Copycat J. Alexander's Carrot Cake with Zucchini (Reduced Sugar)
After searching for copycat recipes, I tried several and came up with this slightly less sweet version. I also swap some of the carrots for zucchini, but you don't have to! One great thing about this cake is that it is best served warm! That means you don't have to cool it completely before frosting!There are three steps to making this cake, mixing and baking the cake, making the cake syrup, and mixing up the frosting. It's not difficult, but it will take some time, but you can work on the cake syrup and frosting while the cake bakes!Ingredients are listed in three separate ingredient groups, cake batter, cake syrup and frosting.*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- medium mixing bowl
- 8x8 baking pan
- small sauce pan
- hand or standing mixer
- small mixing bowl.
- mixing spoons
- skewer or large fork
- box grater or a mandoline with grater or julienne setting.
Ingredients
Carrot Zucchini Cake Batter
- ¾ cup white whole wheat flour I like *King Arthur. You could use all AP flour.
- ¾ cup AP flour
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp Enspice Sri Lankan Cinnamon Regular cinnamon is fine, but Enspice Sri Lankan cinnamonis amazing. Purchases of Enspice help to fight malnutrition. Visit their website to read all about it.
- ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp nutmeg Fresh grated is the best
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 egg Lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt Optional, in place of additional egg or oil. I like Greek Gods or Fage Greek Yogurt.
- 3 tbsp low-fat buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp orange zest Optional, or use orange juice if you have it
- 3 oz crushed pineapple Strain and set aside juice
- ½ cup carrots Grated.
- ½ cup zucchini Optional, you can use carrots instead, however, you may want to add about 1/4 cup additional buttermilk or pineapple juice to the batter.
- 2 oz sweetened shredded coconut flakes About 3/4 cup not packed. I used sweetened coconut flakes.
- ½ cup pecans Chopped (add a full cup if you like extra nuts, or save some for garnish)
Buttermilk Cake Syrup
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup low-fat buttermilk
- 5 tbsp butter Salted is fine
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese Room temperature. I use Neufchatel.
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter Room temperature. Salted will work however you may need to add extra powdered sugar.
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract I like pure vanilla extract.
Instructions
Prepare the carrot cake batter
- Grease/butter and flour an 8X8 baking pan. Preheat oven to 350°F
- Mix all the dry ingredients for the cake in a large bowl. (flour, baking powder, Enspice/cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, brown and white sugar, and a pinch of salt.
- Mix all the wet ingredients for the cake batter in a medium bowl. (Egg, canola oil, yogurt, buttermilk, vanilla, orange zest or juice, strained pineapple, coconut, carrots, and zucchini)
- Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir in chopped pecans.
- Pour the batter into the 8X8 pan
- Bake for 35 minutes at 350°F. (While the cake is baking, prepare the cake syrup.)
- Test the cake with a toothpick. If it's still raw in the middle, reduce the temp to 325°F and cook another 15 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. You should be able to press lightly and the cake will spring back in the center.
- Cool for only five minutes before adding cake syrup.
Prepare the Cake Syrup
- Add ingredients for the cake syrup (white sugar, brown sugar, butter, buttermilk, and vanilla) to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has thickened. It won’t take long, about five minutes. Remove from heat.
Prepare the Cake for the Syrup
- Use a thick skewer or large fork carefully and gently poke holes all over the cake while it is still very warm, or hot.
- Pour the cake syrup very slowly over the hot cake. Set aside to cool slightly before serving.
Prepare the Frosting
- In medium bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the butter and vanilla and beat until combined and fluffy.
- Slowly mix in the powdered sugar.
- Put the frosting in a piping bag or a zip top bag until ready to frost the cake.
Frost and Serve
- I prefer to cut the cake into 9 pieces and pipe frosting on each individually plated warm piece. You can frost the entire cake, the choice is yours! Garnish with pecans or a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg! You can also garnish with a few gratings of carrot.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Support your favorite food blogs by using a link to on their blog when you shop. The blogger receives a small commission, at no cost to you.
I adapted this from a few recipes, the one I recall most is mybakingaddiction.com. There are a lot of great recipes on mybakingaddiction!
*When shopping for a mandoline, I recommend that you stay away from v-shaped blades that are made of two pieces crossed over or butted up together. Food gets stuck and they don't slice well (in my opinion.) I'm thinking of this one from Amazon to replace my annoying v-shaped mandoline.
This cake is amazing served warm with frosting piped or spooned over the top.
I like to store the leftover frosting in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator. I take it out and let it warm up to room temperature a bit, then pipe it over pieces of cake that have been warmed in the microwave.
This is a very rich, sweet, buttery cake. I use less sugar in the cake batter than other copycat recipes since the cake syrup and frosting are so very sweet.
Nutrition
Calories: 424kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 6gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 161mgPotassium: 247mgFiber: 3gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 1729IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 104mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!