Recipe- Eggless And Healthy Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is one my favorite cakes and if you have been following my blog you would know that I mentioned the same when I posted Carrot Cupcakes recipe on Easter this year. I got the opportunity to bake carrot cake again during my stay in India this time. The occasion was special, it was my mom & dad’s 34th wedding anniversary and so I obviously wanted to make the PERFECT CAKE. This was the first time I was going to bake something for my parents and it made me excited and also nervous.

Buttermilk again makes the cake moist, you can use milk in stead but I prefer using buttermilk. To make your own buttermilk at home in 5 minutes take 1 cup measuring bowl and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to it. Add milk till the cup is full, let sit for 5 minutes or till milk curdles sightly. You can then use this homemade buttermilk in your recipe.

My cake had a lot of carrots you can cut down on it but as far as I am concerned my carrot cake should have loads of carrots in every bite and hence I added 2.5 heaping cups of shredded carrot to the batter.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1.25 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2.25 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1 cup oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1.5 cups sugar
2.5 heaping cups carrot shredded
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons yogurt
½ cup unsalted butter [1 stick]
4 oz cream cheese softened
1.5-2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Method

* Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9 inch round baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. I used a spring form pan and it was big enough, if using regular cake pans you can divide the batter into 2 pans.

* Grate the carrots finely using a food processor or using a hand grater. Set aside.

* In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon powder. Set aside.

* In steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat together oil and sugar till well combined.

* Add in the yogurt and mix.

* Now start adding the flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. Add flour in 3 parts and buttermilk in 2 parts starting and ending with flour. Mix till batter is smooth but do not overmix.

* Finally fold in the shredded carrots.

* Pour batter in prepared pan and bake at 350 F degrees for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

* Cool the cake completely before frosting it.

* In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer beat butter and cream cheese together till smooth and creamy.

* Add vanilla and mix.

* Start adding confectioners sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

* Add milk/cream and mix till frosting is smooth.