Alice's Birthday Carrot Cake

For my daughter’s first birthday, I made carrot cake! Because her name is Alice, and she is turning one today, I of course went with an “Alice in ONE-derland” theme.

I had also never made a carrot cake before, so I thought it was high time I did so! I will definitely be making this again.. it is truly delicious.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 2.5 cups flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 2.5 cups grated carrots (grate using a box grater or the grater attachment on your food processor)

• 1.5 cups dark brown sugar

• 2 flax “eggs” (Make by combine 2 Tbsp Ground flaxseed with 6 Tbsp water and let sit for a minute until goopy)

• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

  For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup vegan butter (I find that Earth Balance sticks work best for frosting)

• 1 8-oz container vegan cream cheese (I like Tofutti)

• 5 cups powdered sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 Tbsp oat milk

Instructions:

For the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease/parchment-line two 8 or 9” cake pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. Add carrot, brown sugar, flax “egg,” and apple sauce. Mix until well combined.

4. Mix in olive oil, vanilla extract, and vinegar until combined. Let batter sit for 10 minutes.

5. Pour batter into the 2 prepared cake pans and even out tops of cakes using a spatula.

6. Bake for about 30 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Mix together vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and oat milk until well combined.

2. If too thick, add more oat milk. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

3. Let cakes cool completely before icing. When cool, ice and decorate!

4. Enjoy :)