CAKE!! I have been craving carrot cake for several days, and even though I'm trying to cut most carbs and sugars out of my diet, I caved in. Plus, carrot cake is one of the healthiest sweets you can make and it never dissapoints. I found a great recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks (Food to Live By by Myra Goodman), and the picture was so pretty that I had to try it for myself. She made, what looked like, a lucious cream cheese frosting to go along with the carrot cake, and although I will include that recipe...I sadly cannot handle dairy. It is times like these that make me sad all over again, since who doesn't love a great cream cheese frosting? Especially with its best friend, carrot cake? I thought, "Well, the cake looks good enough on it's own, so I'll just make it without frosting this time." About that time, my husband passed by my open cookbook, and his eyes lit up. "Are you going to make that cream cheese frosting?" He beamed up at me, the picture of pure excitement. I had to sadly say..."Well, I can't have cream cheese...so....well....maybe I can make a vegan frosting!" Although my husband was slightly sad, I was confident that I could make a frosting we would both really enjoy. So, I set out to find a great and tasty vegan frosting. And I did find one online (here) for a tasty orange vanilla frosting. I was planning on making it because I thought that the orange flavor would go really nicely with the carrot cake. However, when I opened my can of whole coconut milk to go in my curry (I will write about that later!), the entire top half of the can was soft and creamy coconut cream. This happens a lot, actually, when I open coconut milk, and I have used it in ganache before. I've never used it straight as a frosting, but this seemed like a great time to try it out. Coconut cream is about as thick as whipped cream, so it can be used in a similar fashion. Like whipped cream, it is very temperature sensitive and will melt quite easily. So, it is a good idea to have your cake completely cool before trying to use this as frosting. Unlike whipped cream though, it becomes even harder when chilled, so this cake can be frosted with the coconut cream when it is soft (room temp), then chilled in the fridge to harden.
Carrot Cake: from Food to Live By by Myra Goodman
(I made a half batch of this, or one cake. Usually it will make two.)
NOTE: These can also be made into muffins!
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour and a little more for flouring the cake pans (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
2 cups granulated sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 TB cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup canola oil (I used refined coconut oil, melted)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups packed shredded carrots, or about 1 pound
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)
1. Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Heavily butter and flour 2 round 9" cake pans, tapping out excess flour. Set cake pans aside.
OR
I used a springform cake pan because I don't own regular cake pans (Weird, huh?). I used a method I learned at school where you fold parchment paper into a triangle/flat cone keeping the middle of the paper as the end point. Then, you measure the pan from the center by placing the point of the trangle in the center. Then, you just cut off any excess off the top. When you unfold the triangle, you should have a perfect circle that fits the bottom of the pan. As seen here:
Mine was a bit lopsided, but I made it a little longer, so the batter wouldn't seep out the bottom of the spring form. Once you have your parchment circle, butter or spray the inside of the pan, lay the circle in the bottom, then butter or oil the parchment. I used spray oil. This trick helps your cake to clean out of the pan every time!
2. Place flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Place eggs, oil, and vanilla in a bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in nuts and carrots.
NOTE: I had to add a little bit of milk (almond) here because my batter was a bit dry and thick. I think it was because I used wheat flour, which is denser, and I used coconut oil, which congeals quickly at room temperature (I have to heat it to melt it down).
5. Evenly divide batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges have pulled away from the pan, about 55-65 minutes.
7. Run a knife around the edge of the pans to loosen the cake, then invert the cake to unmold it. Frosting the cake and garnish with chopped nuts.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup cream cheese, softened
8 TB unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 TB vanilla extract
1 TB milk or water
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1. Place cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until very smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer running of medium speed, slowly add 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar and beat until it is fully incorporated. Add vanilla and stir to combine. If frosting is too soft, add 1/2 cup powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, add in 1 TB of milk or water.
Creamy Coconut Frosting or "Whipped Cream"
(enough frosting for one 1-layer cake)
1 cup coconut cream
1 tsp vanilla
2-4 TB powdered sugar, sifted
1. Mix all ingredients together until blended. Use like whipped cream. Will harden when refrigerated.
NOTE: There is the possibility that if I added in more powdered sugar, this frosting would have become more stiff, and so would be able to be frosted more easily, or even piped out. However, I tend to like desserts that are not very sweet, so I only used enough sugar to flavor the cream without masking the hint of coconut flavor. But I will have to add more sugar in next time and see what I can figure out. However, I'm thrilled to have discovered a perfect alternative to whipped cream! Now my pumpkin pies and chocolate tarts will not go ungarnished! ;)
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