Jo,

I have been with my husband for about eight years now, and I recently learned that he LOVES carrot cake. We went on a crazy carrot cake binge streak, buying Trader Joe's Karat Cake and giant slices of it sold in the grocery store bakery. We finally managed to end the streak (pants are getting too tight), and here I come into the forum to see a post titled "Carrot Cake"! Too funny, if you ask me.

I just wanted to thank you for posting it. I may or may not make it-- don't want to incite a new binge streak, but I like knowing I have a version that surely has a whole lot less sugar in it.

Thank you,

Sherri

: My husband and I just celebrated his
: birthday. His favorite cake is
: carrot cake, and we've been
: experimenting for years to take
: the sugar and white flour out,
: while preserving the taste. I've
: been asked for the recipe, so here
: it is. People can play with it and
: see if they come up with other
: ideas.

: I wish I knew where I got the
: original recipe, so I could give
: credit. We've changed it so much,
: though, that I'm not sure what was
: there to start out with!

: The original recipe called for 2 cups
: white flour. We started with half
: white, half whole wheat, which
: worked but was still not program
: friendly. Then we moved to all
: whole wheat pastry flour. I
: imagine white whole wheat would
: work as well, but I don't know
: about other flours (I'd love to
: see what GF people could do here
: )

: The original recipe called for 1/3
: cup sugar. We first cut that in
: half (1 tablespoon plus 1
: teaspoon, which is not much and
: does not make the cake too sweet),
: then eventually replaced it with
: banana. My husband likes raisins
: in his half of the cake, but I
: leave them out of mine. 2/3 cup of
: raisins, if you use them, is
: plenty for the whole cake. I use
: about 1/3 cup for my husband's
: half of the cake.

: 2 cups flour (see note above)
: 1/3 cup sugar (cut this in half or
: sub 1 small ripe banana, mashed;
: if using banana, add to wet
: ingredients)
: 2 tsp. Baking soda
: 1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
: 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
: 1/4 tsp. Cloves
: 1/2 tsp. Salt (optional)
: 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
: 1/4 cup corn oil (I use canola)
: 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
: 2 egg whites
: 2 eggs, beaten
: 3 cups carrots, coarsely grated
: 2/3 cup raisins (optional)

: 1. Sift the dry ingredients into a
: large mixing bowl.

: 2. Combine the applesauce, oil,
: vanilla, egg whites and eggs (and
: banana, if using) in a medium
: mixing bowl. Add to the flour
: mixture, stirring until
: ingredients are well blended.

: 3. Add the carrots and mix again.
: Batter will be stiff. Add raisins,
: if using, after carrots have been
: mixed in.

: 4. Pour batter into a 13 x 9 inch
: baking pan (I use glass) that has
: been sprayed lightly with nonstick
: cooking spray. Bake at 325F for
: 35-40 minutes, or until a
: toothpick in the center comes out
: clean (original recipe said 40-45
: minutes, but I found this to be
: too much -- start checking the
: cake at 35 minutes!).

: Another option that the original
: recipe gave, which I have never
: tried, is to pour into a 9-inch
: tube pan coated with nonstick
: cooking spray, baking at 350F for
: 1 hour.

: If anybody else has a carrot cake
: recipe to share, let us know. My
: husband has volunteered to be
: taste-tester Since I've been
: sugar-free, he has developed a
: liking for less-sweet food, so
: we've been having a lot of fun
: reworking the old standard
: recipes.

: Jo