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Recipe Rehab: Carrot Cake
Posted on Mar 25th 2010 1:00PM by Tanya Zuckerbrot
Carrot cake is one of those recipes that sounds like it should be healthy. It has vegetables in it, right? With one serving coming in at over 600 calories, it could easily replace an entire meal! Farrah writes from Detroit, Mich., with the request to reduce the fat and calories of this recipe. She loves to serve it to her family to satisfy their sweet tooth, but she'd also love to finish off special meals with a more healthy twist.
This cake has a lot of potential to get in a serving of carrots for those people who just hate vegetables. In order to lighten up the recipe I will reduce the fat by using canola oil and applesauce to replace the butter and I'll use egg beaters instead of eggs. By replacing sugar with Splenda, I am able to cut the sugar calories even further without sacrificing taste. Additionally, I will pump up the nutrition with a combination of whole wheat flour and oat bran to add fiber to the cake.
Since the frosting is nearly as caloric as the cake, I will lighten up the traditional cream cheese frosting by using a combination of reduced fat cream cheese, silken tofu and whipped topping to create a light fluffy frosting that goes perfectly with this cake. This puts the calories at a more reasonable level and still satisfies the sweet tooth of your family.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oat bran
1 cup Splenda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup egg beaters
3 cups finely shredded raw carrot
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
Frosting:
4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
4 oz. silken tofu
1/2 cup fat-free whipped topping
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange juice
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 1.5 inch round cake pans. Dust with flour.
2. In a large bowl stir together flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl combine the egg beaters, carrot, oil and applesauce. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
5. To prepare the frosting: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Frost cake as desired.
Easter Variation: Bunny Shaped Cake
To make a bunny shaped cake, use one round as the face and cut ovals out of the other leaving a bow shape in the middle. Arrange on a cookie sheet by using the ovals for ears and the center cut as the bow tie. Frost the cake and decorate with nuts, shredded coconut and dried fruit to create the face you desire.
Serves: 12
Nutrition Content (per serving):
228 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 34 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 6 g protein, 336 mg sodium, 100 mg calcium
For a variation on carrot cake cookie sandwiches see my previous rehab!
Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your most favorite fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REHAB! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.
Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com, has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!
