LAST BITE

Mini Carrot CakeLoaves

Carrot cake is a favourite with its all-important cream cheese icing, but the addition of crystallized ginger takes it up a notch.

RECIPE THE TEST KITCHEN

MAKES 8 MINI LOAVES HANDS-ON TIME 30 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 1½ HOURS

Cream Cheese Icing

half 250 g pkg cream cheese, softened 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened ½ tsp vanilla ½ cup icing sugar 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp each cinnamon and ground ginger ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp ground nutmeg 2 eggs 1½ cups packed brown sugar ½ cup vegetable oil ½ cup unsweetened applesauce 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups grated carrots ½ cup chopped pecans 2 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

Cream Cheese Icing In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth; beat in vanilla. Beat in icing sugar until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray and our 8 mini loaf pans. In bowl, whisk together our, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt and nutmeg. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla until smooth; stir in our mixture just until moistened. Stir in carrots and pecans until combined; scrape into prepared pans.

Bake until cake tester inserted in centres comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Run paring knife around edges of cakes; let cool in pans for 15 minutes. Transfer directly to racks to cool completely.

Using o set palette knife, spread 2 tbsp of the Cream Cheese Icing evenly over top of each cake; sprinkle with crystallized ginger (if using).

PER MINI LOAF about 557 cal, 7 g pro, 29 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 70 g carb (2 g dietary fibre, 46 g sugar), 73 mg chol, 298 mg sodium, 211 mg potassium. % RDI: 9% calcium, 17% iron, 47% vit A, 3% vit C, 26% folate.