Pecan Crusted Carrot Cake

On Tuesday I posted the recipe for the appetizer that I made for Greek Easter, and today I’m back to share the dessert I baked as well!  Whenever I bake for a holiday, I like to try and bake something that fits the “theme” or feel to that day.  If you haven’t already checked out my Holiday Eats page, take a look so you can see what I mean.  There’s some fun things on there.  Anyways, for Easter this year I wanted to try making a carrot cake because carrot cake always reminds me of Easter.  Because the Easter Bunny eats carrots?  I’m not sure, but it just does!

I used a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com for inspiration, but I adapted a bit to make my own!

Ingredients

For the cake…
(healthier)

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup oil or butter of choice
• 1.5 cups agave
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots

For the frosting…
(not so healthy)

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 eight ounce package of Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease / flour a 9×13 rectangle pan or two 9×9 round pans.
3. Beat together eggs, oil, agave, and vanilla extract in a bowl.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir in the carrots.  Pour into the prepared pan(s).
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  I baked mine for about 25 minutes in the round pans, and just kept checking the time to make sure the cake didn’t get overdone.  I believe you would need around 45 minutes in rectangular.
5. For the frosting, combine all frosting ingredients, and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
6. Spread the frosting all over completely cooled cake, then press handfuls of pecans around the sides.

You could choose to eliminate the pecans completely from this, but I used them to hide the rushed frosting job I did.  You also could choose to bake pecans right into the cake or frosting, but I opted out of that because my uncle thinks he is allergic to nuts.  I knew he wouldn’t try my cake if they were baked into it, but if he could scoop em off I knew he’d be down.

I was a little nervous about how this would come out, but I was pleasantly surprised, and it got a lot of praise.  I will definitely be making this again.

Was a fun little treat!  If you guys make this cake, I hope you love it.

Do you like carrot cake?  Ever made your own?  When you think of an Easter dessert, what comes to mind?

Today I am touring the Reebok headquarters to see if there is an opportunity to partner with them for the wellness program at work.  Even if there isn’t, I’m just psyched to hear the presentation on their fitness philosophy and culture, and see their fitness facility in person.  Pumped!