Classic vegan carrot cake
1 HOUR + COOLING | SERVES 8-10 | EASY |
The challenge with a vegan carrot cake is to replace the eggs without ending up with a dry, crumbly sponge. This recipe uses psyllium husks (the incredibly high-fibre ground shells of tiny seeds) to help bind the batter and keep everything deliciously moist. When making the frosting be sure to use a brand of vegan cheese that isn’t too savoury (I like to use Violife). It’s also important to make sure the soft cheese and butter are at room temperature before you begin, otherwise the frosting will split.
vegetable oil 125ml soft light brown sugar 175g vanilla extract 2 tsp orange Ω, zested soy milk 300ml apple cider vinegar 1 tsp psyllium husks 2 tsp (see cook’s notes) plain flour 325g baking powder 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1Ω tsp ground cinnamon 2Ω tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp fine sea salt Ω tsp carrots 300g, grated walnuts 110g, roughly chopped FROSTING vegan butter or margarine 60g vegan soft cheese 200g (I use Violife) vanilla bean paste or extract 1 tsp icing sugar 700g
• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line two 18cm cake tins with baking paper.
• Whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla and orange zest in a large bowl, until the sugar begins to dissolve.
• In a measuring jug, combine the soy milk and the cider vinegar. Whisk well and set aside (the milk will appear to split or thicken but don’t worry if it does).
• In a small bowl, mix together the psyllium husks and 3 tbsp of water. Allow to thicken for 20 seconds before adding to the brown oil and sugar mixture. Whisk well for 30 seconds – the mixture should come together and the oil should no longer be separated from the sugar.
• Little by little, add the thickened soy milk to the oil and sugar mixture, whisking all the time. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb, 2 tsp of the cinnamon, and all of the nutmeg, ginger and salt. Stir together.
• Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture along with the grated carrots and 70g of the chopped walnuts. Mix until just combined.
• Divide the batter between the two prepared cake tins and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Before removing from the oven, test with a toothpick in the centre of each cake – it should come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins on a wire rack.
• While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a bowl using electric beaters, beat the vegan butter and soft cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean paste or extract and beat again to combine.
• In another bowl, sift the icing sugar. With the stand mixer on low, add the icing sugar a heaped spoonful at a time (if you add it all at once the frosting will split). You may not need to add all the icing sugar, so keep adding until the frosting is thick, smooth and whipped. The more sugar you add, the thicker the frosting will become.
• To assemble the cake, remove the cooled cake layers from the tins. Carefully spread a generous layer of frosting on top of one layer. Top with the second layer, followed by the remaining frosting, then use a palette knife to evenly spread to the edges of the cake. Before serving, sprinkle the cake with the remaining Ω tsp of cinnamon and the roughly chopped walnuts.
PER SERVING 770 KCALS | FAT 29.6G SATURATES 7G | CARBS 117.2G | SUGARS 89.2G FIBRE 3.9G | PROTEIN 6.3G | SALT 1.2G