Gwen's Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe

I modified a recipe from May All Be Fed: A Diet for New World, by John Robbins. The actual recipe is for Ginger Carrot Cake with Orange Glaze. I thought the orange made it taste reminiscent of a nasty fruit cake so I used lemon to brighten the flavors. And since this was for Gwen I didn't use fresh Ginger since I was going for a more mild flavor. Since this was a Birthday Cake I made a real cream cheese frosting, making the final product not vegan.

Gwen's Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe
3/4 cup unfiltered apple juice
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
1/2 cup maple syrup
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups carrots
2 cups flour (original recipe calls for whole wheat pastry four)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger (powdered) (original recipe calls for 2 tsp fresh ginger)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
(original recipe 1 cup chopped walnuts)

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil and powder with flour 8 inch cake pan
• Put apple juice, oil and raisins, maple syrup, and lemon zest in a blender and blend until smooth
• Add carrots and blend to desired texture (I blended real smooth).
• In a large bowl mix dry ingredients.
• Add the wet mixture and mix until blended (use as few strokes as possible).
• Fold in nuts if using them.
• Put batter in pan and use spatula to spread evenly.
• Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes.

*Note about raisins. Original recipe calls for regular raisins, but I found the golden raisins blend in better to produce a more cake like result. Also, it calls for setting aside 1/2 cup of the raisins to fold in with the nuts, but again, I think blending them calls for a more cake like result.


From The Tassajara Bread Book:

Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup sweet butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

• Cream together cream cheese and butter.
• Slowly sift in powdered sugar (I don't bother with sifting :-)
• Beat until mixture has no lumps.
• Stir in lemon and vanilla.

Enjoy!