Birthday Carrot Cake!

For my dear roommate's 22nd birthday, I created the most delicious cake I have ever made. She is not a huge fan of chocolate, so I turned to my trusty Vegan With a Vengeance cookbook for some advice. As I was flipping through the pages, I came across a picture of a big, bright orange slab of carrot cake, topped with coconut icing.

And so, off to the store I went, gathering the many items needed: crystalized ginger, maple syrup, pineapple juice...who knew that such a varied array of ingredients would combine into one perfect birthday baked good?

Though the original recipe called for macadamia nuts, I used hazelnuts instead. You would not think that a nut usually paired with chocolate would work in a carrot cake but did it ever!

I finished off the cake with some beautiful trail mix decorations.

Needless to say, this cake was a birthday miracle.


Ginger-Macadamia (or Hazelnut)-Coconut Carrot Cake with Coconut Frosting
As seen in Isa Moskowitz's Vegan With a Vengeance

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 cup pineapple juice (i used one with tidbits in it for juicy surprises)

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup macadamia nuts, (or hazelnut)

1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cups carrot, grated

Almonds and dried cherries for decoration

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 round cake pans.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together.
In another bowl, combine pineapple, oil, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in small batches. Combine well.
Stir in nuts, ginger, coconut and carrots.
Divide the batter into the two cake pans and bake for around 40 minutes, or until a fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let cool. Put a layer of icing between the layers and on the outside of the cake.


Coconut Icing

1/4 cup Earth Balance Butter

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Almonds and Dried Cherries

Directions
Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add coconut milk and vanilla. Add sugar until smooth.
Toast the coconut in a 350 degree oven until light brown. This will take about 10 minutes.
Press the coconut on the top of a frosted cake, and decorate with almonds and dried cherries.