Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup plant-based milk

1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice

2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

3/4 cup Unrefined Cane Sugar

3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar or coconut sugar

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ginger

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

3/4 cup Light Olive Oil or any vegetable oil

3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 1/4 cups Grated Carrots

3/4 cup Sultanas

1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts or pecans

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup Vegan Butter softened

1/2 cup Vegan Margarine softened

3 cups Powdered Sugar

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2-3 tablespoons Soy Milk or coconut milk or almond milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper. Grease the pans with coconut oil on the sides and bottom, parchment paper included. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk apple cider vinegar and almond milk. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add olive oil, vanilla extract, and almond milk mixture.

Combine, scraping down the sides to bring all the ingredients together, and it forms a smooth batter.

Stir in shredded carrots, sultana raisins, and chopped nuts until well distributed into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly in half to fill the two round pans. Quickly bang each pan on the kitchen countertop to remove any trapped air.

Bake both pans on the center rack of your oven for 30-35 minutes or until they are golden brown and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. You can also cook one in the center rack and one in the rack just under, halfway, switch pan to make sure they bake at the same speed.

Cool down on a rack completely before adding any frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare your vegan cream cheese frosting ingredients by taking out of the fridge the vegan butter and vegan margarine to soften.

How to frost vegan carrot cake

In a large mixing bowl, beat vegan butter and vegan margarine together until fluffy and light in color - about 30 seconds.

Add powdered sweetener, vanilla, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of soy milk. Beat again until evenly combined and fluffy. Add more milk for a lighter, thinner frosting.

Place one layer of cake on a large serving plate, add one batch of frosting in the center of the cake and use a spatula to evenly spread the frosting all around the cake. It's ok if it drips on the sides.

Top up with the second cake layer, add another batch of vegan frosting and repeat the same action, spreading frosting on sides as well until it entirely covers the top and sides of your cake.

Place the cake for 1 hour in the fridge to set the frosting and blend flavors.

Tips:

The tricky question when making a two-layer cake is should I bake both layers at the same time? I recommend you do, but place one cake pan in the center rack and one just under. Then, swap the cake places halfway through baking to make sure they bake evenly. Otherwise, if you can fit two pans on the center rack, expect the cake placed at the back of the rack to bake slightly faster.

You can add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut or crushed pineapple in your vegan carrot cake batter. To do so, stir in the add ons at the same time you add the grated carrots.

Note that crushed pineapple adds moisture to the cake. Therefore, it can take a little bit longer to bake.

Original Recipe