The weather is cold, and I’m cooking up a storm just to keep the kitchen warm. Last weekend I made a huge pot of chicken soup, to which I added barley and vegetables. It’s packed in the freezer for hot lunches at work – and occasionally for dinner when I’m freezing and tired.
I’ve been craving baked goods, and was looking for a recipe that could be made in an 8 or 9 inch cake pan. This is just large enough when the purpose is eating it at home, and not taking the goodie to a potluck where most of it will be eaten and only a bit left for me. Really, contrary to the opinions of many I lack will power and my chief strategy for restraint is not having too many things to tempt me in the house. A whole Bundt cake would just call out to me to be eaten several times a day.
This is one of the tastiest little cakes I have ever made. It has a lot of interesting ingredients like pumpkin and dried cranberries. It is very moist and delicious. The original recipe came from Cooking Light, but I made it lower fat with the applesauce substitution trick. Also, the recipe said it was 9 servings, but they would really be huge pieces – almost plate size. I cut it into 16 pieces (there’s nothing that says you can’t eat several pieces if you want more – I did.)
Pumpkin Carrot Cake
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Tablespoons applesauce
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Cooking spray
2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours and next 4 ingredients (flours through salt). Place egg and egg white in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, pumpkin, oil, butter, applesauce, and orange rind. Beat until well blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in raisins, carrot, and cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared 8-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 16 pieces at 2 grams of fat/piece.
This is the cake I was making when my beloved old Olympus camera broke. I’m still not used to the pictures the new one takes.
The Perpetual Feast 
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