Light Carrot Cake
By America's Test KitchenPublished on December 16, 2010
Yield
Serves 16
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can either use the large holes of a box grater or the large holed shredding disk in a food processor for grating the carrots. Use a metal cake pan, not a glass or Pyrex pan, for best results. This cake is terrific with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, or for a special treat, try it with our Light Cream Cheese Frosting (see related recipe).
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with vegetable oil spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars together in a medium bowl until they turn thick and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly whip in the oil until thoroughly combined and emulsified, 30 to 60 seconds. Sift half the flour mixture over the batter and gently mix in. Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone (do not overmix). Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the carrots.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the parchment paper. Flip the cake right-side up, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours, before frosting (if desired) and serving.
Yield
Serves 16Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Although carrot cake sounds healthy, most versions tip the scales at 500 calories and 31 grams of fat per slice. We wanted to create a moist and rich carrot cake and we wanted the cake to be lighter in both calories and fat. We made four significant changes to satisfy our goal of a tasty dessert we could enjoy more than once in a while. We reduced the amount of oil from 1 1/2 cups to 1/2 cup and also reduced the number of eggs from four to three. We whipped air into the eggs to keep the cake from being dense and leaden. And, finally, we replaced the cream cheese and butter in the frosting with Neufchâtel reduced-fat cream cheese and mixed it by hand to prevent it from being runny. In the end, we reduced the calories and the fat and still had a cake that was tender, moist, and flavorful.
Before You Begin
You can either use the large holes of a box grater or the large holed shredding disk in a food processor for grating the carrots. Use a metal cake pan, not a glass or Pyrex pan, for best results. This cake is terrific with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, or for a special treat, try it with our Light Cream Cheese Frosting (see related recipe).
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with vegetable oil spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars together in a medium bowl until they turn thick and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly whip in the oil until thoroughly combined and emulsified, 30 to 60 seconds. Sift half the flour mixture over the batter and gently mix in. Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and continue to whisk the batter gently until most of the lumps are gone (do not overmix). Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the carrots.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the parchment paper. Flip the cake right-side up, and cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours, before frosting (if desired) and serving.
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Key Equipment
Keep Exploring
0 Comments