beat in the yoghurt, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Slowly drizzle in the oil as you beat the wet ingredients.

Fold in half of the dry ingredients, mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated, and fold in the other half and do the safe. Do not over mix.

Lastly, add in the carrots and stir until just mixed.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, checking at 35 mins. Poke a skewer or toothpick in the middle of the cake and it should come out clean once it's done. If there's wet batter sticking to the skewer, bung back into the oven for another 10 minutes and check again.

Once the cake is done, let it cook in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and let cool completely.

Frosting: 

Whisk/beat/mix cream cheese, yoghurt and honey until it's well mixed. Set in the fridge for 30 mins to let it set a little. Spread the cream cheese frosting in between the two layers of cake and the top, spreading to the sides if there's enough. Top with toasted pecan bits if preferred.

Note: if the cream cheese topping is too thick, then add a little milk of choice to thin it out