A 70-calorie cake slice! Who, after sampling Autumn Spice Cake, can argue with that?

We had just finished Hubby’s regular eye exam and had wandered in to pick up some recipes before we hit the road. The Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services building, across the street from the eye clinic, always has some intriguing new recipe cards laid out in its kitchen demo area. I usually sweep through, see what offerings are new since our last visit to the Ardmore, OK, campus, and with my free recipes in hand make a quick exit.

To my surprise a cooking demo was under way. Food Demo Specialist Kathy Bean was in the demonstration kitchen area and was stirring something in a bowl. A small audience on several rows of chairs was intently absorbed. Wonderful aromas invaded our nostrils the moment the door into the building opened. We slipped to the back of the room so we could peek over heads to see what was cooking. When I heard the words, “70 calories a slice”, my ears definitely perked up.

Kathy was mixing the batter to Autumn Spice Cake and was describing to the listeners the ingredients. Part of Kathy’s job is to help citizens of the Chickasaw Nation, of which Hubby is a proud member, to learn to cook and eat healthier. She was promoting the benefits of using skim milk instead of whole, using applesauce as a sweetener, and using sugar substitute instead of regular sugar in the cake batter. Also into the batter went bran flakes, raisins, orange peel, mashed carrots, grated carrots, and whole-wheat flour, among other ingredients.

The mixture was poured into a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan to bake. Once it was removed from the oven, Kathy used a fork to poke holes into the top of the cake. Then she drizzled orange juice on top and sprinkled the top with chopped pecans. Cutting the cake into 24 servings (the cake square I sampled was a tiny bit larger than 2 inches on all sides) each square contained 70 calories (as well as only 2 fat grams, 0 cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 12 carbs, and 1 gram fiber). The orange-juice topping made it plenty sweet. (We can live without that traditional cream-cheese frosting that so often appears on carrot cakes!) Seventy calories! Just as I was, other members of Kathy’s audience were murmuring about how sweet the cake tasted when they sampled it. Clearly no one felt deprived at all.

Kathy’s assistant, Rhonda, let me take a photo of the demo cake (pictured above left) just before she cut it. Hubby and I certainly were glad we made the little detour to pick up recipe cards before we headed back to the Metroplex. (In the next few days I’ll share with you two more healthy recipes that Kathy taught us while we watched.)

Autumn Spice Cake

cooking spray

1 cup skim milk

1/4 cup margarine

1 cup bran flakes

1/3 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canned carrots, mashed (could use fresh)

3/4 cup carrots, grated

1/3 cup raisins

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar substitute

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan with cooking spray. Place milk and margarine in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute or until margarine is melted. Add cereal and let mixture stand for 5 minutes. Add applesauce, mashed carrots, grated carrots, raisins, orange peel, and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix flours, sugar substitute, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to the wet mixture. Mix well. Spread into the 9-inch-by-13-inch pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Using a fork poke holes into the cake in 1-inch to 2-inch spaces. Drizzle orange juice on top of cake. Sprinkle top with pecans. Makes 24 servings.

Little bites of carrot-cake heaven in this "lighten-up" recipe

I adore carrot cake but know the gooey cream-cheese frosting that’s part-and-parcel of it somewhat defeats the purpose of all the carrots’ nutritional value. I loved the fact that in its “Lighten Up” feature recently Southern Living produced a lighter version of a traditional carrot cake recipe; this included a frosting utilizing the 1/3-less-fat (such as Neufchatel) cream cheese. But it still seemed too much. Besides, who needs a whole cake sitting around as a temptation? 

This same magazine feature also offered this option: carrot cake muffins—identical recipe but in a muffin format that included the addition of pecans (and golden raisins, too, which I opted out of). Muffins could be enjoyed and then frozen and reheated for later dining. The recipe called for three cups of grated carrots and an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained.

I wondered whether the muffins without the frosting would be stand-alone good or a little bland. I shouldn’t have been concerned. The muffins were majorly moist and sweet and were like dining on mini-carrot cakes. By themselves they made a great Sunday-morning breakfast or as an add-on to my usual breakfast cereal. 

Southern Living tub-thumped its recipe with the headline, “You can thank us later, when your mouth isn’t full.” Via the Internet I can tippy-type my thanks even with my mouth full, which it indeed was this weekend as I enjoyed these bites of carrot heaven.

Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 (8-ounce can) crushed pineapple in juice, drained

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs (or egg substitute)

2 egg whites (or egg-white substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place about 15 paper baking cups in muffin pans; coat baking cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients; in the center of mixture make a well. Whisk together pineapple and next 4 ingredients; add pineapple mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in carrots and pecans. Spoon batter into baking cups. Fill cups about 2/3 full. Bake as directed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 15 muffins.

OK, walnuts it'll be; healthy carrot cake bars help me keep resolve

For a long time it's been my knee-jerk substitution: if a recipe called for walnuts, I'd automatically sub in pecans. Around our house pecans are in ready supply (in previous blogs I've mentioned about our "forest" of 13 pecan trees). Besides, I've never particularly cared for the taste of walnuts—too strong, too bitter.

But lately Hubby has been extolling the health wonders of walnuts. The new issue of Prevention magazine features walnuts as the current in-season superfood. Hubby had been reading this and at his latest grocery-store run brought home a bad of freshly shelled walnuts. He's been munching them the way I munch almonds—as my mid-morning health snack.

Prevention magazine mentions how walnuts give dishes a heart-healthy punch; they score highest of all nuts in the omega-3s that protect against heart disease. Their stores of fiber and unsaturated fat can help lower bad LDL cholesterol naturally. Oh, OK. I give in. Walnuts need to make their way into my diet.

That resolve, plus some leftover carrots dippers from my New Year's artichoke dip and a dab of leftover cream cheese from holiday cookie preparation, gave me good reason to try this Healthy Low-Fat Carrot Cake Bars recipe. I used walnuts where I'd normally sub pecans. The result produced some delightful bars (recipe provided by www.carrotrecipes.net); I can serve some now and freeze the rest for a later occasion.

O how virtuous I feel as I ingest this carrot-rich dessert that is infused with walnuts, the in-season superfood. May be a while before I can bring myself to munch on walnuts full-bore, but at least with this recipe I've taken the first step toward my change-over.

Healthy Low-Fat Carrot Cake Bars

3 eggs (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)

1 3-ounce jar baby-food carrots (or carrots pureed in blender to make 3 ounces)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups grated fresh carrot

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3-ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened (low-fat option subbed for cream cheese)

1 teaspoon vanilla

powdered sugar sifted to make 2 cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line with a foil a 13-inch-by-9-in baking pan and lightly grease the top of the foil; let foil extend over the ends of the pan. In a large bowl beat together eggs, carrots, sugar, oil, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add flour slowly; beat to incorporate. Stir in carrots, ginger, and walnuts until just mixed. Spread into foil-lined pan. Bake 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle emerges clean. Cool pan on a wire rack. Meanwhile prepare the frosting: In a small bowl beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Add sugar and beat on low until thick and smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle a few chopped walnuts onto top of cake. Cut cake into bars. Lift foil by ends to remove cake from pan. Remove bars to serving tray or airtight storage container. Keep refrigerated. Makes 18 bars.