Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This moist, naturally-sweetened carrot cake is laced with walnuts and topped with whipped cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup.Rich, moist carrot cake made with healthy ingredients like coconut oil, whole wheat flour, and sucanat. One of the best naturally-sweetened desserts I've ever had! #CarrotCake
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to join the Grain Mill Wagon. I was ecstatic to get to bake with freshly ground whole grains, which I had long heard are more nutritious and delicious than the whole wheat flour from the grocery store. It’s true.

Carrot cake is one of my very favourite desserts, so I decided that would be the first thing I’d make with my freshly-ground wheat. Whole wheat is exceptional for baked goods such as cakes, bars, and cookies as it bolsters rather than overpowers the stronger flavours present in the goodies, like chocolate or spices.

This particular confection is rich and moist, laced with walnuts and topped with whipped cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup. It would be neither true nor desirable to say that you can’t taste the whole wheat–you can’t taste it as such, but it makes the whole cake better, richer. So add this to your holiday menu or make it any time you need an exceptional birthday cake.

Classic Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This moist, naturally-sweetened carrot cake is laced with walnuts and topped with whipped cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup.

Course Dessert
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 cup sucanat, rapadura, or dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil melted
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups grated carrots
  • 1/2 cups chopped nuts

For the Frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 4 Tbsp butter softened
  • 1/3 cup dark maple syrup (sometimes called Grade B)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare two round 8-inch cake pans by buttering each and lightly dusting them with flour. Take the cream cheese and butter out of the fridge to soften for the frosting.

  2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

  3. In a separate bowl, beat sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring just until they’re combined. Fold in carrots and nuts.

  4. Fill each pan with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes. The cakes are done when a knife inserted comes out clean, and the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out to cool completely.

  5. Whip the frosting ingredients together until blended and soft. Taste test and add more maple syrup if desired. Stack the cakes with a layer of frosting between them and a layer on top. Garnish with nuts.

Recipe Notes

If you're grinding your own wheat in a grain mill, use the “pastry” setting. If you can't find them in your grocery store, you can buy many of the ingredients for this cake online:

I also shared this recipe on The Grain Mill Wagon.

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