Recipe from 101coobooks.com, recipe by Heidi Swanson
Recipe makes one carrot cake
Notes from the author:
I set my sights on carrot cake this week. I suspect you’ve never made a carrot cake in this way before, and I’m here to encourage you to give it a go. Well, maybe. If you like your carrot cake delicate with a defined crumb, you’ll actually want to pass on this one. This is an entirely different beast. It is dense, rich, rustic, walnut-studded, and carrot-flecked. Like many carrot cakes, it’s best slathered generously with cream cheese frosting. The real catch is this – the cake is sweetened with dates and ripe bananas. It doesn’t need any added sugar beyond that. For the frosting I whip cream cheese with a splash of maple syrup or agave nectar, but nothing beyond that either. Imagine a traditional carrot cake colliding with your favorite banana bread, and you’ll have an idea of where this recipe will take you. You can substitute unbleached all-purpose flour for the wheat pastry flour.
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
4 ounces unsalted butter, heated until just melted
1/2 cup dried dates, seeded and finely chopped into a paste
3 ripe bananas (1 1/4 cups), mashed well
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or lowfat is ok)
2 eggs, lightly whisked
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup (or to taste)
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9x5x3 / 8-cup loaf pan (or 8×8 cake pan) and line it with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and set aside.
Stir the dates into the melted butter, breaking up the dates a bit.
In a separate bowl combine the bananas and carrots. Stir in the date-butter mixture, breaking up any date clumps as you go. Whisk in the yogurt and the eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir until everything just comes together. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for about 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean in the center of the cake – it’ll be less if you are using a standard cake pan. Remove from oven and let cool.
While the cake is baking whip together the cream cheese and agave nectar. Taste. If you like your frosting sweeter adjust to your liking. When the cake has completely cooled frost the top of the cake with an offset spatula.
