Carrot-Almond Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh, how I love a snack cake. It just feels so friendly. It's doable, casual, and unassuming—and thus you'll find one in my house way more often than a layer cake (which suits my kids just fine). Don't be fooled by their less-glamorous looks; snack cakes are every bit as good. They're certainly easier to make, so I can whip one up with little effort—and more frequency—and make everyone in my house happy.So what exactly is a snack cake? Well, my own personal definition is that it's a one-layer cake with frosting on top (as opposed to the strata of a layer cake). I like 'em tall and topped off with a hearty layer of frosting. I know many snack cake recipes forego the frosting, but that's just wrong if you ask me. If I'm going to have cake, I want frosting, too. For the batter, I prefer a one-bowl method. Since snack cakes are more rustic, and a little rougher around the edges, whisking the batter together works great. You're not aiming for a fine, delicate crumb that only a high-speed mixer can provide. In this carrot cake, almond flour is the predominant flour, which makes for a rich, dense, moist texture. A little all-purpose flour helps with structure, and you can use gluten-free all-purpose if you'd like. I tested side by side with traditional all-purpose, and neither I nor anyone else in my family could tell the difference. I use honey to sweeten this cake because I love how its floral complexity complements almonds. And because honey is more hygroscopic (absorbs more moisture from the air) than sugar, the cake keeps well and stays moist for a week or more.One side note where the frosting is concerned: I had some cream cheese that I bought at a discount grocer and wanted to see how it would perform here. The verdict? Yuck. It was ropey and strange (it must have contained more guar or xanthan gum), so I seriously warn you about straying from a tried-and-true brand. Your snack cake deserves better. And so do you.

By

Ann Taylor Pittman

Ann Taylor Pittman

For 20 years, Ann Taylor Pittman built a career of creating healthy recipes at Cooking Light magazine, where she most recently served as Executive Editor. She is the recipient of two James Beard Foundation Awards: a feature writing award for "Mississippi Chinese Lady Goes Home to Korea" and a cookbook award for The New Way to Cook Light. She is now a freelancer specializing in recipe development, writing, and video. Ann lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, their 13-year-old twin boys, one big dog, and one little dog.

Experience: Before Ann became a food editor, she taught English at Mississippi State University. Ann translated her experience as an instructor into a career teaching people how to be better at cooking healthy food during her 20-year tenure at Cooking Light. She was nominated for a James Beard Award for her feature "7 Simple Ways to Become a Better Cook" in 2014. Ann is now a freelance recipe developer, food writer, and video content producer pursuing new opportunities to share her expertise in healthy cooking, love of the South, and passion for food and drink. As a mother of two boys and the primary cook for her family, she wants to set them up with good patterns of eating that will take them through to adulthood.

Education: Ann is a graduate of Mississippi State University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and a Master of Arts in English.

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Published on March 28, 2019

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