Posted in Recipes on 03.02.2019
Carrot Cake
prep: 30 mins / cook: 30 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 60 mins / quantity: 8-10 slices Print recipe?
A delicate, perfectly spiced vegan carrot cake made with fresh grated carrot, filled and topped with a divine sweet vegan lemon frosting!
Blergh, who puts carrot in cake? That’s the response I got when I decided I wanted to make a vegan version of the all time classic carrot cake. And you know for someone who doesn’t like carrots and claims they really don’t like carrot cake, he managed to tuck away several slices. He’d already had these Carrot Cake Muffins and enjoyed them. Didn’t stop him being convinced he didn’t like it.
The child in me loves it when I prove him wrong.
In all honesty, he’s come a VERY long way from the confirmed carnivore and potato eater he was when we met. A loooong way. Today we have a bona-fide vegan. He’s trying it for Veganuary but so far enjoying it and not missing anything apparently.
Especially when you can make vegan carrot cake as good as this.
It’s a beautifully moist sponge with just enough cinnamon and nutmeg to gently bring all the flavours together without it being overpowering and almost medicinal.
People add vegetables to things like cake for a number of reasons. It’s a great way to increase veg intake if you have fussy eaters. Wrap veggies up in sugar and spices and sweet lemon frosting and those fussy fussersons will shove it in their face along with the rest of us veg lovers.
Veg like carrots, courgette and sweet potato add extra moistness to a cake without a huge increase in calories. They’re also a great way to use up any leftover veg. Not that that’s ever a problem in our house.
And carrot cake is like the great grandma of cakes. It’s sweet and comforting and will make you feel better because warming spices and lemon frosting.
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Carrot Cake
prep: 30 mins / cook: 30 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 60 mins / quantity: 8-10 slices
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 tblsp ground flax seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tblsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup oil – I’ve tried with olive and avocado oil but rapeseed (canola) oil should work too
- 2 cups (300g) plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup (120g) coconut sugar
- 2 cups (200g or roughly 2 medium) carrots
Icing:
- 2/3 cup (150g) vegan butter – you want a block butter rather than a spread
- 2 cups (200g) icing sugar
- 1 lemon – grated zest only
Caramelised walnuts:
- 1 cup (115g) walnut halves
- 1 tblsp maple or agave syrup or Sweet Freedom Fruit Syrup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F / gas 4 and with a little oil or dairy free spread, grease and then dust with flour two 6 inch (15cm) sandwich cake tins. I also cut a disc of parchment for the bases - but my tins are old and losing their non-stick!
- In a mug or small bowl put the ground flax seeds with 1/3 cup (85ml) cold water, stir together and set aside
- In a medium bowl put the milk, vinegar and oil, whisk together and set that to one side too
- In a large bowl put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar
- Finely grate the carrot - I used the side of the grater that you normally use for parmesan cheese. Add to the bowl
- Whisk the flax seed mixture (known as a flax 'egg') into the milk mixture then pour it all into your large bowl of dry ingredients
- Stir well together, mixing up from the bottom of the bowl so no flour pockets remain
- Evenly divide the mixture between the two prepared tins, spreading and flattening. Bake for 30 minutes - check they're cooked by inserting a skewer or toothpick into the centre of a cake and if it comes out clean with no cake mixture clinging to it the cakes are cooked
- Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes then carefully lift out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely
- To make the frosting simply beat together the vegan butter, icing sugar and grated lemon zest until pale and fluffy
- To caramelise the walnuts put them into a small frying pan with the maple syrup and cook over a low/medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden and crunchy. Leave to cool
- To assemble the cake put one of the cakes onto your serving plate then spoon or pipe the roughly 2/3 of the icing to cover the top of it
- Top with the other cake and spread or pipe the remaining icing across the top of the second cake. Top with the caramelised walnuts
- Keep the cake in an airtight container
Some products I used in today's post...
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Hello there! I’m Sam, former Michelin star pastry chef and now your go-to vegan foodie on a mission to make plant-based eating a deliciously easy adventure! From cozy comfort foods to vibrant salads and decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone in my kitchen.
Whether you’re cooking for one or for a houseful I believe food doesn’t have to be complicated to be full of FLAVOUR and I want to show you how. I’ve been a rigorous meal planner for over a decade whilst embracing seasonal ingredients (because that’s where the real flavour is!)
I’m also a dedicated dog mum to Nooch and Baxter and enjoy cooking them homemade treats (many of which are posted here) when I’m not screaming at the tennis or devouring fantasy fiction.
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