A sweet carrot quick bread with walnuts and a hint of orange.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Course: Breads, Dessert, Quick Bread
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot, carrotcake, walnuts
Servings: 10slices
Calories: 295kcal
Author: Trish | The In Fine Balance Food Blog
Equipment
8x 4 loaf pan
Ingredients
1orangezest and juice divided as noted in instructions
2cupsshredded carrotsabout 4 large carrots
1-½cups all purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonground cinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
½cupgranulated sugar
¼cupbrown sugarlightly packed
¼cupcanola oil
3tablespoonapple sauce
1egg
½cupchopped walnuts
For the frosting
4ozcream cheesesoftened, I used reduced fat, tub cream cheese
1cupicing sugar
orange juice and zest from abovesee instructons
2tablespoonchopped walnutsoptional
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350 and line 8x4 loaf pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
Zest the orange. Set aside 1 teaspoon of zest for the frosting. Set the remaining zest aside for the cake. Juice the orange. Set aside 1 teaspoon of juice for the frosting. Measure out 3 tablespoons for the cake. Save the rest for another purpose or discard.
Prepare the carrots. Clean, peel and trim the carrots. I used a foodprocessor with the smallest grater attachment to shredd the carrots. YOu can also use a box grater. Set asside
Combine the dry ingrdeints in a medium sized bowl - flour through cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together white and brown sugar, oil, apple sauce, 3 tablespoons of the freshly squeezed orange juice, and the egg. Whisk well. Mixture should be slightly frothy and creamy. Add flour mixture, carrots, walnuts, and orange zest. Gently fold together until just combined and most of the floury bits are gone. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350 for about 50-55 minutes. The loaf is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool at least 5 minutes before trying to remove from the loaf pan. Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.
To serve the cake:
Mix together 1 teaspoon orange juice, softened cream cheese and 1 cup icing sugar. Whisk on low speed until creamy. Icing will be soft. For stiffer icing, add more icing sugar, ¼ cup at a time until you get the consistency you like. I like a soft creamy frosting. By hand, mix in the orange zest.
Gently spread frosting on top of completely cooled loaf. Sprinkle top of frosted cake with chopped walnuts. Serve
Notes
Be gentle when folding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. You want to mix as few times as possible. Until the dry ingredients become just incorporated.To avoid over mixing, add the carrots, orange zest and walnuts to the dough before the flour is fully incorporated.Walnuts are optional. Leave these out if you like. Pecans are a nice substitute.