Lightened Carrot Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Glaze

HAPPY 75th to my DAD!

Last week was my Dad’s 75th birthday, it truly was a milestone event.  My family celebrated by getting together at his favorite Thai restaurant in Jersey.

You see, food is my dad’s biggest weakness, and the older I get I have come to the revelation that my love for food stems from the fact that my dad is a food lover himself. 

I suppose I should be grateful to him for my fat foodie genes, or else I would never have started a food blog in the first place. 

In the past 4 years I’ve baked more than ever thanks to Honey, What’s Cooking, and every now and then I’ll bake something super indulgent for my family to enjoy.  And each time my mom will give my dad a “small slice” of my baked goods while the rest of my family will pig out. 

Of course, on his birthday I wanted to bake him something that he could actually enjoy, something that was partially indulgent and partially healthy, that’s the least I could do. 

And so I pondered over all the different types of cakes that incorporated fruits and/or veggies, and that’s how I came up with the most obvious choice – Carrot Cake.  Duh!  Veggies.  Raisins.  Nuts.  And you know how every Indian parent loves nuts.

Instead of creating a cake with two layers of cream cheese frosting, I decided to make a Honey Cream Cheese Glaze to top off this delicious Carrot Cake.  This really helped in toning down the saturated fats in this cake.

Happy Birthday to my Dad, or as I call him Papa.  Here is to another 25 years of HEALTH, fun, food, family, and life!  Love, honey!

NUTRITION: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a good source of Protein and Fiber. Carrots are LOADED with Vitamin A (eyes).  Also, it is a very good source of Fiber, Vitamins C and K.  Walnuts are an excellent source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids and contain more antioxidants than any other nut.  Raisins are known to be an antioxidant rich fruit. 

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 20 slices @ 350 degrees):

INGREDIENTS:

for the cake:

for the Honey Cream Cheese Glaze (makes a little more than you need, so you can drizzle or spread it all over):

DIRECTIONS:
for the cake:
1. Start by grating the carrots, or you can just use a food processor.

2. Chop the walnuts.  Toss the walnuts and raisins in 2 teaspoons of all purpose white flour.  Mix and set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Grease a round pan with butter. 

5. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients… oil, brown sugar, eggs, baby food, and vanilla extract.

6. Blend until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

7. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients… whole wheat pastry flour, white flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Mix.

8. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet.

9. Mix until well combined.  DO NOT OVERMIX!

10. Add the raisins and walnuts.  Mix, do not overmix.

11. Add the carrots and gently fold the carrots into the batter.