Why You Should Consider Adding Fruit To Your Carrot Cake

Life is all about baking your own cake and eating it too, because cake is sugary, sweet, and one of the greatest joys you can experience. Life is short too so you should spend as much as you can of it enjoying cake.

Carrot cake is already a healthier alternative to birthday cake, or wedding cake, or normal afternoon cake (yes, it's a thing), but it still contains loads of processed sugar which can be extremely detrimental to your health if consumed in excess, per Harvard Health and every parent on the planet who's had to refuse their child candy for dinner. So, why not introduce some non-processed sugars into the mix? 

Adding fruit to your carrot cake recipe, like Tasting Table's Carrot Coffee Cake with pineapple, gives your cake more nuanced fruity flavors while adding fiber and antioxidants in addition to the sweetness of sugar. Eating Well also suggests trying raisins, applesauce, and prune pureé in your cake or cupcakes recipe as alternatives to using processed sugar.

If you don't think about it too hard, you might just come to the conclusion that sugar is sugar no matter where it comes from, but the differences in sugar intake methods are complex and can have a very significant health impact. According to Laura Wright, a public health specialist, nutritionist, and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, who spoke to NPR, when comparing sugars from fruit to processed sugars, the most notable difference is the additional nutrients that fruit can have.

Using fruits rather than just adding pure sugar introduces antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, fiber, and (perhaps least importantly) new flavors to your carrot cake or other cake. Cooking with fruit and less sugar will also make your carrot cake safer for people with diabetes or who struggle with severe weight problems, as blood sugar regulation and diet risks can be threatening to one's life.