one 8-ounce package cream cheese, preferably organic
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 packets stevia in the raw
1 tablespoon plain unsweetened greek yogurt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (first 9 ingredients) and stir until they are evenly blended.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. To the beaten eggs, slowly add the melted butter, whisking continuously. Add the vanilla extract, milk, and Greek yogurt, and stir to thoroughly combine. (Make sure you get the yogurt mixed in so that there are no lumps.) Add the shredded carrot to the wet mixture.
Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until they come together completely in a sticky, wet batter. Lastly, add the chopped pecans, if using.
Pour the batter into a square cake pan, about 2 ½ inches deep. Bake for 50 minutes, turning and checking for doneness throughout. (If using a smaller pan or a pan of a different shape, be aware baking time could be different. Bake times for this cake will tend to be long, however, because of the high moisture content of the carrots themselves.)
While the cake cools, make the icing.
In a large bowl, mash the cream cheese until it is soft and easy to stir. Add the softened butter and cream it together with the cheese. Add the vanilla extract, stevia, and yogurt, and stir vigorously until all the ingredients come together cohesively.