Trisha Yearwood's Slimmed Down Carrot Cake

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

VickieB

2014-07-16 11:21:51 UTC

Look away Joan and Jean. ;D

Next time the rest of you have a sweet tooth, or want to spend a few
carbs, we did this down in TX and it's sooo good. I don't know why she
calls it slimmed down, lord at the sugar ...but it's easy, no shredding
carrots ... it has 1 cup of pureed babyfood carrots, also coconut and
crushed pineapple. What's not to love? We forgot to get frozen, so we used
regular shredded coconut, and plain cream cheese instead of Neufchatel.
And we didn't mess with parchment paper, or turn it out on a rack.

Trisha Yearwood's Slimmed Down Carrot Cake

Ingredients •Carrot Cake:
• Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing
•1 1/2 cups granulated or coconut sugar
•1/4 cup canola oil
•2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•2 large eggs
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•2 teaspoons baking soda
•2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 cup carrot puree or carrot baby food
•1 cup frozen grated coconut, thawed
•2/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
•1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

•Frosting:
• One 8-ounce package Neufchatel cheese, at room temperature
•2 cups confectioners' sugar
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions

For the carrot cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the
bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with cooking spray, line with
parchment paper and grease the paper with cooking spray.

With an electric mixer, cream the granulated sugar, oil, vanilla and
eggs together in a large bowl. Sift together the flour, baking soda,
cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the
sugar mixture and mix well. Add the carrot puree, coconut, walnuts and
pineapple and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick
inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool the
cake for about 5 minutes. Spray a wire rack with cooking spray. Run a
knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cake out onto the wire
rack. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the Neufchatel in a
medium bowl until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and
continue beating until fully combined. Mix in the vanilla.

Frost the cake and garnish with the chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until
ready to serve.
v

Jean B.

2014-07-17 00:42:56 UTC

Permalink

Post by VickieB
Look away Joan and Jean. ;D
Next time the rest of you have a sweet tooth, or want to spend a few
carbs, we did this down in TX and it's sooo good. I don't know why she
calls it slimmed down, lord at the sugar ...but it's easy, no shredding
carrots ... it has 1 cup of pureed babyfood carrots, also coconut and
crushed pineapple. What's not to love? We forgot to get frozen, so we used
regular shredded coconut, and plain cream cheese instead of Neufchatel.
And we didn't mess with parchment paper, or turn it out on a rack.
Trisha Yearwood's Slimmed Down Carrot Cake
• Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing
•1 1/2 cups granulated or coconut sugar
•1/4 cup canola oil
•2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•2 large eggs
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•2 teaspoons baking soda
•2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 cup carrot puree or carrot baby food
•1 cup frozen grated coconut, thawed
•2/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
•1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• One 8-ounce package Neufchatel cheese, at room temperature
•2 cups confectioners' sugar
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
Directions
For the carrot cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the
bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with cooking spray, line with
parchment paper and grease the paper with cooking spray.
With an electric mixer, cream the granulated sugar, oil, vanilla and
eggs together in a large bowl. Sift together the flour, baking soda,
cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the
sugar mixture and mix well. Add the carrot puree, coconut, walnuts and
pineapple and beat until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick
inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool the
cake for about 5 minutes. Spray a wire rack with cooking spray. Run a
knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cake out onto the wire
rack. Cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the Neufchatel in a
medium bowl until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and
continue beating until fully combined. Mix in the vanilla.
Frost the cake and garnish with the chopped walnuts. Refrigerate until
ready to serve.
v

I did look. Most issues are surmountable, but carrots are inherently
carby. That being said, I think I have seen low-carb carrot cake
recipes. My current problem with low-carb baking is that I don't
remember which brand of erythritol I was using back when I baked. It
was basically whatever I could find, because it was extremely hard to
find at all. Now it is easy to find, but I am getting what is called
"the cooling effect", which is most unpleasant in most contexts. (It is
not very noticeable if you are making something that involves mint.)

Hmmm. I have an idea if I can find the ngram url.

VickieB

2014-07-18 10:35:32 UTC

Permalink

Post by Jean B.

