Cora's Carrot Cake

We had a wonderful time visiting family in Nevada a few weeks ago for Cora's first birthday. Because her cousin Skylar is almost exactly one year older, we were able to combine these occasions into a lovely party for our two darling girls. I decided to make a carrot cake, because what could be better than combining the nutritious goodness of carrots with a sweet spice cake and rich cream cheese frosting? (Yes, the Valentine's Day cake I made was a bit of a test run--I had to make sure that it would be worthy to serve to our guests!) In my pre-vegan days, I loved cream cheese frosting, but hadn't yet attempted a vegan version. My V-day attempt (using a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World) was way too sweet, so this time I cut the sugar in half. I also found that a dash of lemon juice toned down the slightly artificial flavor of the cream cheese, making the finished frosting taste nearly identical to the non-vegan version. I had a lot of fun decorating Cora's first cake, but wondered whether it would taste as good as it looked.

I needn't have worried! The cake was entirely devoured within 10 minutes of cutting the first slice. The only downside of this success was that it meant no leftovers for us. Ah, well, now that I have the recipe down I can recreate it!

I combined several recipes to make this one (the one I found on Vegweb.com and the carrot cake recipe from The Artful Vegan). If you don't have all the spices, you can just use 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, but the spice combination below was wonderful. You can also add a handful of walnuts to the batter if you wish (or press them along the sides as decoration).

Cora's Carrot Cake
Makes one 2-layer cake

Cake Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (all-purpose should also work)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 whole nutmeg, freshly-grated (~1 tsp?)
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 2 large)
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 package vegan cream cheese (like Tofutti), softened
• 5 TB non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (like Earth Balance), softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar (plus more to taste if desired)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil two 9-inch cake pans.
   
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
3. In a separate container or glass measuring cup, whisk together the canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots and pineapple.
5. Pour half the batter into each of the prepared cake pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
7. While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Using an electric mixer, cream together the margarine and cream cheese until combined. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Beat another few minutes until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Chill until ready to decorate.
   
8. Frost the cake after it has completely cooled. Serve and enjoy!