Happy (Healthy) Heart Carrot Cake Recipe

This recipe originally was posted over at my baking blog but I’ve decided to move everything across to here – my virtual home! Enjoy!

This cake was inspired by a Weight Watchers recipe I stumbled across in 2002.

There is no added fat, oil or sugar in the actual cake. Substituting pineapple and dates instead. It also doesn’t contain nuts.

It is very tasty and personally I prefer this to a normally prepared carrot cake. It will improve overnight, but still tasty eaten once cooled if you just can’t wait!

Happy (Healthy) Heart Carrot Cake Recipe (Serves 12)

Ingredients 

125g/4½oz stoned dried dates

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice

1 small can (approx 140g/5oz drained) pineapple chunks

250g/9oz self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 large (approx. 100g/3½oz) carrot peeled and coarsely grated

Zest/juice of an orange

2 medium eggs (beaten)

Instructions

Grease and line your pan/tin. I use a heart shaped silicone pan. A 8″ square pan would also be suitable.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/ Gas Mark 4 (or 160 degrees in a fan oven).

Place the dates and spices into a small pan adding 200ml/6.5floz of cold water.

Bring to the boil then leave to simmer on a moderate heat for 5 minutes.

When the dates have softened leave to cool.

Roughly blend the drained pineapple chunks and put aside. I freeze the juice in an ice-lolly mould to save waste.

Sift the flour, bicarb and baking power into a large bowl.

Grate in the carrot.

Add 2 beaten eggs and the pineapple.

Squeeze half of the orange and add to the flour and carrots. Leave the other half.

Then when cool, as they should be now, puree the dates and add also.

Stir until well combined.

Pour into your cake pan/tin.

Place in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes test to see if the cake is done. It should be springy (but firm) to touch. Test the inside with a cake tester or wooden skewer. This cake took 45 minutes in total – oven’s do vary!

Leave to cool.

At this point if you want to almost entirely steer clear of refined sugar and fat then mix a small amount of icing sugar with a little of the remaining OJ and drizzle over the top.

Or if you can’t resist carrot cake frosting follow these steps…

Cream together 100g of full-fat cream cheese with 1 tablespoon of OJ from the remaining half.

Sift in 200g of icing sugar and stir until smooth.

Cut the top of your heart cake and spread the frosting inside.

Or you can just spread the frosting over the top of your cooled cake.

Enjoy!

** Please note that I am not a qualified nutritionist or professional cook.  My recipes are what I put together at home and all amounts etc… are approximate. What I write is my own experience of cooking the recipe.  Ovens and ingredients do vary – just go with it,  have fun and apply common sense at all times!  Practice makes perfect!**