[..] ~~~~

Post by Jean B.
I did look. Most issues are surmountable, but carrots are
inherently carby. That being said, I think I have seen
low-carb carrot cake recipes. My current problem with
low-carb baking is that I don't remember which brand of
erythritol I was using back when I baked. It was
basically whatever I could find, because it was extremely
hard to find at all. Now it is easy to find, but I am
getting what is called "the cooling effect", which is
most unpleasant in most contexts. (It is not very
noticeable if you are making something that involves
mint.)
Hmmm. I have an idea if I can find the ngram url.

~~~~
I'm still an advocate of every thing in moderation on the
weekend (or vacation) .. healthier fare through the week.
Brekkie will be half a grapefruit, sliced apple with
cinnamon, red grapes, and half a cup of cottage cheese.
v

Jean B.

2014-07-20 01:46:12 UTC

Permalink

Post by VickieB

Post by Jean B.

[..] ~~~~

Unfortunately, I need something more rigid than "everything in
moderation". Actually, left to my own devices, I do pretty well and am
mainly focused on nutrients. For one thing, I am into colorful veggies
and fruits (berries). That make my normal fare somewhat higher in carbs
than it would otherwise be, but c'est la vie.

My normal pattern is protein for brekkie (along with coffee and vities),
veggies and a beverage containing some berries during the day (and
normally separated in time), and nuts at night (and maybe more veggies
or some cheese or low-carb "milk", depending on what I have lacked
during the day. A slight confession, but I usually also eat some
low-carb chips at night, with various LC dips.

The really bad thing is that I don't want to stick to any such thing
while I am traveling, and I guess we will be traveling again in a few
days. Ugh.

VickieB

2014-07-20 11:32:22 UTC

[..] ~~~~

Post by Jean B.
I did look. Most issues are surmountable, but carrots
are inherently carby. That being said, I think I have
seen low-carb carrot cake recipes. My current problem
with low-carb baking is that I don't remember which
brand of erythritol I was using back when I baked. It
was basically whatever I could find, because it was
extremely hard to find at all. Now it is easy to
find, but I am getting what is called "the cooling
effect", which is most unpleasant in most contexts.
(It is not very noticeable if you are making something
that involves mint.)
Hmmm. I have an idea if I can find the ngram url.

~~~~ I'm still an advocate of every thing in moderation
on the weekend (or vacation) .. healthier fare through
the week. Brekkie will be half a grapefruit, sliced
apple with cinnamon, red grapes, and half a cup of
cottage cheese. v

Unfortunately, I need something more rigid than
"everything in moderation". Actually, left to my own
devices, I do pretty well and am mainly focused on
nutrients.

~~~~
I was wondering about the changes in your eating/cooking
habits since Leah is away.
~~~~
For one

Post by Jean B.
thing, I am into colorful veggies and fruits (berries).
That make my normal fare somewhat higher in carbs than it
would otherwise be, but c'est la vie.

~~~~
Colorful veggies and fruit, me too. I shop weekly at a little
hole-in-the-wall grocery store on the scary side of town
because they have the *best* produce, from Okla. farmers,
mostly local .. right now they have peaches, watermelon, and
cantaloupes so ripe and juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes, yellow
squash, etc. I first head for their mark-down shelves in the
back ... cantaloupes as big as your head for 50 cents, with
maybe a little mushy spot, but after I 'clean' them up they
are the sweetest, tastiest I've ever had. The gigantic
cantaloupes out front are only $2.

Produce is all I buy, their prices are very high for other
groceries. But at least the low-income families who live
there have access to healthy produce .. which is not always
the case in larger cities.

I am getting a lot of tomatoes from my garden, I especially
love the tiny ones, cherry and baby Roma, bringing in about
20 a day. The Big Boys are still growing. I have red, orange
and yellow bell pepper plants growing, the miniature kind,
from seeds I saved from some store-bought ones .. one is
turning orange, won't be long.
~~~

