Healthy Carrot Cake for a birthday

I have been MIA (been so eager to use that word) and will stop trying to justify my absence. You are used to my apologies by now, aren't you? Its just that i have been lazy and uninspired. You know, that realisation that i am adding nothing to this blog by talking about what i eat. Then again i read recently in another blog's comments that the purpose of a blog is to write and not about others reading it, that's what inspired me to finally make a comeback and put my thoughts out here.

What i would like to remind myself today is that i have started out on this mission of trying out new foods and documenting the results here a year ago and it has been a fulfilling experience, especially when not much else was happening in life. Not only have i cooked up new foods that i would otherwise not have, but i would like to think that i brought happiness to people along the way with my baking experiments. So in keeping with the tradition, i baked a healthy carrot cake for my mother-in-law's birthday last week.

Oil and Vanilla added to eggs and sugar

Because we weren't going to feed any kids, i looked for a recipe that was on the healthy side and not too rich. This recipe where the quantity of carrots surpassed the quantity of flour fitted in nicely with my intentions. I omitted the full cup of pecans in the recipe as my in-laws have weak teeth and the hard nuts would come in the way of enjoying a bite or many.

I had all plans of frosting up my cake for the first time ever, but then a miscalculation in judging the size of my new flower shaped baking pan caused batter overflow in the oven, slightly dampening my spirits, eating into the available time, finally resulting in a plain cake, which was probably more enjoyable because it was less indulgent.

The recipe calls for a 9x13 inch baking pan. If you don't have a large pan, please halve the recipe for an 8 inch circular pan or use two pans. Don't be like me and simply hope that its going to be fine with a smaller pan! The batter flows out like lava and leaves a dent in your cake, literally! And trust me, you don't want to do the cleaning up that follows or the smoke fuming out of the oven ten minutes into baking.

Fresh grated carrot stirred in to the rest of the ingredients

Recipe Source : All Recipes
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
Baking Time: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans/walnuts (i didn't use this)

Cake batter ready to go into the oven

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or two 8 inch circular pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans, if using. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. Use a cream cheese or butter cream frosting to make it more stylish, or serve as is like i did. A perfect moist carrot cake is ready

Have a slice!

La's notes: You can easily replace half the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour without upsetting the final taste of the cake.  

Use a grater with medium sized holes for the carrot, you don't want complete mush or large pieces of carrot.
Linking this to Vardhini's Bake Fest, guest hosted by Resh this month.