Carrot Cake (Low Fat)

A few years ago, while we still lived in NC, Robin brought the most delicious carrot cake I have ever had over to Mark for his birthday. It's his favorite cake, and it's very low fat. Even though I had the recipe (developed by Mark and Robin), I could never make it myself, because I did not have a food processor. But now I do! So I made the cake:



Here's the recipe, which I modified slightly to make it a bit less low-fat, but also a bit less wasteful, as I do not know what I would do with extra yolks:

In a large bowl combine:

• 1 egg
• 6 egg whites (this is where I just used 3 eggs)

Beat, then add:

• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 t vanilla extract

Beat some more

In a separate bowl combine:

• 2 c minus 2 T all purpose flour
• 3 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 T cocoa powder

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix only till incorporated, then add:

• 1 lb shredded carrots
• 2 c raisins

Pour into three 8" pans lined with wax paper and bake in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool, and in the meantime prepare the frosting:

• 2 8oz packages of fat free cream cheese
• 2 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract

beat well, and spread on cakes.

For decoration, I used solid glaze:

• 2 T butter
• 1 c powdered sugar
• a drop of almond extract

All mushed together with a fork, then colored and shaped as carrots. I got 4 large yummy carrots.

Cry-Baby Cake

I made this for Vanessa's Baby Shower:


The idea was taken from here.

I baked the head in a ceramic bowl (that I made!). The head is a basic vanilla cupcake recipe from the best cookbook ever - you know - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It also made 4 cupcakes. The belly is the basic chocolate cupcake recipe from the same book. It made 1 cupcake in addition. The arms and legs are Golden Cremes (Twinkies that don't contain lard). Vanessa is a redhead, that's why the hair is so orange.

And here is the guest of honor, preparing to serve the baby's head after mercilessly cutting it to pieces:


We had lots of fun: good food (I didn't feel like I ate a lot, but I was full pretty quickly! And that's after I ran 11.5 miles just a few hours before! I guess not seeing how much food you're consuming makes you not realize how much you really eat), nice activities - we painted wood blocks, onesies and socks for the baby. The creativity was flowing like the mulled cider, wine, beer, and sparkling lemonade that were offered. As we ate the cake, Vanessa opened the gifts, and it was cool to see all the cute and/or practical items people gave.

Stout Cake with Irish Cream Frosting

As per Kevin's request, the double birthday party cake I baked was a cake version of the chocolate stout cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World*. Just like the coconut cake I made based on the coconut cupcake recipe from the same book, the stout cake turned out DE-LI-CIOUS! Very moist, rich and chocolaty. Of course, Irish cream frosting doesn't hurt :)



It seems that converting a cupcake recipe into a cake is not that hard - you just double the ingredients, and lengthen the baking time:

• 1.5 c soy milk
• 2 t apple cider vinegar
• 2 c plus 4 T all-purpose flour
• 2/3 c cocoa powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 c stout
• 1/5 c sugar
• 2/3 c canola oil
• 1 T vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine soy milk and vinegar. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients besides sugar. Mix the sugar and stout into the milk, add oil and vanilla and whisk until well mixed. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Pour batter into a lightly oiled 9" cake pan (I like to use spring-form and line the bottom with parchment) and bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and frost.

Irish Cream Frosting (not vegan):

• 1 stick butter
• 3 c powdered sugar
• 3 T Irish Cream

Beat everything together until smooth.

* People in my lab must have realized I like this book, so they gave it to me as a farewell gift!! :)