Post by Jean B.
My normal pattern is protein for brekkie (along with
coffee and vities), veggies and a beverage containing some
berries during the day (and normally separated in time),
and nuts at night (and maybe more veggies or some cheese
or low-carb "milk", depending on what I have lacked during
the day. A slight confession, but I usually also eat some
low-carb chips at night, with various LC dips.
The really bad thing is that I don't want to stick to any
such thing while I am traveling, and I guess we will be
traveling again in a few days. Ugh.

~~~
But you still try to 'keep healthy' no matter your choices ..
good luck in your travels.
v

Jean B.

2014-07-21 01:29:41 UTC

Permalink

Post by VickieB
I was wondering about the changes in your eating/cooking
habits since Leah is away.

Oh, she's not away yet. It will mean that I can almost always make
choices based on nutrients. That is not to say that I deprive myself
when I do so. It just takes a bit more thought to do it. I was just
looking at a veggie recipe that had almost every color (blue is an
obvious exception). I am trying to flag things that I want to try or to
tinker with as I go through my material.

Post by VickieB
~~~~
Colorful veggies and fruit, me too. I shop weekly at a little
hole-in-the-wall grocery store on the scary side of town
because they have the *best* produce, from Okla. farmers,
mostly local .. right now they have peaches, watermelon, and
cantaloupes so ripe and juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes, yellow
squash, etc. I first head for their mark-down shelves in the
back ... cantaloupes as big as your head for 50 cents, with
maybe a little mushy spot, but after I 'clean' them up they
are the sweetest, tastiest I've ever had. The gigantic
cantaloupes out front are only $2.

That sounds like a great resource! You probably learned way before I
did that some of the nicest ripe produce is in the discount area. For
example, I wondered why I could never find ripe bananas. They are in
the reduced produce area!

Post by VickieB
Produce is all I buy, their prices are very high for other
groceries. But at least the low-income families who live
there have access to healthy produce .. which is not always
the case in larger cities.

Yes, it is great that these families have access to such food instead of
the junky food, which does offer more calories for the money. (I heard
that to a large degree, this is because farm subsidies make the junk cheap.)

Post by VickieB
I am getting a lot of tomatoes from my garden, I especially
love the tiny ones, cherry and baby Roma, bringing in about
20 a day. The Big Boys are still growing. I have red, orange
and yellow bell pepper plants growing, the miniature kind,
from seeds I saved from some store-bought ones .. one is
turning orange, won't be long.

Mmmmm. This is the first year that I don't have any tomato plants. My
favorites are still Green Zebra and Matt's Wild Cherry. I like to pop
the latter into my mouth as they ripen. (No, I am not depriving Leah.
Ironically, she liked tomatoes until I introduced her to a flavorful
home-grown one. That killed her liking of them. I think it is because
she is a supertaster.)

Post by VickieB
~~~
But you still try to 'keep healthy' no matter your choices ..
good luck in your travels.

I do. We ate out today, and I had salmon on greens plus (not LC, alas)
a blend of apples and carrots in beverage form. It used to be really
pulpy, and I was disappointed to find it less so now.

My snack will be ratatouille. I am still be missing some colors today
(not enough yellow), but I suppose I won't keel over. Yet.

VickieB

2014-07-22 11:18:40 UTC

Permalink

Post by Jean B.

Post by VickieB
I was wondering about the changes in your eating/cooking
habits since Leah is away.

Oh, she's not away yet.

~~~~
(Slaps forehead) .. Duh, well of course not.
~~~

Post by Jean B.
It will mean that I can almost
always make choices based on nutrients. That is not to say
that I deprive myself when I do so. It just takes a bit more
thought to do it. I was just looking at a veggie recipe that
had almost every color (blue is an obvious exception). I am
trying to flag things that I want to try or to tinker with as
I go through my material.

~~~~
In the summer I eat a lot of cold salads - one of my
favorites lately is romaine hearts, spinach, sliced
strawberries, walnuts, and feta cheese, Dressing is a little
brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and a few sprinkles of sesame oil.

In cold weather I love to roast all kinds of veggies in the
oven, everything from sweet potatoes, squash, turnips,
onions, beets, fennel .. just sprinkle with olive oil and sea
salt.

I remember having to learn a new way of cooking after CB
died. He was strictly a meat and potatoes man .. chicken
fried steak in cream gravy, biscuits, fried chicken w gravy
and mashed potatoes were his favorites ... a grilled steak
with baked potato and green salad was as close to healthy as
I could get him. Once in a while I could get him to eat stir
fry pork and veggies, IF he could have plenty of fried egg rolls.

Cooking for one is much easier, less complicated, healthier
dishes .. but I'd give it up in a minute if I go go back and
cook for him again.
v

Jean B.

