Vegan Carrot Cake with Vanilla Apple Cream

Recipe by Nikoleta, vegan cook and author of every recipe in the Tofu app · @surovadcerka

Ingredients

batter

• 140 g plant-based milk
• 6 g apple cider vinegar
• 50 g canola oil
• 30 g apple purée
• 1.5 g dried orange zest
• 85 g spelt whole grain flour
• 85 g all-purpose flour
• 3.5 g baking powder
• 2.5 g baking soda
• 2 g ground cinnamon
• 2.5 g gingerbread spice
• 70 g granulated sugar
• 50 g walnuts (coarsely chopped)
• 170 g carrot (grated)

cream

• 350 g plant-based milk
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 50 g cornstarch
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 150 g apple purée
• 1 pinch salt
• 200 g vegan butter

Contains: gluten, nuts

How to make it

1. Start baking and preparing the cream ideally in the evening so the sponge can rest overnight and be easier to slice and trim the next day. Bake the batter three times if you want a cake with three layers.
2. In a bowl, mix the plant milk and apple cider vinegar. Add the oil, apple puree, and orange zest to the milk.
3. In a second bowl, combine the spelt flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, gingerbread spice and sugar. Fold in the coarsely chopped walnuts.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and finally add the grated carrot - grate it on a fine grater so the carrot pieces aren't too thick in the cake. Mix the batter only until the carrot is well incorporated, taking care not to overmix.
5. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Choose a cake pan with a diameter of about 20 cm and line the bottom with parchment paper. Transfer the batter to the pan and level it.
6. Bake the cake layer for about 35-40 minutes - without convection. With convection it will be done sooner. Before it's fully baked, insert a toothpick into the center of the layer to check if the batter is sufficiently baked through.
7. Once all the cake layers are baked, let them cool for at least 2–3 hours. Ideally, leave them wrapped in plastic wrap overnight. Then trim the top of each layer to level it.
8. At least one hour before preparing the cream, take the butter out of the refrigerator and let it soften, or gently warm it in the microwave. For the cream to whip properly, the butter should be at a temperature of about 30°C.
9. Start preparing the pudding in advance as well, which needs to cool while you begin whipping the cream.
10. Put 250g of plant milk in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. In a bowl, mix the remaining 100g of milk with sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, apple puree, and a pinch of salt.
11. Once the milk boils, stir in the cold ingredients while constantly stirring and mix everything until a thick pudding forms.
12. Pour the pudding into a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and let it cool to about 30°C, the same as the butter. The correct temperature is important for the cream to combine perfectly.
13. After the pudding has cooled and the butter has softened, you can mix the cream. Cut the butter into cubes and place in a mixing bowl or stand mixer with whisk attachment.
14. Turn the mixer to full speed and whip the butter. This will take about 5 minutes. Begin adding and whipping in the pudding one spoonful at a time.
15. If the cream doesn’t come together smoothly, you can take a portion and warm it slightly, or add a little more softened plant-based butter.
16. Once the cream is ready, you can spread a third on the first layer. Place the second layer on the cream. Continue this way until you have 3 layers. You can spread the remaining cream on the sides of the cake.
17. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to set.
18. Finish the cake with chopped nuts or fresh carrot. I also like to add fresh raspberries. Extra tip: a layer of cooked raspberries thickened with jelly works great inside the cake too!

Nutrition