Healthy Carrot Cake

In these times when there are people who are eating better, healthier and lighter, I want to make a clarification.

Speaking in different forums I have found people who confuse eating light with eating healthy.

To sum it up, we could say that eating light is eating low in calories and eating healthy is doing it in a healthy way.

With an example it may be better understood.

I can have a snack of white industrial bread sandwich with some slices of "light" turkey (the kind with 60% meat content) and I'm eating low in calories, but it's not very healthy.

Or I can have a slice of cake without added sugar and unrefined flour but containing dates, banana and peanut butter (the good kind). It will be a calorie bomb, but the ingredients are healthier than in the previous sandwich.

It is very important to eat according to one's caloric expenditure. There are those who can eat an entire cake for a snack due to their high level of training, and there are those who gain weight just by smelling it.

That said, here is the recipe for healthy (but not light) carrot cake.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 servings)

• 200 grs. of carrot (already peeled).
• 130 gr. rolled oats (or oatmeal)
• 2 eggs (preferably free range or organic).
• 100 grs. of sunflower oil.
• 90 grams of dates (about 8 or 9)
• 1/2 sachet of yeast.
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
• 1 handful of walnuts.
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (optional).
• 1 pinch nutmeg (optional).
• 1 pinch of salt.

For the frosting

• 150 grs. of cream cheese (Philadelphia type)
• 50 grs. of honey.
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

ELABORATION:

We start by preheating the oven to 180 degrees.

We soak the dates in hot water (just cover them for about 15 minutes).

We make flour with the oat flakes using a food processor.

Peel and grate the carrot (if you have a Thermomix you can put it in large pieces and cook for 10 seconds at speed 5).

Beat the eggs together with the soaked dates, the peeled and grated ginger, a pinch of nutmeg and the sunflower oil until smooth.

Add the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt and beat again.

Add the peeled carrot and the handful of walnuts and mix with a spatula.

We put it into a mold of about 25 cm in diameter.

We put it in the oven at medium height (180 degrees) for about 40 minutes, depending on the oven, so we can prick it with a knife and it should come out almost clean (this is a somewhat moist cake).

While it is baking, we can prepare the frosting. Using a whisk, we make the creamy cream cheese, add the honey and lemon juice and mix with the whisk until everything is combined.

We will keep it in the refrigerator.

Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool completely. Once it has reached room temperature, cut it lengthwise down the centre and fill it with 1/3 of the cream. Put the rest of the cream on the outside (edges and on top of it).

Ready to taste.

We look forward to your comments!!!