2014-07-23 05:50:37 UTC

Permalink

Post by VickieB

Post by Jean B.

Post by VickieB
I was wondering about the changes in your eating/cooking
habits since Leah is away.

Oh, she's not away yet.

~~~~
(Slaps forehead) .. Duh, well of course not.
~~~

~~~~
In the summer I eat a lot of cold salads - one of my favorites lately is
romaine hearts, spinach, sliced strawberries, walnuts, and feta cheese,
Dressing is a little brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and a few sprinkles
of sesame oil.
In cold weather I love to roast all kinds of veggies in the oven,
everything from sweet potatoes, squash, turnips, onions, beets, fennel
.. just sprinkle with olive oil and sea salt.
I remember having to learn a new way of cooking after CB died. He was
strictly a meat and potatoes man .. chicken fried steak in cream gravy,
biscuits, fried chicken w gravy and mashed potatoes were his favorites
... a grilled steak with baked potato and green salad was as close to
healthy as I could get him. Once in a while I could get him to eat stir
fry pork and veggies, IF he could have plenty of fried egg rolls.
Cooking for one is much easier, less complicated, healthier dishes ..
but I'd give it up in a minute if I go go back and cook for him again.
v

I know you would. <<<<<Vickie>>>>>

I love roasted veggies and have done lots of batches of them My norm is
something like mushrooms, broccoli (you have to be really careful with
the florets, which burn extremely easily), colorful peppers. Basically,
nonstarchy things. I eat them plain, us them to top little pizzas (made
on an LC pita base), in egg dishes. A goodly amount tends to get
consumed right as the individual pieces are saved from ossification. A
LONG time ago, I had a recipe that involved roasted veggies, with a tad
of balsamic vinegar, mixed with pasta along with parmesan cheese. I
guess I lost that when I moved back home to take care of my dad. And
now, I can't eat it... unless I use shirataki or one of the LC
bean-based noodles, or something else.

Joan F (MI)

2014-07-24 03:53:46 UTC

Permalink

A while back I bought a bottle of Blood Orange Balsamic Vinegar to try as it
looked interesting. Had a bunch of strawberries and have been using them in
salads with lettuce to use them up and tried this vinegar on them. It's
quite exquisite, lighter than regular balsamic.

Jean B. wrote:
|
| I love roasted veggies and have done lots of batches of them My norm
| is something like mushrooms, broccoli (you have to be really careful
| with the florets, which burn extremely easily), colorful peppers.
| Basically, nonstarchy things. I eat them plain, us them to top
| little pizzas (made on an LC pita base), in egg dishes. A goodly
| amount tends to get consumed right as the individual pieces are saved
| from ossification. A LONG time ago, I had a recipe that involved
| roasted veggies, with a tad of balsamic vinegar, mixed with pasta
| along with parmesan cheese. I guess I lost that when I moved back
| home to take care of my dad. And now, I can't eat it... unless I
| use shirataki or one of the LC bean-based noodles, or something else.

VickieB

2014-07-25 11:24:57 UTC

Permalink

Post by Joan F (MI)
A while back I bought a bottle of Blood Orange Balsamic
Vinegar to try as it looked interesting. Had a bunch of
strawberries and have been using them in salads with
lettuce to use them up and tried this vinegar on them.
It's quite exquisite, lighter than regular balsamic.

~~~~
That does sound interesting ... I love regular Balsamic on
strawberries. BTW - one time my friend simmered a $5 bottle
of Balsamic V in a sauce pan until it reduced, called us over
for a taste test, and we could not taste the difference from
the cheapie and her $30 bottle.
v

toci

2014-07-21 02:50:46 UTC

Permalink

Jean- a few blueberries can go into almost everything, and give their color. Toci

Jean B.

2014-07-23 05:39:43 UTC

Permalink

Post by toci
Jean- a few blueberries can go into almost everything, and give their color. Toci

I try to eat 1/4 cup of them each day.

VickieB

2014-07-23 21:34:44 UTC

Permalink

Post by Jean B.

Post by toci
Jean- a few blueberries can go into almost everything, and
give their color. Toci

I try to eat 1/4 cup of them each day.

~~~
Same here, almost every day, they're on the list of top
cancer-fightin' foods .. full of powerful antioxidants. Also
tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.
v