Birthday - Vegan Cake Style

When I asked Aaron if he wanted me to bake him a cake for his birthday his request was for a carrot cake. The caveat was then added, "and if you want to make it vegan you can." The gauntlet was thrown, trying to make a vegan carrot cake that would taste good and not need a bunch of what I would consider strange and odd ingredients.
 
So I started of course with a google search. I also contacted Chef Christina our vegetarian cooking class instructor.  Her response was she'd see what she could come up with but of course with my great planning skills I contacted her only a couple days before his birthday. When faced with my time restriction she offered up a couple of suggestions. Her input was to find a carrot cake recipe and simply swap out ingredients not vegan. She noted the flax seed recipe as an egg substitute. I had been wanting to try this but in the mean time, (after buying the flax) found a recipe that didn't even call for eggs.

 

Here is the recipe I ended up using with any changes I made noted and pictures that illustrates you can eat vegan and have your cake too. With "cream cheese" frosting I might add. And the final judgement from the birthday boy..."nummers" or a visual rating of 2 thumbs up. 

 

Vegan Carrot Cake with “Cream Cheese” Frosting

2 C. grated carrots
½ C. sugar (used organic)
½ C. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ C. almond milk
2/3 C. coconut oil (I used 1/3 C. coconut oil & 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce)
2 ¼ C. all purpose flour (I used ¾ C. whole wheat pastry flour – the rest all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice (had none used nutmeg)
½ C. chopped walnuts, optional (used pecans, it’s what I had)

 Preheat oven to 350

Original recipe was for a double layer cake. I made cupcakes and used paper liners in the pan.

In large bowl, mix together everything from carrots to extract. Then add in milk and oil to the bowl and stir to combine.

In separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients from the flour to the nuts.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. It’s ok if the batter is a little lumpy.

Pour into cupcake papers or pans that you are using. Approximate baking time 12-15 minutes. But bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting.

Vegan “Cream Cheese” Frosting   

1 container Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Stick (room temp)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix first 2 together til creamy, add vanilla and then add in the powdered sugar a bit at a time while mixing. Frost your creation and enjoy!