Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

I’ve experimented quite a bit with whole wheat flours. But, there has been some recipes that I haven’t tried it in and the one big one is carrot cake.

I LOVE carrot cake – it’s my most favorite cake of all and I generally have it about twice a year: my birthday and Mother’s Day. I have a carrot cake recipe I generally use, but I’ve used a few through the years and each one is made with all-purpose flour. I don’t use whole wheat…I don’t even mess with it.

That is, until the other day. I tried a new flour recently: Gold Medal white whole wheat flour, which is made with hard white spring wheat. I decided to give it a try in – yep – that one thing I don’t use whole wheat flour in – Carrot Cake. I used a Gold Medal Carrot Cake recipe that had the fun addition of coconut (David loves pretty much anything with coconut) and I set out to see if I could make a carrot cake I was happy with.

The results? I’m happy! It didn’t taste like it was made with whole wheat flour. There is a slight difference from the all-purpose flour carrot cakes I’ve had, but it’s very minor, in my opinion. I was really surprised how much the texture and taste was similar to all-purpose flour. The kids couldn’t tell a difference (my adult kids were surprised when I told them it was whole wheat) and David thought it was great. I’m looking forward to doing some more baking with it – I’m thinking something pumpkin next!

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Here’s the recipe:

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

Ingredients

Cake
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups Gold Medal® white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded carrots (5 medium)
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, drained (1/2 cup)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
1/2 cup coconut

Frosting
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 13×9-inch pan or 2 (8- or 9-inch) round cake pans with shortening; lightly flour.

In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla and salt; beat on medium speed 1 minute. Stir in carrots, pineapple, nuts and coconut (batter will be thick). Pour into pan(s).

Bake 13×9-inch pan 40 to 45 minutes, round pans 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool rectangle in pan on cooling rack. Cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make Cream Cheese Frosting. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and milk with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable.

Frost 13×9-inch cake or fill and frost round layers with frosting. Store covered in refrigerator.

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Now onto the best part! Would you like to win a Gold Medal prize pack of your own so you can try it in your recipes?

I’m giving away a prize pack to one of my readers which includes:

• A coupon to use for own bag of Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour
• Cookie Jar
• Recipe Cards
• Instructions for conversion of your recipes

To have a chance to win this prize pack, just leave me a comment below with what you already make with white whole wheat flour OR what you would like to try making with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour.

If you want an extra entry, tweet about this giveaway and then come back and leave a separate comment about your tweet.

Giveaway ends Saturday, October 1 at 11:59 pm, PST. Winner will be randomly selected by random.org and notify the winner by email.

Disclosure: The Gold Medal White Whole Wheat flour product, information, and giveaway have been provided by Gold Medal through MyBlogSpark.