This easy carrot cake is made in a bundt cake pan, which means that this carrot cake recipe is not only delicious, but it’s easy to make and no complicated decorating is required. We love this carrot cake bundt cake, especially for Easter.
Spring is here, which means it’s time for some spring cleaning. Spring cleaning of our homes, routines and even our foods. Today I’m doing a little spring cleaning with one of my favorite cakes, carrot cake! I’ve given this classic cake a bit of a spring cleaning makeover with this Carrot Cake Bundt Cake Recipe. I’ve taken a few things out of my usual recipe and added in a surprise ingredient. And it’s just as delicious as ever! Thanks to Lentils.org for sponsoring this post.
My kids are picky eaters. I mean PICKY. One has a pretty severe food allergy, so I think it’s almost instinctual for her to be picky, and the other, she’s just like many kids and a bit averse to trying new things sometimes. The upside to these picky kids of mine is that if I can sneak extra nutrition into recipes without them noticing, then I feel very confident passing those recipes onto you and your family. This carrot cake bundt cake is one of those recipes!
Any idea what the secret ingredient is? It’s high in protein and fiber, heart smart, nutrient dense, low in fat and easy to cook. It was cooked, pureed and tucked into this carrot cake bundt cake recipe to replace some of the fat. And my entire family gobbled this cake up.
It’s lentils. Yes, lentils! And it absolutely worked like a charm. Trust me on this, this carrot cake bundt cake is truly PICKY EATER IMPROVED.
I adore carrot cake, but the average carrot cake recipe often calls for two cups of oil. TWO CUPS. It has pained me every time I’ve done it. I’ve used applesauce to cut back on some of the oil, but I’ve always wanted to cut back even more. When Lentils.org asked if I would like to give one of my recipes a bit of a spring cleanse using lentils, I wasn’t quite sure what recipe would work. Once I learned that you can cook and puree lentils to replace up to half the fat or butter in most recipes, I knew that carrot cake bundt cake was the way to go.
Lentils are a type of pulse crop, along with dry beans, dry peas, and chickpeas. The term “pulse” is used to describe the edible, dry seeds of legumes. The most commonly found lentils on grocery store shelves are whole green lentils and split red lentils. For this recipe I used split red lentils. Lentils easily puree into a tasty, smooth, nutritionally dense puree that can easily be stirred into a wide variety of dishes in your kitchen. The puree disappears so fussy eaters wont even know its there. But you’ll know your cooking is packed with nutrition and that sometimes what you don’t know can help you!
Pureed lentils couldn’t be easier. I simply combined my lentils with some water and a pinch of salt and simmered for about 20 minutes. After that they went into my food processor with a bit of water. That’s all there is to it!
The puree is similar in texture to canned pumpkin, and you can sneak it right into your recipes. To really test the success of it with picky eaters, I told my family ahead of time that our carrot cake bundt cake contained lentils. I wanted them to be looking for and trying to find the difference. Not one of them could, and they all agreed that the cake was fantastic. I reduced the oil in this carrot cake by half, and nobody missed it. I also gave some cake to a friend, and her family didn’t notice anything different either. Success! I love when I can sneak in some added nutrition!
Cooked lentils and prepared lentil puree can be frozen and used within three months, or refrigerated for one week. Be sure to store in airtight containers or plastic bags. Lentils are perfect for making healthy and interesting meals to cleanse your diet and keep both your taste buds and stomach happy!
I also modified my frosting recipe a bit, reducing some of the sugar. It has more of a cheesecake flavor than a traditional sweet frosting flavor.
Carrot Cake Bundt Cake
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil (you could use coconut oil or another oil if you prefer)
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup red lentil puree* (measured dry)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups shredded carrots
Frosting
- 8 oz softened cream cheese
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2-4 tbsp milk
Instructions
*Lentil Puree
- To create lentil puree, combine 1/4 cup dry red lentils with 1 cup water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the works to a full boil then adjust and lower the heat, just enough to maintain a slow, steady simmer. Cover tightly and continue cooking until the lentils are soft and tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. For the lentil puree, pour the cooked lentils into your food processor. Add approximately 1/8 cup water and process until a smooth puree resembling canned pumpkin forms, two to three minutes. If the texture seems too thick, add another tablespoon or so of water.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt cake pan.
- In a large bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add oil and vanilla extract to eggs and stir to combine. Add shredded carrots, lentil puree and applesauce to mixture and stir to combine.
- Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over stir.
- Spoon batter into your pan and bake for approximately 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool cake for approximately 10 minutes in pans, then transfer cake to wire racks to cool completely prior to frosting.
Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, beat together softened cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, slowly add powdered sugar, mixing well. Add in vanilla, salt and whipping cream. Beat on medium for approximately three minutes. If frosting is thicker than you like, you can add an additional tablespoon of milk. Drizzle over cooled cake. Store cake and frosting in refrigerator.
Video
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
I can’t wait for your family to try this carrot cake bundt cake recipe, and see just how delicious it is using lentils.
Disclosure:
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lentils.org. The opinions and text are all mine.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Can I ask a question to clarify about making lentil puree, please? Guessing lentils are rinsed but not soaked at all first? Is all water absorbed during cooking process or are cooked lentils drained, then blended with 1/8 cup water?
I’m trying to replace the wheat based flour to something else due to family members needing to avoid wheat flour. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Not really, as I use wheat based flour. If you have experiencing using a substitute, you are likely more of an expert than I am on the topic. Good luck!
Hi Christi,
This the website where I got the idea from is: https://www.leaf.tv/articles/what-can-be-a-substitute-for-cooking-oil-in-baking/
“Buttermilk was once made from the liquid that remained after butter was churned. … When substituting oil for nonfat buttermilk in a recipe you will use 75 percent the amount of buttermilk as you would oil. So, a recipe that calls for 1 cup of oil would require 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk”
Typical values per 100 ml of buttermilk
Energy 34kcal
Fat 0.1g
Carbohydrates 4.9
Protein 3.4g
Typical values per 100 ml of Sunflower oil
Energy 82kcal
Fat 9g
Carbohydrates 0g
Protein 0g
You are right, I shouldn’t have added 1/4 of vegetable oil if I was adding the 3/4 of buttermilk.
Buttermilk (no butter) is less calorific than vegetable oil.
Okay, so you substituted buttermilk for the some of the oil, not oil for the buttermilk, that was a bit confusing. This makes more sense. Hope you enjoyed.
Hi Christi,
I love your recipe. I wanted to tell you that I have substituted 1 cup of vegetable oil for 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 3/4 cup of buttermilk. So it is even healthier. What do you think?
I’m not sure if that’s healthier as the oil is probably the least healthy ingredient in the cake, that’s a lot of oil! I think that would be far too heavy, I’m not so sure what the end result would be like. If anything I’d at most do 1/2 cup oil and maybe double the applesauce. That said I haven’t tried it so I can’t speak to the results.
why use the lentil puree? what can i use to replace the lentil puree?
This recipe was developed for lentils.org, thus uses lentils. If that’s not your thing, maybe one of the other six carrot cake recipes on the site would be more to your liking. Just type the word carrot into the search box and they’ll come right up. Good luck!
Could I substitute pure pumpkin for the lentil purée in this recipe? Thanks
I haven’t tried so unfortunately I can’t speak to the results.
Spring cleaning with cake…sounds like the perfect way to clean! This looks so yummy!