VEGAN CARROT CAKE
This carrot cake recipe is my favourite one. Very simple and straightforward, and it has no eggs, and no dairy. It is not a light and fluffy cake, but it is supremely moist, with lots of flavour coming from the cinnamon, as well as fresh pineapple and coconut. It is filled with a wonderfully rich and smooth white chocolate and cream cheese frosting.
Depending on the type of vegan cream cheese you use, the filling may seem soft enough to spread without adding any additional cream, so adjust it to your tastes and needs. And as a final note, of course, feel free to add more fresh pineapple to the cake, if you like pineapple, just dice it finely, so it makes it easier for you to slice the cake later on.
Ingredients
For the cake
250 grams plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
250 grams applesauce
120 grams vegan butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
60 ml vegetable oil
200 grams unrefined sugar
300 grams grated carrots
150 grams diced fresh pineapple
4 tablespoons desiccated coconut
For the filling
200 grams vegan white chocolate
100 ml coconut cream
120 grams vegan butter
100 grams icing sugar
Preparation
Take a large bowl and add in the softened vegan butter, along with the applesauce, oil, vanilla and ground cinnamon, and blend it well, either using a whisk or a hand mixer on medium. If it looks like it is not blending well, add a tablespoon or two of flour, it will help emulsify the batter. Once that is well-blended, add in the sugar, mix well, and then sift in the flour and the baking powder. Mix briefly, and add the grated carrots, diced pineapple and coconut, and fold them through.
Take four round cake tins (15 cm), grease them well with vegan butter, then dust them with flour, and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake in a preheated oven, at 170°C (340°F), for 25-30 minutes. Make sure you check the cakes with a toothpick, to make sure they are done, but not overbaked. They will be dense and moist when done. Remove them from the oven, let them cool in the tins for about 10-15 minutes, then remove them and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the filling. Chop up the vegan white chocolate, place in in a saucepan, pour over the coconut cream, and let them melt together slowly over medium heat. Once melted, remove from the stove, and let it cool completely. You can speed this up by waiting until it cools down to room temperature, then placing it in the refrigerator.
When the ganache is chilled and ready, blend together the softened vegan butter and the vegan cream cheese in a large bowl, then add in the ganache, and blend well. At this point, the filling will be too soft to work with, so sift in the icing sugar, and blend it in well. When that is blended, take a spatula and stir the filling through to see if you are happy with the consistency. If it is too firm, add a tablespoon or two of coconut cream, and blend it in.
To assemble the cake, place the first cake layer on the serving platter, frost it with the cream cheese filling, then top with the second layer. Continue stacking the cake until you use up all of the material, then do a light crumb coat around the whole cake with the remaining filling. Place the cake in the refrigerator for an hour, then decorate as desired, and return it to the refrigerator for another 8 hours.
Keep the cake refrigerated. Yields 16 servings.
By Tina Vesić
