Who doesn’t love carrot cake? You know me, my kitchen is my lab; can’t do a recipe without playing around with it. I also like to mix up the flours; sometimes I use buckwheat flour in the mix, which makes for a darker cake, as pictured above. See recipe for vanilla frosting below.
I also like to bake it as cupcakes; easy to frost and freeze. Just pull a couple out of the freezer when guests drop by.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
½ cup water
⅓ cup apple sauce
⅓ cup sunflower or avocado oil
⅓ cup cane sugar
1½ cups finely grated carrots
1⅓ cups mixed flour (rice, whole wheat, spelt)
1½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped roasted almonds, or coconut, optional
¾ cup raisins
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly grease a 9×9-inch cake pan; or line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Combine flax seeds and water; let sit while preparing other ingredients.
Add apple sauce, oil, sugar, vanilla and carrots to flax seed mixture; mix well.
In separate bowl, combine flour and spices.
Add flour mixture to flax seed mixture; mix in almonds and raisins.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan or cupcake liners.
Bake 30 minutes for cake; 20-25 minutes for cupcakes.
Cake Frosting
(Inspired by: Dreena Burton’s book, Let Them Eat Vegan!)
5 tablespoons flour (millet, spelt, barley, rice)
3 tablespoons cane sugar
1 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
½ cup vegan butter (Earth Balance is excellent)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt, if not using vegan butter
Alternatives to vegan butter: ¼ cup vegan butter and ¼ cup coconut oil; ½ cup creamed coconut; ½ cup cashews soaked, drained and blended with nondairy milk until creamy.
My favourite: ¼ cup vegan butter and ¼ cup creamed coconut.
Combine sugar and flour in saucepan.
Gradually whisk in the milk.
Cook, stirring frequently until mixture thickens.
Add vanilla. Stir well.
Remove from heat; set aside to cool slightly.
Add butter or butter alternative to custard; beat with mixer or with whisk until smooth.
