Vegan carrot cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 4 cups of grated carrot
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups of demerera or brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of raisins
• 1/2 chopped pecans (allow a few extra for decoration)
• 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 cup of canola oil

Icing

• 1/3 cup of vegan margarine
• 1/3 cup of vegan cream cheese
• 2 1/3  cups of icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. 
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Add the apple sauce, oil, carrots and raisins and mix until everything is well combined.
4. Pour into a greased tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.
5. Take out of the tin and leave to cool.

For the icing

1. To make the icing, cream the margarine and cream cheese together until combined.
2. Add icing sugar ⅓ of a cup at a time and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Add the vanilla extract and mix again.
4. Spoon onto cake and spread. Decorate with the remaining pecans, fruit, chocolate, or whatever floats your boat!

With thanks to the Vegan Society, Claire Gosse author of “Are You Sure That’s Vegan?” and www.VeganCooking.com