{A quick note before we get to today’s recipe!} It seems like many people are talking about the same topics right now. While I think it’s important to be informed, cautious, and as safe and healthy as possible… I also think it’s really easy to feel anxious, overwhelmed, or afraid by seeing and hearing updates about the world’s current events almost nonstop.
I know I feel those things nearly every time I read the news or scroll through social media…
And I don’t want to do that to you. I don’t want you to feel those things because of me and what I’m sharing here on Amy’s Healthy Baking.
So I’m planning on posting the same things as usual: recipes, baking tips, and lighthearted stories to go with them. Because I think we could all use a little distraction, a little sense of normalcy, and a hefty dose of sweet treats to brighten our days.
At least… I know that’s what I could use!
So with that in mind… I’m sending so many sweet, positive, and uplifting thoughts your way. ♡ And now let’s dive into today’s yummy dessert post! (It’s one of my new all-time favorite cake recipes!)
Partway through my sophomore year of college, after a particularly sugar-laden Christmas break, I decided to give up desserts for the first half of the year. I felt bloated and sluggish from all of the sweets (and my clothes fit more snugly than I remembered!), so I wanted to focus on eating more fruits, vegetables, and healthy meals to kick off the new year.
When I returned to campus in January, I picked my birthday in late June as the end date of my break from desserts. But as the months passed by, I realized I wasn’t craving sweets nearly as much as I thought, and since I rarely thought about them either…
A few days before my birthday, I decided to see if I could make it through the entire year!
That year, my birthday fell on the same weekend I drove up to Oregon with a group of graduate students from the organic chemistry lab I worked in to run in a 180-mile relay race. Because I didn’t want them to make a big deal out of it, I didn’t tell the grad students about my birthday, and somehow, even with dozens of texts and phone calls from family and friends throughout our 24 hours of running, they never found out!
But as soon as I walked through the door of our apartment back in California on Sunday evening…
My roommates greeted me with balloons, streamers, and a birthday cake! They didn’t want my special day to go unnoticed, and even though they knew I was still avoiding desserts, they wanted me to be able to make a wish and blow out the candles on a cake… Regardless of whether I actually ate a slice!
So they ended up baking a cake that they wanted to eat! They had picked up a box of spice cake mix and a tub of cream cheese frosting on the baking aisle of the grocery store across the street, and they had stirred shredded carrots into the batter to turn that boxed mix into a carrot cake.
That evening, they slipped candles into the center of their doctored-up sheet cake, turned off the lights, and sang happy birthday to me. It was so sweet and special of them!
Right after, they cut themselves big pieces of cake to enjoy while I told them stories about the running race. Although each roommate said the dessert satisfied her sweet tooth, I could tell from both of their faces… It wasn’t quite as good as a true, supremely moist, almost dense, so sweet and richly flavored homemade carrot cake.
And when I recently baked this Healthy Carrot Pound Cake, memories of that birthday and their doctored-up cake mix floated through my mind… But this homemade carrot cake definitely tasted SO much better — and it’s almost as easy to make!
Yes, really! You just need two bowls and a fork to make this healthy carrot cake. So put away those hand-held and stand mixers! It still has really rich and cozy spice flavors, along with such an incredibly soft and moist texture, even with no refined flour or sugar… And each slice is 139 calories!
Continue reading & see the rest! ›› Healthy Carrot Pound Cake
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