Got some 24 carrot magic up in here today with this microwave carrot cake!
I love putting veggies in desserts to make them extra healthy and add nutrients, and carrot cake is the most classic way to do this! I came up with this recipe to make a quick carrot cake in the microwave, and made a cream-cheese inspired frosting with Greek yogurt. I don’t usually have cream cheese in my fridge, but always have yogurt since it is so versatile and delicious! The carrot cake itself is vegan and can be gluten free, depending on your choice of flour.
I heated the milk for one minute in the microwave and then steeped a chai tea bag in it for extra flavor, but this is optional. I have started doing this recently with my baking since I love the flavor of chai! Obviously remove the tea bag before incorporating the milk in the recipe - I always gently squeeze out the excess liquid from the bag into the milk for maximum flavor. I also microwaved the shredded carrots for a few minutes until they were soft to make them easier to mash and bake with. I used a blender to quickly and evenly mix everything, but this could be done by hand as well. If you do this by hand, I would recommend making sure the carrots are finely chopped and mashed so they can be evenly distributed in the batter.
Here is the recipe:
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients
Wet:
3 tbsp milk (with or without chai)
¼ cup shredded and mashed microwaved carrots
1 small mashed banana
3-4 tbsp maple syrup
About ½ tsp ghee, butter, or coconut oil
¼ tsp vanilla extract
About ⅛ - ¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
Dry:
3-4 tbsp all-purpose or almond flour
2 tbsp oats (and 1 tbsp to sprinkle on top, optional)
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of salt
Dash of ginger
¼ tsp baking powder
Frosting:
About ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
Splash of vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
3-4 tbsp finely shredded coconut
Steps
1. Lightly oil or spray a microwave safe mug.
2. Add ingredients to a blender and blend until almost smooth - you want there to still be some texture from the carrots and oats. If mixing by hand, mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine.
3. Pour the batter into the mug and microwave for 1 - 1.5 minutes.
4. While the cake is cooking, mix the frosting ingredients together.
5. Take the mug out of the microwave. Use a spatula to remove the cake from the mug, and slice into layers.
6. Spread frosting in between layers of cake. I also added some crunchy peanut butter to the top, which was very tasty! Enjoy your carroty creation!
