Carrot Spice Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting
By: Leah Shannon
Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Cloves. Sometimes, during the winter months, the smell of these spices are enough to warm you.
So I think its only appropriate that my current search for a Q&E (quick and easy) cake that I can bake “just like that” will have these spice notes.
This recipe is truly quick and truly easy. Even the icing takes no more than 5 minutes to make. I adapted this recipe from Susan O’ Brien’s Gluten Free Vegan Cookbook and I was so pleasantly wonderfully surprised at how good it is. It’s the kind of cake that draws you at indecent hours to the fridge, fork in hand, taking more-than-intended bites through an open fridge door.
Coconut Carrot Spice Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting
½ cup canola oil or coconut oil (warmed to liquid consistency)
1 cup evaporated cane juice or agave nectar
1 ½ tsp. Ener-G egg replacer whisked with 2 T warm water
½ c applesauce
1 ½ t vanilla extract
1-2 cups grated carrots
¾ c crushed pineapple, drained
1 c. brown rice flour
½ c. quinoa flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum or guar gum
¾ c chopped walnuts
1/3 c unsweetened coconut (optional, esp. if you are already using coconut oil)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 inch round cake pan with vegetable oil nonstick spray (and you may want to line the bottom with parchment paper)
2. In a large bowl, combine the oil and the sweetener (ECJ or agave). Beat on high for a few minutes until the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Add the egg replacer mixture, applesauce, and vanilla, and stir to blend well. Add the carrots and pineapple, and stir.
3. In a smaller bowl, sift together the flours, and other dry ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixtures and stir or beat until well incorporated. Add the walnuts and coconut and stir well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake until done, about 30-35 minutes. Using a toothpick, test the cake at the 20 minute mark (oven temperatures vary and you don’t want a dry cake). The tester should come out clean with no sign of raw batter. This is a very moist cake so be careful not to overbake.
5. Cool on a wire rack and ice with Coconut Cream Frosting if desired.
Coconut Cream Frosting
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/3-1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup raw cashews
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup, shredded coconut, toasted
Place all of the ingredients, except for the shredded coconut, in a blender (this is what I prefer) or a food processor and blend together until the consistency becomes very smooth. If it is too thick, add a touch more coconut milk – don’t go overboard, you want this to spread and stay put. Ice your cake and sprinkle the shredded coconut on top.
Leah Lizarondo Shannon is an Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Food Educator. She runs FullWell and works with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine as a Food for Life instructor.
www.befullwell.com