This seriously is the BEST vegan carrot cake you will ever try! Deliciously sweet with hits of cinnamon and nutmeg – incredibly moist, packed full of flavours and textures and topped off with a light and silky-smooth tofu frosting. Pure perfection!
A recipe re-creation of one of the most delicious treats from my recent visit to New York.
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Recipe:
Serves: 8
Prep: 20 minutes plus cooling time
Cook: 50 minutes
Carrot Cake:
300g coconut sugar
275g coconut oil, melted
2 flax eggs (30g flax meal mixed with 8 tbsp water, left for 2 mins)
1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract
250g self raising flour
2 tsp (10g) baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
300g finely grated carrot
120g sultanas, soaked in orange juice for 1 hour
120g toasted pecans, roughly chopped (80g for the cake, 40g for topping)
50g desiccated coconut
Zest of 2 oranges (1 for the cake, 1 for the topping)
Tofu Frosting:
350g silken tofu, pressed for 15 minutes and drained*
30g maple syrup
50g coconut oil, melted
1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract
75g icing sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Making the cake:
1. Preheat your oven to 170°C.
2. Grease and line a 20cm round or rectangular, deep, loose bottomed cake tin.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, flax eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Into the same bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Fold gently into the rest of the mix.
5. Add the grated carrot, sultanas (minus the orange juice), pecans (80g of the 120g), coconut and the zest of one of the oranges. Mix thoroughly.
6. Transfer your mixture to your cake tin and bake for 50 minutes. Don’t open the oven during cooking as this can cause your cake to sink.
7. Once you’ve reached 50 minutes, stick a knife or skewer into the centre of your cake and if it comes out mostly clean then it is done.
8. Once your cake is cooked, cool it in the tin for 20 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Make sure it is fully cooled before attempting to ice it (this can take an hour or two).
Making the tofu frosting:
1. Add all of your ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Chill your mixture for 1 hour in the refrigerator before icing your cake.
Finishing off your cake:
1. Once your cake is fully cooled, smooth the silky smooth frosting onto the top and sprinkle with the remaining chopped pecans and orange zest.
2. Store in a cool place.
*To press your silken tofu, wrap the block in a couple of layers of kitchen towel and place it between two chopping boards. Add some weight on to the top chopping board to press it down a little – something like a tin of chopped tomatoes will work well. Once it has been pressed for 15 minutes, remove the kitchen towel and you are ready to go.
