Zucchini Carrot Cake

I feel strange saying this, but, I have never eaten a carrot cake, anyone with me on this one??? Although, I have eaten combo cakes like date carrot cake and zucchini carrot cake... all thanks to my aunt who brings over goodies whenever she visits us, its surprising that I still haven't had the chance to try a carrot cake!!

The last time I went grocery shopping, I had this sudden urge to pick up some zucchini exclusively to try out few recipes, with zucchini carrot cake, topping my list. Every year, few families in our friends circle have a get together and host a thanksgiving lunch, usually being a potluck. Since I was making couple dishes, I wanted to have a simple cake to bake and decided to give the zucchini carrot cake a try. 

Adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup powdered raw sugar (increase to 1 cup, if you like it sweeter)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder (reduce to 1/4 tsp, if you find it a bit strong)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup zucchini, finely grated

1 cup carrot, finely grated

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Maple Glaze (optional):

3 tbsp powdered raw sugar
2 tbsp organic pure maple syrup, grade A, medium amber

Method:

(Zucchini Carrot Cake with Maple Glaze)

Finely grate the carrots and zucchini and set aside.

In a  large bowl, add sieved whole wheat pastry flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, salt and chopped walnuts. Mix well.

To the dry ingredients, add applesauce, carrots and zucchini and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a bundt cake pan (or any other cake pan) with cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 30-35 mins. Insert a toothpick in the center to check if its baked all the way through. Cool for 10-15 mins. Using a spoon, spread the maple glaze over the cake (my glaze was thin, you can use 6-8 tbsp raw sugar with  2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or adjust to taste, to make a thicker glaze).

For a variation, try using 2 tbsp light brown sugar with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Spread the mix in the cake pan before pouring the cake batter to get a sweet sticky topping (almost like sticky buns...yumm!!!).

Here's the sticky topping cake (my favorite among the two):

I wish I could have taken some photos of a slice of cake (with maple glaze) but had to take them over to our friends place. Everyone was surprised at how moist the cake was and the best part, they got their share of veggies for the day :) Give this cake a try, you sure can't stop with one!!

Makes 10-12 servings.