Very moist, low-fat carrot cake without nuts - a healthy carrot cake can be so delicious! This recipe is a great alternative to the classic one.
Hi all!
To me, this is the perfect healthy carrot cake: moist, fruity, and at the same time low in fat and sugar. Sure, the classic carrot cake is delicious, too. But if you like to bake something lighter for a change, you should definitely try my low-fat moist carrot cake recipe!
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Taste and Occasion
Contrary to its vegetable name suggests, the famous classic carrot cake is sometimes quite a calorie bomb (which is not bad per se 😉 !). So a few years ago, I experimented a bit to see if you could make low-fat carrot cake moist and delicious without using masses of eggs, fat, sugar and nuts. I am happy with this version of a Low Fat Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Sometimes I sweeten the dough with lighter raw cane sugar, sometimes with dark whole cane sugar or coconut sugar. If you like to bake a healthy carrot cake without sugar, you will also find tips below.
Ingredients
Grated carrots and lots of pineapple chunks in the dough make this carrot cake really fruity and moist without adding a lot of butter, oil or eggs to the dough. For this recipe, I use unsweetened canned pineapple (filling 560 grams, drained weight 340 grams).
Interestingly, the recipe is a carrot cake with pineapple, but the fruit is not even strongly tasted, but mainly results in the wonderfully moist consistency of the dough. My conclusion: a healthy low-fat carrot cake that is "slim", but fortunately does not taste like it 🙂 .
How to make the Low-Fat Moist Carrot Cake
Let's start with this great recipe! First of all, grease the springform pan, dust with flour and refrigerate.
Now, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Peel carrots and grate finely. After this, drain the pineapple well and chop finely with a large knife. Drain again.
Then beat the eggs until frothy. Stir in the oil and sugar well, then add the grated carrots and pineapple.
In a second bowl, mix all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients to make a homogeneous dough.
Finally, pour the cake batter into the springform pan, smooth it out and bake for about 40 minutes. Test with chopsticks. The cake may be moist on the inside, though!
While the carrot cake is cooling, it's time to mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice until smooth for the cream cheese frosting. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar and spread the cream over the cake. Sprinkle with the almonds and you're done with your low-fat moist carrot cake!
Top Tip
For a sugar-free carrot cake, you can use xylitol or erythritol in addition to raw cane sugar. The cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake contains sugar-free powdered sugar, for example. By the way: In my book "Clean Baking" you will find a very similar recipe for clean carrot cake without white flour and Co, instead of with whole grains.
Recipe Card
Low-Fat Moist Carrot Cake
Equipment
- small springform pan (8.5 in)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 250 grams (2 cups) carrots, grated
- 350 grams (2 cups) unsweetened canned pineapple, drained weight
- 2 eggs, medium
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 130 grams (¾ cup) raw cane sugar, or whole cane sugar, xylitol, erythritol
- 220 grams (1 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the frosting
- 200 grams (¾ cup) low-fat cream cheese
- 80 grams (¾ cup) powdered sugar, or sugar-free Sukrin Melis or powdered sugar
- 40 grams (⅓ cups) almonds chopped and roasted, optional
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Grease springform pan, dust with flour and refrigerate. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Peel carrots and grate finely. Drain pineapple well and chop finely with a large knife. Drain again.
- Beat the eggs until frothy. First, stir in the oil and sugar well, then add the grated carrots and pineapple as well.
- In a second bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients to make a homogeneous dough.
- Pour the cake batter into the springform pan, smooth it out and bake for about 40 minutes. Test with chopsticks. The cake may be moist on the inside, though!
- While the carrot cake is cooling, mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice until smooth for the cream cheese frosting. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar and spread the cream over the cake. Sprinkle with the almonds.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Recipes with carrots are just wonderfully versatile and can also be super healthy. Feel free to try this sugar-free carrot cake or enjoy the gluten-free carrot cake as an alternative.
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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