BEND Healthy Carrot Cake Slices

I can’t lie, carrot cake is actually my favorite cake on earth. I love the taste of spices, carrots, and pecans together with the creaminess of the cream cheese drizzle.

This is my BEND healthy single-layer carrot cake with a cream and cottage cheese drizzle.  Balanced, Easy, Nutritious & Delicious is what we stand for. These small cake slices are perfect for meal prepping and to enjoy as a healthy snack during the working week.

Ingredients

Carrot Cake:

1 cup flour

3/4 ts baking powder

1/2 ts bicarbonate of soda

1 ts ground cinnamon

1/4 ts ground nutmeg

1/2 ts salt

100 g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbs lite mayonnaise (or vegan mayo)

2 tbs milk (or almond milk)

1/2 cup Xylitol or brown sugar

1/4 cup honey or 100% maple syrup

2 eggs (or flax egg replacement)

1.5 cups grated carrots

Cream Cheese Drizzle:

125 g cottage cheese

125 g cream cheese

1/2 ts vanilla extract

4 tbs milk (or almond milk)

pinch salt

3/4 cup powdered icing sugar (or Xylitol powdered sugar)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C. Grease a small round or square cake pan and set it aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.
3. Whisk the olive oil, mayonnaise, milk and sugar, followed by the eggs one at a time, until combined and smooth.
4. Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir together until well-combined and no lumps remain.
5. Fold in the carrots until mix well.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth out the surface, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let cake cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert the pan onto the rack to release the cake. Let the cake cool while you prepare the frosting drizzle.
8. Cream cheese drizzle: In a medium bowl using a hand or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and cottage cheese at high speed until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt and beat until well combined.
9. Spread cooled cake with cream cheese frosting. Decorate with other 20 g roasted pecans you set aside and maple syrup.