CARROT CAKE

I'm starting to get the swing of making desserts that are soy and dairy-free.  The fantastic part is that no one can tell that they're missing milk or butter until you tell them.  In an attempt to be able to indulge in birthday cake this weekend with the in-laws, I asked to make the cake to my specifications.  Seeing as the birthday boy's favorite cake is carrot, that's what I've set out to make!

Be careful with all of the soy-free dairy-free recipes for carrot cake.  I've made it in the past, and it was an absolute failure.  The recipe said that it made a one-layer cake, when in fact, I should have split the batter and used two pans.  While the cake cooled, it started to sink in and was a soggy, battery mess.  The hubs LOVED it (I've always known that he likes things gooey, but this may suggest that he will eat anything dessert-related).  This time, I used a tried-and-true recipe, changed up the oil, and I ended up with a cake that was cooked perfectly.

CARROT CAKE

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 egg whites
1 T vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  In a different bowl, whisk together pineapple, oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until moistened.  Then fold in the grated carrots.  Pour the batter evenly into the 2 cake pans, and bake for 22-25 minutes.  The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Let cake cool 10 minutes, and then remove cake from pans to continue cooling.  *If your cake cools completely, it may not come out of the pan.  If this happens to you like it did to me, pop those cakes back into the oven and warm them up for a couple of minutes.  The cake should [hopefully] come right out!

Make sure that they're completely cooled before you frost them.  Soy-free dairy-free frosting is not the most stable thing to work with, and it will melt if you give it the chance!

The frosting that I used was a fake vanilla buttercream.  It may not be cream cheese frosting, but it compliments this cake perfectly.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

3 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup soy-free dairy-free "butter"  (I used Earth Balance)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 T coconut milk

Using a mixer, beat sugar and butter together on low speed until blended; then increase speed to medium and beat for an additional 3 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and milk, then continue to beat on medium for 1 more minute.  (Add more or less milk to achieve desired consistency.)  Spread it on your cake!  Keep the cake in the fridge, as this frosting needs to set for one hour and then stay refrigerated.

Enjoy!