Light(er) Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I went to a friend's house for Easter dinner.  While I agreed to bring deviled eggs, I felt like bringing dessert, too.  Dessert is fun (not that the eggs weren't).

I had some carrots, so I decided to make a carrot cake. It seems like the perfect spring dessert.  However, it is generally horrible for us :-(  I tried to make it a LITTLE better.

Carrot Cake

1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash ginger
2 eggs (6 tablespoons egg beaters)
1 container light vanilla greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups shredded  carrots
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon rum (optional)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting

2 ounces light cream cheese (I used greek yogurt cream cheese)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (this is approximate)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cake:

1.) Soak cranberries in rum.  I was a little lax in this, because it was a last minute decision.  The longer they soak, the better.

2.)Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a square pan (8x8 or 9x9).
3.) Sift together dry ingredients (through ginger).

4.) In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs and greek yogurt.

5.) Add the carrots, pineapple, coconut, and cranberries to the egg mixture.

6.) Add the dry ingredients, in thirds, to the wet, mixing between the additions.  Do not overbeat or your cake will be tough.

7.) Fold in the chopped walnuts.
8.)  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  For me, it took about 35 minutes, but it depends on the size of your pan and the accuracy of your oven temperature.

Cool the cake completely before icing it.

For the frosting:

1.) Soften the cream cheese and butter.

2.)  Using a handheld mixer, whip them together.

3.)  Add the vanilla.
4.) Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and cinnamon.

5.)  Drizzle in milk and mix it in.
6.) Adjust with more milk or sugar as necessary for your desired thickness.  I wanted a pretty sturdy frosting, so I needed more sugar.

7.) Frost the cake.  I kept it in the pan for easy travel, but there was enough frosting for the sides if I wanted a nicer presentation.

8.)  Add chopped walnuts to the top of the cake, if desired. It looks nice, and it warns people that there are nuts in it (when you are taking it somewhere you are uncertain about nut allergies).