Reduced-Fat Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 25, 2013
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1½ hours cooling
Yield
Serves 15
Ingredients
Cake
2 ½ cups (12½ ounces/354 grams) all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 1 (4-ounce) jar carrot baby food 1 cup packed (7 ounces/198 grams) brown sugar ½ cup vegetable oil 1 pound (454 grams) carrots, peeled and shreddedFrosting
1 (8 ounces/227 grams) package Neufchatel (⅓ less fat) cream cheese, softened1 cup marshmallow crème (see note)1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract ¼ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) confectioners' sugarBefore You Begin
Any cream cheese with 1/3 less fat will work here. To ensure thick frosting, use marshmallow creme (such as Fluff or Jet-Puffed), not marshmallow sauce. Shred carrots on large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disk of a food processor.
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13- by 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
- MAKE BATTER Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, baby food, and sugar until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. With mixer still running, slowly add oil and mix until thoroughly incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two additions, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, and mix until batter is nearly smooth. Fold in carrots.
- BAKE CAKE Spread batter in prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 24 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Remove parchment and flip cake right-side up to cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
- MAKE FROSTING With mixer on medium-high speed, beat together cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and vanilla. Sift confectioners' sugar over cream cheese mixture and beat on low speed until mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Frost cooled cake. Serve.
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1½ hours coolingYield
Serves 15Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Using too much shredded carrot in our recipe for Reduced-Fat Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting made the batter difficult to spread and the cake heavy. One pound of carrots was all the batter could handle. Instead of oil substitutes, we found that pureed carrots—aka baby food—contributed moisture and just the right flavor. For the frosting, we found that Neufchatel, with 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese, contributed the right amount of heft and tang. We replaced the butter in the frosting with a surprising ingredient: marshmallow creme. Made with egg whites, corn syrup, and sugar, the creme blended easily with the neufchatel and yielded thick frosting with no additional fat.
Before You Begin
Any cream cheese with 1/3 less fat will work here. To ensure thick frosting, use marshmallow creme (such as Fluff or Jet-Puffed), not marshmallow sauce. Shred carrots on large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disk of a food processor.
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13- by 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
- MAKE BATTER Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, baby food, and sugar until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. With mixer still running, slowly add oil and mix until thoroughly incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two additions, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, and mix until batter is nearly smooth. Fold in carrots.
- BAKE CAKE Spread batter in prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 24 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Remove parchment and flip cake right-side up to cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
- MAKE FROSTING With mixer on medium-high speed, beat together cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and vanilla. Sift confectioners' sugar over cream cheese mixture and beat on low speed until mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Frost cooled cake. Serve.
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