Tomorrow afternoon, my younger sister and her boyfriend are going to be visiting from Boston, and I wanted to make them a special dessert for us to enjoy after dinner.  I had an unopened bag of organic carrots in the fridge, and decided that a making them a carrot cake was in order. This two-headed carrot was quite a surprise!

I used this recipe from VegWeb (with a few of my own changes), which I have used a few times before with great results.  Here is the recipe:

Carrot Cake

This recipe was modified from “Carrots and Nothing Else Cake” on VegWeb.com

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 3 “eggs” (I used Ener-G egg replacer, but ground flax will also work)
• 2 cups grated carrot (about 4 medium sized carrots)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour (I used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking pan (or pans if you are making a layered cake). Combine the oil, applesauce, “eggs”, and sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in the grated carrot until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix together remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until a batter is formed.

Fold in walnuts, if using, and pour into your prepared cake pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Baking times will vary depending on the type of pan used. Since I divided the batter among 3 round pans, it only took about 25 minutes to bake.

To complement the cake, I made an easy cream cheese frosting using dairy-free cream cheese. I basically took one container of cream cheese and whipped it with a half a cup of softened vegan butter and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.  Then I slowly whipped in 4 cups of of confectioners sugar, which was just enough to provide the perfect texture.

I tasted the frosting (okay, I had a bit more than a taste) and it was rich, fluffy, and delicious, yet not overly sweet.

Totally not health food, but that’s what special occasions are for, right? It is going to be a true test of self control to wait until tomorrow night to try a piece.

I will post pictures of the inside tomorrow, once we cut into it!