IN THE POT | (VEGAN) CARROT CAKE

I love to bake and I really love learning how to make baked goods that are good for the planet. Normally I don’t go in for vegetables in cakes, unless we’re talking potato cakes, but this is a surprisingly good cake.  I actually can’t remember the first time or last time I carrot cake, I’m not sure I had ever had carrot cake prior to making this one.

I will definitely be making this cake again, it was moist and really yummy.  (Even with my frosting mix-up – see the tips)

Carrot Cake with Orange Frosting

Cake

Nonstick cooking spray

2/3 cup (160ml) plain soy or other non-dairy milk

1/4 cup (60ml) canola oil

2/3 cup (162g) unsweetened apple sauce

1 cup (195g) Sucanat

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups (240g) whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups (200g) grated carrots (not packed)

Icing

1/4 cup (48g) nondairy vegetable shortening (or more nondairy butter; although less stable than shortening, it works well too, as long as the cake is stored in the fridge)

1/4 cup (56g) nondairy butter

2 cups (240g) powdered sugar

1 to 3 tablespoon(s) (15 to 45ml) fresh orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

Cake

Preheat the over to 350°F (180°C or gas mark 4).  Lightly coat two 8-inch (20cm) round (or square) cake pans with nonstick spray.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, applesauce, Sucanat, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until combined.

In a large-size bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to over mix.  Fold in the carrots.

Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes before transferring the cakes directly onto a wire rack.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Icing

In a medium bowl and using an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and butter.  Sift the sugar on top, and beat until combined.  Add the juice, a little at a time, and beat until the frosting is fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the zest.

Apply a layer of frosting on one cake, then top with the second cake.  Spread the rest of the frosting on top of the now layered cake.  Store in fridge.

Source: 500 Vegan Recipes

Tip: Powdered sugar is icing sugar, something I only remembered two days after making the cake having used caster sugar.  I wondered at the time why it was so grainy.  It worked but the texture wasn’t great.  I also remembered that I’d forgotten to put the zest in.

Also, I used Copha as the vegetable shortening.  Word to the wise, don’t put this in the mixer in it’s solid form; unless of course you want a new mixer.  I ended up having to do another batch after trying to force the mixer to deal with it.  I melted the Copha and then let it cool for as long as I could before putting it in to the mix.  I would actually recommend that you melt the Copha at the beginning of the process so it’s cool by the time it’s needed.

For those that can’t find Sucanat (I couldn’t) I just replaced it with sugar.  I probably should have used brown sugar, but the cake didn’t suffer.  (At least I didn’t hear anyone complaining… )