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Dessert

Low-cal Carrot Cake

A carrot cake made with liquid shortening, fructose, eggs, water, flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pecans, and grated carrots.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Low-cal Carrot Cake

Oven350°F
Time30‑40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Grease and flour a 3‑quart tube pan.

Make the batter

  1. In a mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, fructose and eggs until light and lemon‑colored.

  2. Add remaining ingredients except carrots and pecans, and beat well.

  3. Stir in carrots and pecans.

  4. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake

  1. Bake for 30‑40 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

698Calories
21 gProtein
21 gFat
105 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Pecan1 half (4g)20
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together981 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Nutmeg + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Cinnamon + pecanstop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Liquid shortening
Adds fat and moisture, keeping the cake tender and moist.
Eggs
Add structure and help bind the batter while creaming gives lift.
Flour
Forms the cake's main structure once set by baking.
Baking soda and baking powder
Release gas during baking so the cake rises.
Grated carrots
Add moisture and body, keeping the crumb soft.

The step that matters

Creaming the shortening, fructose and eggs. Beating these together traps air in the batter, which helps the cake rise and gives it a light crumb. Under-beating leads to a denser cake.

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, carrot):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Milletfits better
  4. Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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