I promised a cake recipe, so I am delivering that promise.
Marc and I are celebrating 3 years of marriage. It’s crazy to think we have had 2 kids in 3 years of marriage. I guess we didn’t waste any time. It wasn’t the initial plan, but we wouldn’t change it for the world. It has seemed like much more than 3 years we’ve been married. I don’t know maybe having 2 kids has matured us so much more as a married couple and we feel we’ve been married for 10 years!!
It’s had it’s challenges for sure, but no marriage is perfect. It’s made easier with God at the center. Without Him, I don’t know how anyone stays married!! With that being said, Marc is amazing and I am extremely blessed to have him as my husband and best friend. Here’s to the next 30 years…..
And here’s to our favorite cake to enjoy together. We had this cake at our wedding and every year since then I have made it for our anniversary. It’s also my favorite birthday cake. I made it our first wedding anniversary, because we didn’t save the top of the cake. We also have a tradition of running a race together around our anniversary. This year the race won’t be until October, because of having the baby a month before our anniversary and my slow return to running.
Vegan Carrot Cake
It’s a moist cake, because let’s be honest who likes dry cakes?! You can’t even tell its vegan. I used applesauce and almond or coconut milk, instead of regular milk and eggs or butter. I try not to add much sugar to my recipes, and try to use coconut sugar as an alternative, but I stuck with good ole’ organic brown sugar and organic raw sugar for this recipe. After all it is a cake, which are usually made on those special occasions to splurge.
You can use a vegan cream cheese for your frosting with a little maple syrup, vanilla, coconut oil or vegan butter, and powdered sugar. Nothing more, nothing less. I like my frosting with less sugar that what most recipes call for, and it still tastes great.
I am not much for a froster, so my finished product doesn’t look anywhere near a store bought cake or very presentable. This is where I could use the help of my hubby. He’s the artist. I promise you won’t be disappointed. I have made this cake for years, and it’s always loved by everyone. Makes great cupcakes as well.
You’ll notice I don’t use lots of sugar in my cream cheese frosting, which is also vegan, and I add a little maple syrup to give it a maple taste. I find you don’t need as much powdered sugar as the typical cream cheese frosting recipes call for. Too much sugar makes it too sweet.
Vegan Carrot Cake - decadent cake you MUST try #vegan #cakerecipe Share on X
- 2¼ c flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c oil (I used grapeseed oil)
- ½ c organic brown sugar
- ½ c organic raw sugar
- 2 c grated carrots
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 c applesauce
- ⅓ c almond milk (or milk of your choice)
- ½ c walnuts, chopped
- ⅓ c raisins
- For the Frosting
- 1 package vegan cream cheese (8 ounce) or regular cream cheese
- ½ c vegan butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 c powdered sugar
- ¼ c maple syrup
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans, or a bundt pan or 9x13 inch baking dish, and dust with flour.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combing all dry ingredients except for sugars.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream brown sugar, raw sugar and oil together.
- Add the applesauce, vanilla, grated carrots and milk and mix together until well combined.
- Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Stir in the walnuts and raisins.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans or pour into the prepared bundt pan or baking dish.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool 5 minutes, then remove cakes from pan by running a knife around the outside edges of the cakes, and flipping upside down (don't have to do this with the baking dish).
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- **Make sure to frost in between the layers with a thin layer of frosting, if using two cake pans. Frost the sides and top of the cake.
- Store in the fridge, covered.
- Enjoy
- For the Frosting:
- Cream together the cream cheese & butter.
- Next add the vanilla, powdered sugar and maple syrup.
- * if using a baking dish, cut the recipe half, you won't need as much frosting.
Friday I finally plan to share my birth story. I am sure you have all been waiting. So stay tuned…
Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit
What’s your favorite dessert to enjoy on your anniversary? Any anniversary traditions?