Lisa is in the kitchen this month:
Sometimes you just feel like having cake. If a friend or family member’s birthday is around the corner, all the better; it’s always more fun to have people to share it with. And while I usually opt for chocolate when I need a cake fix, sometimes a moist carrot cake is a nice alternative, especially if you feel like eating something that has a little more substance to it.
I purchased vegan cream cheese for the first time to make the frosting, and it was very good. (I bought it in Market Basket, where it is on the shelf next to dairy-based cream cheese.) Maybe my taste buds have become acclimated to nondairy products at this point, but I couldn’t taste the difference. Per usual, I use as little sugar as I can get away with in desserts, and unsweetened ingredients whenever possible; that way, I can take a second helping if I wish without feeling like I’m compromising my health.
Throw some raisins into this cake if you’d like, or substitute another nut for the walnuts if you prefer. I have to confess that I do not measure anything very carefully when I make this cake. It seems pretty forgiving, so this is a good one to improvise with.
Before I launch into the recipe, I’d like to share that I recently watched the documentary “Eating for Tomorrow,” which is offered periodically online for free through the Food Revolution Network website (foodrevolution.org). It was very informative, and I recommend viewing it if you want to learn more about how our food choices are linked with the health of our environment.
Vegan Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups canola oil
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups walnuts, chopped
- 1½ cups unsweetened coconut, shredded
- 1½ cups raw carrots, shredded
- 8-ounce can unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease two 9” round cake pans, and flour lightly.
- Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon into large bowl.
- Beat in oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
- Fold in walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple.
- Pour batter into cake pans; bake for 50 minutes until toothpick inserted into middle of
- cake comes out clean.
- Cool, and then remove cake from pans.
Vegan Frosting
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
- 6 Tablespoons vegan butter (I use Earth’s Balance)
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions
- Cream together vegan cream cheese and butter.
- Add confectioners’ sugar a little at a time, and beat until smooth.
- Add vanilla and lemon juice until fully incorporated.
Spread about one-third of the frosting in between the two layers of carrot cake. Then frost top and sides. Decorate with fresh carrot curls, or mint leaves and edible flowers, such as borage, as in the photo.
For more information on how your food choices affect the planet and your health, go to:
harriscenter.org/rhp.