February 3: National Carrot Cake Day

I'm not a huge fan of carrot cake because I'm a firm believer that vegetables and dessert should not mix. But, I found a recipe that was actually pretty good! It's even low fat!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs + 4 egg whites
• ½  c. vegetable oil
• ½ c. applesauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 8 oz. crushed pineapple, juice drained
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

 Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 2 ½ -3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

A cute bunny heard it was carrot cake and hopped on over to help.

 
Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2.     In a large bowl, beat together eggs and egg whites, oil, applesauce, sugars and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots and pineapple. Fold in pecans. 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.     To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake. 

I personally do not like pecans so I decided to leave those out.  

Uh oh! Bunny left behind a "surprise" on the cake!

The piece of cake that Bunny claimed as his own was later given to my dad to eat. Dad wondered what the extra crispies on top were. Hahah.