Whole Grain Carrot Cake

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I wonder who will see “whole grain carrot cake” and assume that this cake is going to taste diet. I can assure you, it will not. It’s just about the most moist and delicious dessert you can make. I would call this one healthy-ish.

But, if you’re craving something sweet – or have a bumper crop of carrots – read on.

What to do with Carrots

This recipe was born out of necessity – we planted 1000 carrot seeds and had an above average germination rate. By the end of summer, I was so tired of roasting them once a week for dinner.

When life gives you carrots: make cake.

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Mise en Place

In French cooking, the term “mise en place” means to “put everything in its place.” I’m a big proponent of this. By implementing this technique you will save time and keep yourself from getting frazzled. It’s also a great way to check that you have all the ingredients you need for whatever you’re preparing.

There’s only a tiny bit of prep for this recipe…let’s talk about it.

To start: set out your butter and eggs for the cake and your butter and cream cheese for the frosting. This will allow them to come to room temperature. Then make sure your whole grain is freshly milled into flour.

What is fresh milled flour?

Well, fresh milled flour or whole grain flour is basically the reason I allow this cake recipe to fall under the “healthy dessert” category. For the full “why” you should make flour at home – check out my post: Homemade Flour from Whole Grains. For the condensed version, flour made from whole grains milled at home is actually an extremely nutrient dense, healthy food. Let that sink in.

Changing the way you obtain flour will allow you to also change the way you view baked goods. The term “empty carbs” doesn’t apply when you’re eating homemade pasta crafted from freshly milled grains. The only nutritious part of a pizza doesn’t have to be the meat and veggie toppings…if every ingredient is a whole, real food.

So, if you’re not already a believer check out the above article or do your own research. Home milling changed my life…I bet it will do the same for you.

Back to the Prep…

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then grease two 9 inch cake pans and set them aside.

What to use for greasing pans

I recommend a few different things for greasing pans or baking dishes. It all depends on what you’re cooking. My go-to is lard…good, fresh, real lard that I source from a local farm. Or butter. Grass-fed, rich, unsalted butter.

Olive oil works too but I wouldn’t recommend it in conjunction with sweeter items, as it tends to have a potent flavor.

Shred Those Carrots!

Shredding the carrots will only take a few minutes.

Wash and scrub your carrots clean. There’s no need to peel them.

Use the smaller grating option of a box grater (you may have heard it called a cheese grater). You can also use the larger grate but I find the texture is much nicer with finer pieces.

Don’t buy pre-shredded carrots…put in the extra effort and shred them up yourself. The texture will be different and the fresh flavor will really translate. Trust me.

Chop the Nuts

I am typically one to leave nuts out of recipes…especially when the recipe gives me permission using that good ole word “optional.” I don’t know why I do this. Nuts are delicious. They also contain vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, protein, and fiber.

Unless you are allergic…don’t leave them out! They really add to the strength of this cake.

Use walnuts or pecans and roughly chop them up on a cutting board. Yes, you can buy pre-chopped.

Mix It

That’s it for the prep, time to start mixing!

I use a stand mixer, like the KitchenAid, but you can use a whisk or an electric hand mixer. Cream together the butter and honey until it’s nice and smooth. Use a mild honey. (I’m sure you could use sugar, but it will affect your liquid ratio. If you try it…you may want to add in an extra egg or more yogurt. BUT, I haven’t tested this…I love honey.)

Then add in your eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is nice and creamy. Followed by the yogurt and vanilla extract or paste. Listen, Vanilla Bean Paste is one of my greatest baking discoveries. It offers such an enhanced vanilla flavor. I highly recommend it.

Gently add in those finely shredded carrots until the entire mixture is combined. Set this aside.

Now for the Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk all this together. NOTE: in baking, always mix your dry and wet ingredients separately. This allows an even distribution throughout the batter.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, blending while you’re adding. Make sure everything is incorporated well. Fold in the nuts until everything is coated evenly. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the prepared cake pans. Carefully place these, side by side, in the preheated oven.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until they’re done. Do the toothpick test if you’re unsure. (Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. If it is wet, give your cake an extra 5 minutes or so.)

The Frosting

While the cake is baking, make the frosting.

This is so easy. It’s the same frosting that I put on Cinnamon Rolls and only takes about a minute to whip up.

Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. If you forgot to set them out, I’d recommend melting the butter in a small sauce pan and then pouring it over the cream cheese. The cream cheese will tend to cook if you try to heat it up…unless you do it very slowly and stir often.

Blend it

Blend these two ingredients together along with the vanilla. I do this in a tall mason jar using an immersion blender. NOTE: if you don’t have an immersion blender, you don’t know what you’re missing. I love mine. It almost never leaves my counter because I use it so often – especially when I have a little one transitioning to solid foods. Immersion blenders are typically inexpensive, easy to clean, and take up minimal space. Very handy kitchen tool.

Choose your sweetener

Once the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla are blended, add in your sweetener of choice. I prefer honey. You need to use a mild honey, like Orange Blossom. The cream cheese will overpower the “honey” flavor. Try it…

If you’d rather use powdered sugar, add it to the cream cheese mixture 1/2 cup at a time, blending well between each addition.

For either frosting – put it in the fridge so it will stiffen up a bit before you spread it.

Assemble Your Cake!

Once the cake has finished baking, remove them from the oven and carefully turn them out onto plates. Allow them to cool, and then using a spatula (y’all probably already know that I love the silicone spatula from Zyliss), spread about 1/3 of the frosting on top of one cake round.

Place the second cake on top of the frosted round. Cover this second layer and the sides of your carrot creation with the rest of the frosting. If you want to make it pretty, sprinkle a few uncooked carrot shreds over the top (roughly 1 tablespoon) and some nuts.

You did it! Time to eat cake.

Leave a comment below letting me know if you tried this recipe and what you thought! What are some other favorite desserts? Share those with us!

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