Salted Caramel Carrot Cake

Last weekend my mom made a carrot cake for my sister-in-law’s birthday, and it was a huge hit with the whole family!   My mom put raisins in the cake and they caramelized into a really amazing flavor.    This got me thinking,  what if I replaced the raisins with dates?

I love using dates as a caramel flavor in healthy desserts.   I have used them in my Flourless Caramel-Apple Oatmeal Cookies,  my Healthy Salted Caramel Frappe and my Chocolate-Caramel Frozen Yogurt.

I soaked dates overnight in water and them blend them into a paste.  They add moisture and a caramel flavor to this cake.

I also aded a ton of carrots, this way, I can pass this cake off as healthy.

I also replaced the traditional cream cheese frosting with whipped ricotta frosting.   It was light-tasting and a hit with my kids.

Salted Caramel Carrot Cake 

Ingredients 

2 cups of flour

3/4 cups of white sugar

2 tablespoons of molasses

You could also use 1/2 cup of white sugar accompanied by 1/2 cup of brown sugar 

3 eggs

5 large carrots- shredded

2-3 tsp salt

1 cup of vegetable oil

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp of cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 nutmeg

6 pitted dates- soaked in water overnight and pureed.

Method:  Preheat oven to 350 f.  In your mixer, mix together all of the wet ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients, followed by the carrots and date paste.  continue to mix together.  place in a greased 9 inch circle pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Ricotta Cheese Frosting 

Ingredients 

1 cup of whole fat ricotta cheese

6 tablespoons of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Method: Place all the ingredients in your mixer and whip on high for 5 minutes.  Once whipped, cool the frosting in the fridge for 30 minutes before frosting the cake.

This was a huge hit with my kids.

Here is a link to a round-up from Stephanie at Starships and Laserbeams.    As a mom of boys, I am LOVING all these Birthday cake ideas too!